Malawi — the Second Schedule was replaced; exemptions now run by exhaustive list
Immigration (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (Government Notice No. 1, Malawi Gazette Supplement of 2 January 2026) substituted the Second Schedule to regulation 3. The new Schedule is exhaustive by exclusion — visas are required by nationals of all countries except those it names — and it names 22, joined by SADC and COMESA members whose reciprocity the Department of Immigration confirms in its own status list. We had been carrying the pre-2026 policy: roughly 62 nationalities visa-free and 83 on visa on arrival, nearly all of it abolished. Eight pairs had been patched by hand earlier, which treated symptoms. On 28 July 2026 we replaced the lot: 161 origins now resolve to e-visa, 7 to visa-free with no stated duration, 28 to a numeric allowance. Where the Schedule grants an exemption without naming a length we print 'not stated' rather than invent 30 or 90 days — Malawi sets the visitor permit at the border. Where the Department's published status table and the gazetted Schedule disagree, we follow the Schedule: gazetted law outranks a published table, and the two errors do not cost the same. An unnecessary e-visa costs money; a missing one costs the flight.
Who this affects
What has NOT changed
A change to the visa rule does not change these. They apply as before.