Namibia E-Visa Payment Issues

[Arctic97]

Maybe some of you guys can shed a little light to help me get over a hurdle with this Namibian E-Visa. I like to think I am pretty good at figuring out how to use my laptop to make trip planning easy from my living room. My wife and I got on the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security website and had no big issues with the application, other than a timeout as I gathered passport photos and whatnot which caused me to have to start over. We received an email back with approval notices and a link to make the payment for the actual E-Visa. This is where my trouble is. I have made it to the payment portal, after verifying that I am human, a half dozen times over the last 2 weeks (I attempt it every couple of days), but when I put in my payment info and hit the pay button and the wheel turns around and around for a bit it always comes back with - "Code: 999 emv auth failed . contact support team. Reason Code 999 Click 'Try Again' to go back and give it another try."

I have tried different browsers and gone into my security settings and added the site to exceptions, just anything I can think of to push through the payment process. All with no luck. I have written 3 separate emails to their support email address and have yet to get a response (not really expecting one).

I recently paid for Airlink tickets in RSA and up to Namibia and I have paid lodging in RSA - all online, with no issues. So if anyone has had similar payment issues with their Namibian E-Visa I would love to hear about it. Thanks in advance.

 

[dchum]

I didn’t see if you said you tried a different card?

Are you using the same debit or credit card everytime? Try a different one if you haven’t…

Might sound simple but who knows

Here is what the all mighty google told me

“An "EMV auth failed" with
code 999 indicates a general authentication failure, which typically means the credentials provided were invalid or the user does not have permission for the action requested”

For the cardholder encountering this error, the recommended action is to:

• Ensure all card information (number, expiration date, CVV) was entered correctly.
• Try a different payment method.

So… ^^^* try a different card

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I too had problems with the online payment systems, about a year ago. It was DPO, which I had never heard of. I sent several notes to the DPO help line, not much help. Somehow I finally got it to work. I can't remember exactly what it was, but I think there was one cell I didn't check or enter something and that was the problem. The system doesn't highlight what you are missing. It might have been a date and they used a different format. Keep trying! I used a Visa card.

 

[Doug3006]

This admittedly long story is to say that it probably doesn’t matter!

My experience is almost a year old, so take it for what it’s worth. April ‘25 was also the first month of the eVisa process, which might have had something to do with the shambolic customs clearance process!

I had Gracy Travel enter my Visa info and they paid for it using my card. Upon arrival, I entered the customs area and it was bedlam! No clear signage, so everyone just got in any line and hoped for the best. An hour later, as I neared the customs booths, I overheard an officer tell someone that they had to complete a manual Visa application, even though they had a pre approved eVisa!

I hopped out of line and grabbed a couple of paper forms from the kiosk. My buddy Jeff held my place in line. We hurriedly completed the forms and finally reached the customs booths. The officer looked at my paper application and eVisa, stamped my passport, and sent me on my way.

So if worse comes to worse, you can probably complete the Visa application in person and pay for it without it taking any more time than having the eVisa in hand! If it sounds like I’m complaining, I’m not…I had a wonderful time in Namibia!

 

[Throwback]

FWIW, I will be there in May this year and my outfitter told me to just do visa on arrival as it is quicker. You may want to ask your outfitter.

Also, last year I was there in May as well and had done the prepaid visa online. I paid with a visa cc no issues. I will say though upon arrival I still had to wait in line like everyone else and it was no quicker than those paying on arrival. For that reason I am pretty comfortable with what my outfitter advised. Cheers

 

[375Fox]

The last visa I applied for was Tanzania. For whatever reason I couldn’t pay with a Visa card. I tried two. Mastercard worked though. Might be worth a try.