Most EU, UK and US passport holders travelling to the Gambia for tourism do not need a visa at all. EU and US passport holders can stay up to 90 days; UK passport holders get only 28 days on entry, extendable twice at the Immigration Office.
Who needs a visa, and for how long
Dutch and other EU passport holders can enter the Gambia visa-free for stays of up to 90 days, provided the passport is valid for at least six months from the date of arrival. US passport holders get the same 90-day visa-free allowance under that same source, but this figure has not been confirmed against a direct US-government page (see below).
UK passport holders are treated differently: the entry stamp issued on arrival allows a 28-day stay, not 90. That stay can be extended twice, each time by 28 days, at the Immigration Office in Banjul or at the tourist police desk in the Tourism Development Area on the coast. Anyone planning to stay longer than an extended 28-day period needs a residence permit rather than relying on further extensions, so a UK traveller planning a long winter stay should start that process well before the second 28-day extension runs out rather than arriving at the Immigration Office on the last possible day.
The yellow fever certificate
Separately from the visa-free allowance, a yellow fever vaccination certificate is an actual entry requirement for some travellers, checked at the border rather than merely recommended. It applies to anyone aged 9 months or over arriving from a country with risk of yellow fever transmission, including someone who has simply had a layover there of more than 12 hours. A traveller flying directly from the US, UK or an EU country, with no such transit, does not trigger this rule. The certificate itself, once issued, is valid for the vaccinated person’s lifetime, so there is no booster deadline to track before a return trip. The US CDC also recommends the vaccine for most travellers to the Gambia itself, independent of the transit rule, given the country’s own yellow fever risk.
The unconfirmed US figure
The 90-day figure for US passport holders comes from the Dutch government’s travel advisory, which applies the same EU-style exemption to US travellers. travel.state.gov returned an error when this page was researched, so the figure is not yet confirmed from a direct US-government source. If you hold a US passport, confirm the current entry rule with travel.state.gov or the Gambian embassy before you book, and treat the 90-day figure as provisional until you do.
The airport tax
Everyone passes through a cash security and airport tax at Banjul International Airport, paid both on arrival and on departure. It is set at GMD 1,000 per person, equivalent to EUR 20 or USD 20, and is payable only in cash, so keep that amount aside in local currency, euros or dollars for both legs of the journey.
Practical tips
- Check your passport has at least six months of validity left from your arrival date before you book, not just before you fly.
- UK travellers: note the 28-day limit on arrival and where to go in Banjul or the Tourism Development Area if you need to extend it.
- Carry the Banjul airport security tax in cash, in Gambian dalasi, euros or US dollars, for both arrival and departure.
- US travellers: don’t rely solely on this page’s 90-day figure; check travel.state.gov or the Gambian embassy directly.
- If you are arriving via a country with yellow fever risk, or have had a long layover in one, bring your yellow fever certificate; border staff can ask for it even though your own flight route may not otherwise require it.
What to check before you go
- Your passport’s validity window against your actual travel dates.
- Whether your passport’s visa-free allowance is 90 days (EU, provisionally US) or 28 days (UK), and whether that covers your planned trip length.
- Where to extend a UK entry stamp in the Gambia if your stay will run past 28 days.
- That you have cash set aside for the Banjul airport security tax, on both arrival and departure.
- US travellers: the current rule confirmed directly on travel.state.gov, since this page’s US figure is not yet confirmed against a US-government source.
- Whether your route counts as arriving from a yellow fever risk country, or includes a layover there of more than 12 hours, so you know whether to carry the certificate.