Zobue Border Mozambique | Customs and Immigration

Malawi to Mozambique:

German and South African passport, European bikes with Carnet.
We bought our Insurance online:
https://www.hollsure.co.za/new-policy-client-page

Exiting Malawi: Borderpost is a few km before the Moz Border, we exchanged our MWK for some Metrical at the official Forex, better rates than the annoying guys that will crowd you at the parking spot.
You might need metrical for Moz immigration, so save some cash for this!
Customs and immigration 30mins max.
Continue down the road to Moz side.

Entering Moz:
Small building on the right in front of the gate, immigration took a while, you need a printed booking confirmation!
SA passport free, German passport needed 650mets for the stamp (keep the receipt for exiting Moz!). Customs in the same building, stamping the carnets took 5 mins.
Road tax is on the other side of the road in the blue hut, 10 US$.
Road toll not needed for Motorbikes.
Overall one of the faster border crossings in Africa, everyone was friendly, professional and we had 0 problems.
Fixers are bloody annoying but they didn't follow us around

Report Check-In

From Mozambique to Malawi

Very easy border, a single office with immigrations and customs.

A lot of all sorts of hustlers getting around your car and ears !

We were asked for our road tax paper when they opened the gate to let us out !

Report Check-In

Very easy border crossing - one of our easiest yet in 9 months.

Entering Moz:

Canadian (visa exempt) and Kiwi (not visa exempt) passport holders.

Canadian - stamped in 10 minutes. Needed to show hotel booking and $10 USD cash.

Kiwi - did not do e-visa in advance. Granted VoA. Had to show hotel booking, $100 USD cash (ouch!). 1.5 hours to process, as it has to be approved by the chef.

Did TIP while waiting, took 5 minutes and free. Very easy. Then pay road tax outside - $10 USD.

DO NOT pay the extra $10 USD for the toll document that is 'good for all the tolls in the country '. The customs chief said this extra document can be used at all tolls across Moz, and will this save a lot of money. In practice, only a few accept it and it's a waste of money.

Since we did the car stuff while the one visa was processing, we were out in 1.5 hours.

Report Check-In

Malawi>Mozambique with a 11 tons big rig (man tgm 9 meters long).
Very quick in Malawi (no need of fixer), very quick in Mozambique too (and we didn't prepared visa online before because their website don't work). 650 meticals / person. don't forget the invitation letter.
They didn't accepted our CPD but we did a TIP in 5 minutes (without fixer too), for free.
ONLY 1 PROBLEM : take care to have dollars before coming, rates here are aweful! because at the end you'll have to pay the road tax, only in dollars :
- less than 3.5 tons : $10
- over 3.5 tons : $125 !!!
We didn't have the amount so we had to come back on malawi side where there is 2 atm, to then change dollars with fixers...
Totally crazy to pay that when we see the terrible roads in Mozambique!

Report Check-In

We left Mozambique and this took just 5 minutes, amazing! Both passport and carnet. Only a lot of people at the car trying to sell SIM cards and exchange money.

Report Check-In

some tips.
MAKE THE E-VISA, at least, ONE WEEK IN ADVANCE in www.evisa.gov.mz.
Very slow staffs, system, etc.
I spent 3hs to make the visa on arrival.
paid in dollar cash Us$ 50
they had change,
To change money and have some meticals, don't hurry, have some more hiden dealers that make a good rate. They are not the ones that came to you.

Report Check-In

MOZ to Malawi
1. Park car next to building
2. Enter building from the left
3. Immigration: fill-in departure form, hand-in passport, both stamped
4. Custom: hand-in carnet, stamped
5. Drive through gate: police will see passport
Fast and easy, a lot of "helpers" around

Report Check-In

Update July 2023

We cross from Malawi to Move

Malawi side 15 min :
you must fill exit form immigration then stamp exit on passeport
stamp our CPD next desk
you can go

Moz side :
Lot of people around your car when you try to park...
advises : buy your insurance before crossing on hollard.com (280 rand), have 10$ and 650met pp + 750met if you need TIP. change before, rate in border will be awful.

UE passport : until 05.23 visa FREE. No need online registration.

steps :
- go to the immigration. Borders guys are not sympathetic and very slow.
You need PRINTED : COVID certificate, invitation letter (best KUKUTANA CAMP IN TETE). Border guy phone call the camping owner to check so please no fake...
after 30min you need take webcam picture and you must pay 650met each person (registration tax with receipt) finally they stamp your passport.

