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Nigeria missing, as Japan approves visa-free entry for three African nations, 71 others
Japan has confirmed granting visa-free entry to nationals of 74 countries, with three of them from Africa.
Under the country’s reciprocal visa exemption arrangement, Japan listed three African countries, including; Lesotho, Mauritius and Tunisia for the policy, alongside 71 other nations from across the world.
The policy, published byJapan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, allows eligible travellers to enter the country without obtaining a visa before departure for tourism, business and short-term visits.
Under the arrangement, the length of stay depends on the traveller’s nationality. Citizens of Indonesia and Thailand are permitted to stay for up to 15 days per visit, while nationals of Brunei and Qatar may remain for up to 30 days. Citizens of all other eligible countries and territories are allowed to stay for up to 90 days.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “the period of stay granted upon landing permission will be 15 days” for Indonesia and Thailand, “30 days” for Brunei and Qatar, and “90 days” for other eligible countries and regions.
Japanese immigration authorities also require citizens of some participating countries to possess either an ICAO-compliant electronic passport or a machine-readable passport to qualify for visa-free entry.
The ministry also noted an exception for Uruguay, stating that holders of the country’s new ordinary passport issued after April 16, 2025, are temporarily excluded from the visa exemption arrangement.
The 74 countries and territories covered by the policy are: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong.
Others include; Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, San Marino and Saudi Arabia.
Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom complete the list.
Notably, Kenya, Nigeria, and most other African nations are absent from the list, meaning their citizens must obtain travel visas before travelling to Japan.
