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Temporary Visa - Tourism, Cultural or Other Accepted Visit

São Tomé and PríncipeShort stays and visits

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

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For the relevant traveller scope, is a visa, electronic authorisation, visa on arrival or no advance visa normally required?

Except where the law or international agreements provide an exemption, a foreign national who wants to enter or stay must hold the visa appropriate to the purpose of the stay; for tourism, cultural or other accepted visits this is the temporary visa.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • Exempt nationalities are set in Art 25 of Lei 5/2008 as amended by Lei 5/2015 (covered by the separate fifteen-day exemption route); no full nationality matrix is given here.

What short-visit purposes does this route cover?

The temporary visa allows entry for a cultural trip, tourism or another purpose that is accepted by the competent authorities and does not justify another type of visa. Holders may not carry out any other profit-making activity except cultural activities.

See recorded sources

What maximum stay, rolling-period rule, validity and entry rules apply?

The temporary visa may be granted with a validity of up to 180 days, for one or more entries, and a single uninterrupted stay may not exceed three months. The visa must be used within 90 days after it is granted.

See recorded sources

What important funds, accommodation, invitation, insurance, onward-travel or passport evidence may be required?

Entry requires, cumulatively: an ordinary passport with a minimum validity of one year; a valid entry visa; not being subject to an entry ban; sufficient economic means under Article 13; and an International Certificate of Vaccination. Foreigners must have a minimum per-capita amount per day of stay, fixed by joint ministerial order; this may be waived if they prove by document that food and accommodation are assured.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The daily minimum amount is fixed by a joint order not in the captured source.
  • No insurance, invitation or onward-travel evidence is stated.

Where/how is permission obtained when required, and under what important circumstances can a stay be extended or changed?

Visas are granted by embassies and consular posts; at border posts the Migration and Borders Service may grant a visa to holders of a valid travel document who show they come from a country or area without São Toméan diplomatic or consular representation or that they could not obtain the visa there. A temporary-visa holder may obtain an extension of stay of up to thirty days, extendable for an equal period.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • Change of status from a temporary visa to another permission is not addressed.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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