Tanzania Mainland Inbound Travel Insurance from 1 Oct 2026

Updated 9 Oct 2026: US$44 per adult, US$22 per child aged 3-17, free under 3. One policy covers Mainland and Zanzibar; the insurer is NIC or ZIC depending on the first point of entry, at the same rate. Transit passengers and EAC/SADC residents are exempt on the Mainland (NIC). EAC/SADC residents are not exempt in Zanzibar. No published platform fee (an FX conversion may still apply). The policy is paid separately from the eVisa, at inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz or on arrival. An existing or home policy is not accepted.

Update 8 Oct 2026: Kenya's High Court upheld its own visitor insurance rule on 7 Oct and the ETA portal now sells a $44 policy — see Kenya post.

A folded policy card with a green stripe beside a separate dark rectangular form

The policy sits beside the form. Illustration: SimpleVisa

From 1 October 2026, foreigners entering Mainland Tanzania are expected to hold a specific inbound travel insurance policy or be refused entry. The legal instrument is older than that start date: the Insurance (Inbound Travel Insurance) Regulations, 2026, Government Notice 256, were published and in force on 4 September 2026. The finance ministry’s implementation date — the date partners should brief against — is 1 October 2026, set out by Permanent Secretary Natu El-Maamry Mwamba and published by the Tanzania embassy in Rome on 27 September 2026.

For OTAs, airlines, and travel-tech teams, the operational point is narrower than “Tanzania now requires insurance.” The policy is an entry control. It is not a field on the Mainland eVisa at visa.immigration.go.tz. A booking flow that only checks visa status will mark a passenger “ready” and still send them to a border that can turn them away.

This note is for product, airline ops, and partner communications. It is not legal advice, and it is not a consumer purchase guide.

Milestone Date Status

Government Notice 256 published and in force 4 Sep 2026 Confirmed

Embassy note: finance ministry implementation date 27 Sep 2026 Confirmed

Date partners should brief against 1 Oct 2026 Confirmed

What Mainland requires

Under Government Notice 256, as published on TanzLII, the finance ministry implementation note, and NIC:

The rule applies to foreigners entering Mainland Tanzania by land, sea, or air, subject to the exemptions below.

Transit passengers are exempt on the Mainland, per NIC. Residents of East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) partner states are also exempt on the Mainland side, per NIC. The test is residence, not nationality. A passport from outside those blocs does not by itself create the duty, and a non-EAC/SADC passport held by a resident of a partner state is not the coding key either. Do not ship a nationality whitelist.

The policy must come from the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) or a registered insurer in partnership with NIC. An existing or home policy is not accepted. “Traveller already uploaded Allianz / AXA” is not compliance with this rule.

Cover includes emergency care, evacuation, repatriation, and baggage loss. Limits sit in the policy. Do not invent sub-limits in UX copy.

The premium is US$44 per adult, US$22 per child aged 3-17, and free under 3. It is non-refundable except for cancellation or where a policy clause allows it. There is no published platform fee. An FX conversion may still apply.

Maximum validity is 92 days from arrival, and the policy can be multiple entry. Beyond 92 days, the traveller needs a new policy.

The policy is paid separately from the eVisa, at inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz or on arrival. No valid policy means refusal of entry.

Official Mainland purchase channel: the NIC inbound portal, inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz.

Why this breaks a normal “visa complete” check

Mainland Tanzania’s eVisa site does not collect this insurance. Treating the rule as another visa question will create two failure modes:

False ready. Document checks that stop at the eVisa PDF never see the inbound policy. The passenger can be document-complete for immigration permission and still be refused at the border for insurance.

False substitute. A third-party medical policy collected at booking looks like cover and is not the instrument GN 256 requires.

Product implication: model inbound insurance as a destination entry requirement beside the visa, with its own status, its own official link, and its own “foreign policy does not count” warning. Do not add a fake field to a visa application payload.

For airlines, this is an arrival refusal risk, not a new visa-on-departure API. Do not invent a Timatic row or a carrier-document code that has not been published. Do brief stations and disruption desks that Mainland arrivals from 1 October 2026 can be turned around without a valid inbound policy: NIC (or an NIC partner) when Mainland is the first point of entry, or a valid ZIC policy when the trip started in Zanzibar. Passengers who hold other insurance can still be refused.

One policy covers Mainland and Zanzibar

One policy covers the whole trip when the itinerary includes Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. The insurer is the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) or the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (ZIC), depending on the first point of entry, at the same rate: US$44 per adult, US$22 per child aged 3-17, and free under 3. ZIC’s notice of 7 October 2026 is the operational reading, with GN 256 of 4 September 2026 and NIC. Zanzibar has required inbound cover since 1 October 2024 (the embassy note on the 2024 Zanzibar requirement).

