Botswana rolls out e-visa regime to boost tourism and investments
The Ministry of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has launched the Online Visa Application Platform.
Speaking during the launch, the Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs Ms. Anna Mokgethi said through the platform applicants will be able to apply for visas online as opposed to the manual process.
Minister Mokgethi revealed that the ministry was looking for innovative and customer-oriented solutions to meet the diverse needs of citizens, visitors and businesses. She explained that the innovation was part of the threefold mission to increase efficiency, customer satisfaction and Botswana’s footprint in the digitalization sphere.
She highlighted that the platform will ease the current tedious and taxing application process
“It is government’s intention to attract as much Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as possible and the Online Visa Application Platform will help address this since more people will have easy access.” she said
Minister Mokgethi added that the initiative will also shorten the turnaround time for issuance of visa which is currently 14 days.
For his part, the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), Chief Executive Officer Mr. Keletsositse Olebile concurred with Minister Mokgethi that the platform will significantly reduce the turnaround time as well as the overall issuance of Visas.
Mr. Olebile added that with a seamless application process anticipated the system will go a long way in improving Botswana’s global competitiveness which will propel the country to become a preferred destination for both tourism visits and investments.
