Visitors can now pay online for travel visas to Zimbabwe after the Department of Immigration introduced an E-Visa payment system. The online payment can be done using Mastercard and Visa payment models only.
Previously, the online visa application platform only facilitated the application of Visas but visitors were not able to pay for them on the platform. Visitors had to put up with delays at airports and border posts to pay for the visas they would have applied online.
Accordingly, the payment system is being introduced to enable travelers to pay in advance so that thereby reducing delays on arrival. Immigration principal director, Clemence Masango said:
We have rolled out an online visa application and payment system which allows visitors to apply and pay in advance thereby reducing delays on arrival.
Above all, Mr. Masango said that the facility is being introduced in tandem with the government’s drive to improve the ease of doing business which is part of ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ slogan touted by President Mnangagwa’sgovernment.
The system is handy especially for those from Group C countries who previously had to go and apply at the embassies.
However, it’s not for everyone.
The payment portal will not support visitors from China because China does not support Mastercard and Visa payment options (Mastercard and Visa are the only payment channels currently available) and as such, they will continue to pay on arrival.
Sadly, we currently don’t have reviews about how this payment facility performs but we suspect that it works pretty well since the platform uses renowned companies, Visa and MasterCard in processing the payments.
The Immigration Department said that it is also working on introducing machine-generated visas to minimize errors by reducing human interference in the process of getting a Visa.
We are also intending to roll out the machine generating visa at the moment the officer does it manually and stamp the passport but when we go machine generated, the machine will do that to minimise human error. The machine will capture your biodata from the passport, print it in less than 30 seconds onto visa sticker and when we they scan the passport the machine generates the sticker and pastes without human finger doing that.
Source: TechZim