Where Mainland is the first point of entry, buy through NIC at inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz, or on arrival. Where Zanzibar is the first point of entry, buy through ZIC at inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz. The policy is paid separately from the eVisa. An existing or home policy is not accepted.

The rate is shared. These points still differ by side:

Mainland Zanzibar

In force for travellers Implementation 1 Oct 2026 (GN 256 published and in force 4 Sep 2026) Mandatory since 1 Oct 2024

Insurer when this side is the first point of entry NIC, or a registered insurer in partnership with NIC Zanzibar Insurance Corporation

Transit Exempt, per NIC The 7 Oct 2026 notice does not publish a transit exemption

EAC / SADC residents Exempt on the Mainland, per NIC (residence, not nationality) Not exempt. Same rate as other visitors

Price US$44 per adult, US$22 per child aged 3-17, free under 3 Same rate

Relation to other insurance An existing or home policy is not accepted An existing or home policy is not accepted

A valid policy from the insurer for the first point of entry covers Mainland and Zanzibar on that trip. Buy a new policy when the current one has expired.

Kenya is a separate rule

On 7 Oct 2026 Kenya's High Court at Marsabit dismissed the petition and upheld Gazette Notice 11492. The ETA portal now requires recognised cover at a US$44 premium (about US$52 at checkout). The total government cost is about US$91 per traveler. Kenya's ETA portal travel insurance.

Ops checklist (OTA / airline / travel tech)

Use internally. This is not a government compliance certificate.

Split the requirement from the eVisa. Mainland visa status on visa.immigration.go.tz is separate from the inbound policy: NIC at inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz when Mainland is first, ZIC when Zanzibar is first.

Effective date in copy: implementation 1 October 2026. You may note that GN 256 was published and in force on 4 September 2026; do not tell customers the traveller rule “started in September” as if the finance ministry date did not exist.

Transit, and residence rather than passport, for the Mainland exemptions. Transit passengers and residents of EAC and SADC partner states are exempt on the Mainland, per NIC. Do not code a nationality exemption. If you cannot capture residence reliably, say the exclusion applies to residents of EAC and SADC partner states and send the edge case to a human.

An existing or home policy is not accepted. Mainland-first cover is NIC or a registered insurer in partnership with NIC. Zanzibar-first cover is ZIC.

Price and term, if you quote them: US$44 per adult, US$22 per child aged 3-17, free under 3. Non-refundable except cancellation or a policy clause. Max 92 days from arrival, multiple entry, then a new policy. No published platform fee. An FX conversion may still apply.

Purchase window: paid separately from the eVisa, at inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz or on arrival when Mainland is first. When Zanzibar is first, the insurer is ZIC at inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz. Do not tell passengers the border will always sell it, and do not tell them they must have bought before they fly. Both options are in the Mainland rule. Do say that no valid policy means refusal of entry.

One policy covers Mainland and Zanzibar. The insurer is NIC or ZIC depending on the first point of entry, at the same rate. EAC/SADC residents are not exempt in Zanzibar.

Links: government and insurer pages only for the call to action inside the booking. Do not send passengers to unofficial “Tanzania insurance” intermediaries.

If Mainland Tanzania is on your OTA or airline inventory, the gap to close is the one between a completed eVisa and the entry rule that never appears on that form. SimpleVisa helps travel businesses surface destination entry requirements next to visa status — so a passenger is not marked ready on a document the border does not treat as sufficient.

This is a briefing aid, not a requirement to buy a SimpleVisa product.

Watch Tanzania

Coverage alerts send one email per rule change for the destinations you pick, from the partner console. Systems can take the same events as webhooks; the shape is in the developer docs. The live requirement for any passport is always in the requirements checker.

This article summarises Government Notice 256 of 4 September 2026, the finance ministry implementation note carried by the Tanzania embassy in Rome, NIC, the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation notice of 7 October 2026, and the Kenya ETA note of 8 October 2026, for operational planning by travel businesses. It is not legal advice and not an official Immigration or NIC guide. Rules, premiums, and portal behaviour can change. When in doubt, TanzLII GN 256, inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz, and the ZIC notice of 7 October 2026 win. We do not invent benefit sub-limits or airline document codes for the Mainland rule.

Sources

TanzLII GN 256 verified 9 Oct 2026 · Embassy of Tanzania in Rome, implementation note verified 3 Oct 2026 · NIC inbound portal verified 9 Oct 2026 · Mainland eVisa verified 3 Oct 2026 · Embassy note, Zanzibar cover from 1 Oct 2024 verified 3 Oct 2026 · ZIC notice, 7 Oct 2026 verified 9 Oct 2026

Loris Mazloum

Founder, SimpleVisa

Loris Mazloum founded SimpleVisa and writes the coverage notes on this blog for airlines, OTAs, and other travel companies. Each note is checked against the government source named at the bottom before it publishes. SimpleVisa keeps requirement data for 190+ destinations and files applications where a government channel exists.