- step 2 : opposite office. Stamp for free your CPD or 750met for TIP

- Step 3 : go to white house close to immigration to pay road tax 10$. Describe your Mozambic journey.

If you already buy third part insurance you can go !!
note : all people who open gates ask "drinks", we polite refuse and they open with smile.
enjoy

Report Check-In

Border-crossing from Mozambique to Malawi: we got supported by "runner" Innocent (was recommended to be reliable which he was). Crossing took us only 45 min due to his support which should be rewarded by K 3,000 to 5,000. Innocent can also help you to change money at common rate. Please contact him by Whatsup if you want his support: Phone +265 999 193 666.

Report Check-In

British passport holder on a bicycle, Malawi into Moz.
A few days earlier I went into the Moz consulate in Blantyre and was told that visa on arrival is no longer a thing, and you have to apply online for the e-visa pre authorisation so they can issue your visa at the border. It's a new system and they still seemed to be figuring it out throughout the process.
It is possible that at this border you could just turn up and get VoA, but it's a gamble.
Malawi side was a pretty straightforward stamp out. Then a cycle up to the Moz side. There were some local guys with one of those fake "roadblocks" in the middle but I just rode through and pretended I didn't understand and they didn't chase me or anything.
Moz side, they looked briefly at the e-visa and then said I needed to print it, along with a hotel booking (also required for the e-visa) and covid vaccination status. There's a little shop nearby but it wildly overcharges, so better to do this in advance. You can buy a Moz SIM card before the actual border so you should have internet for this process, but be careful with what they're charging and what data package they're applying.
I had to fill in the regular VoA form anyway, do a photo and fingerprints and pay $50 cash. Interestingly the e-visa system had said it would be $100. It didn't take too long as the guy was pretty switched on and helpful.
Took two hours including the Malawi side, the cycle between and the printing faff. Not as bad as expected. I was there Saturday morning so perhaps that helped.

Report Check-In

Edit: Remember you need third party insurance licenced in Moz! Better just to buy it from Hollard insurance online. It takes a few minutes at costs around 15$ for a month.

Report Check-In

Malawi-Moz

Malawian side:
10 minutes to stamp out. The lady told us that they do not issue Visa on Arrivals in the Mozambique side, but decided to proceed regardless (they did issue it)

Mozambique side:
Lots of annoying money exchangers etc with horrible rates. Everyone wants to charge you for something.
Official steps:
1: Apply for visa on arrival. 50$. You fill a form and have fingerprints recorded. You need proof of accomodation (!) and a PRINTED covid vaccine cert as of now. We had to pay a guy to print it nearby.
2: Pay for TIP 750 mets. Then you walk back and forth between offices to have the right stamps, signatures etc.
3: Pay 10$ Road Access Fee. We didn't have to pay the most expensive toll on the drove to Vilanculos when we presented the paper, so try it at every toll booth.

The process took 3 hours, and was quite frustrating. However, if you are prepared for the steps and have the cash and papers ready, it could likely be 2 hours.

Report Check-In

Malawi to Mozambique
Leaving Malawi 20 minutes, stamping passports and CDP.
Entry into Mozambique almost 3 hours just waiting for Issuance of the visa.You must fill out a form for the visa and submit it together with a corona vaccination certificate. In addition stamping in the CDP, paying road tax.
We issued third party car insurance in advance online by Drive Moz 700 Mt.

Report Check-In

exit mozambique... very easy, 5 minutes... just stamped out passports (belgium) and carnet.
a lot of people hanging around to exchange money, buy simcard,...

Report Check-In

US passport holders driving an owned South African registered vehicle.
Exiting Mozambique:
Very easy. There are multiple runners to maneuver around.
Entering Malawi:
Obtaining visas in Malawi straight forward. Wash hands out front. Health officer looked at our passports but asked no other questions.
Enter building. They took our passports and processed our visas in about 15 minutes.
There are multiple people who want to exchange money. At time of our visit conversion rate was 736 Malawian Kwacha per 1USD but at the border we got a rate of 750MK per USD. The money exchangers at border crossings can often give a better rate.
Went back outside and walked sidewalk to the end to last door on right to get our TIP. (There is no sign outside indicating this building so I included several pictures in the write-up I did on my blog at www.budgetbirders.com.) There is a large picture on the wall on the inside that says to beware of Dobadobas or middlemen to process customs clearance cert, TIP, and C180 Form because these are issued by customs officers for free.
After we got our TIP, we had to go next door to pay fees. Road tax $20, TIP 10,000MK, Carbon tax 11,500MK.
Then you return back to TIP office before finally proceeding to the vehicle registration house right next to gate. We drove through the gate and had to haggle with the insurance people who eventually gave us a rate of 35,000 even though they insisted that 55,000 was the new price. (We asked several customs officers who agreed that 55k was ridiculous.) When we first arrived they bombarded our car and we let them fill out the paper work knowing it would be ready and we wouldn't have to use it if we didn't want to. This did save us some time and we did get them down in price. Total time was 1 hour 30 minutes.

Report Check-In

This place os a disaster if you are in need of a visum. It took them 4(!!!) hours to put 3 visa through a printer. New system they said.

Report Check-In

No problems, helpful customs officials, I went on Saturday. 50 $ 30 days visa

Report Check-In

Entering Mozambique
Its true, you can only get a single entry visa here at the border, but with 50 US$ its cheaper than at the embassy in Lilongwe where you pay 48 US$ for a Transitvisa and you dont have to wait 3 days for it!

Report Check-In

Exiting Malawi:

Straight forward, pass all the trucks and go all the way to the front and park infront of the gate to the left. Then go into the building on the right where you will fill out a form for exiting Malawi then get your exit stamp. In the same building, staight behind the immigration booth you will find the customs counter at the other end of the building. Simply handed over our carne and road tax receipt and had our carne back with in 5 min.

Once you finish exit Malawi and drive about 4 km through no mans land until you get to the Mozambique border.

Entering Mozambique:

Similarly to Malawi go ahead and pass all the trucks and park infront of the gate on the left hand side. Inside we filled out an entrance form and as we needed to obtain a visa as well (me being from the US and my husband from the UK) we were given another short form to complete. Once filled out they process your visa on a laptop, and after scanning your fingerprints and taking your picture will print out your visa which will be pasted into your passport. At the counter right behind immigration (in the same building) someone will help with your carne, however note you will also have to purchase insurance which is $20 as comesa is not accepted in Mozambique. Agents will be all around but we went with a gentleman wearing what looked like a more official orange vest.

The process is quick and easy and took maybe an hour total.

Report Check-In

Leaving Mozambique - Drive the the border office and gate ahead of trucks, complete the exit form and hand in the TIP and your are done takes no longer than 10 minutes.

Report Check-In

Leaving Mozambique:
Passports got stamped. TIP got stamped and and they kept it. Friendly People, no Money. Took us 10 Minutes.

Entering Malawi:
See other Location.

Report Check-In

PS. In Malawi it is compulsory to have two white reflecting stickers on your bumper in the front(one at the right and one at the left. About 10cm to 5cm big) and two red reflecting stickers in on the back bumper(also right and left and a similar size).

Report Check-In

Dutch citizens without a Carnet de Passage.

1) Mozambique exit: easy stamp out. No need to fill out any forms. Fingerprints and License plate number needed.

Very unhelpful police officers(no surprise).

2) Entering Malawi: quite a long drive through nobody's land.
You have to wash your hands before entering.
The stamp and VISA easily obtained(20min).
A transit visa costs USD50,- (photo of pricelist attached).
We had no visa for Tanzania- the country we're transiting to- but that was no problem.

Make sure you have an address to fill out where you stay at in Malawi as well as the next country you'll go to as you'll have to fill out a form for the visa application.

3) After that you fill out your name at the tourism desk.

4) TIP is available in the next building after immigration. They asked for our TIP from Mozambique. We filled out a form. Paid at the bank 1 door prior to customs 10 000,-(USD14,-) BUT they do not except USD. There's an exchange office accross the street.
At 12 noon we received our TIP.

5) We had to register, our chassis number got checked and that was it.

6) We bought 30 days Reunion car Insurance for 12 000,-(USD17,-) outside the gate at the left handside.

Point 1 to 6 took us two hours total.

Report Check-In

Border control for Malawi of Zobue.
Left on 6/5/17. Super simple. Filled in the card and that was it.

Report Check-In