Every way into Benin.

Benin's official electronic visa, issued through the government portal evisa.bj, is the standard route for nationals who are not visa-exempt to visit for tourism. It is delivered fully online before travel and covers tourism, business and transit purposes. Three tiers are offered: single entry valid 30 days (EUR 50 / about XOF 32,798), multiple entry valid 30 days (EUR 75 / about XOF 49,197), and multiple entry valid 90 days (EUR 100 / about XOF 65,596). Processing is normally completed within 48-96 hours, and applicants are advised to apply at least 7 days before entry. The passport must be valid at least six months. The e-visa does not authorise paid work or enrolled study; foreigners intending to stay beyond three months must obtain a carte de résident.

Government fee

€50

Processing time

2 days

Max stay

30 days

Validity

30 days

Beyond ECOWAS, Benin grants visa-free short stays to nationals of all African Union member states and a number of other countries. African Union nationals and several others (including Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Haiti and the UAE) may stay up to 90 days; China, Malaysia and the Philippines up to 30 days; Hong Kong and Singapore up to 14 days. Separately, cruise-ship passengers of any nationality may visit without a visa for up to 72 hours. Entry requires a passport valid at least six months and an international yellow fever vaccination certificate. The exemption is for short visits and does not authorise employment or enrolled study; stays beyond 90 days require a carte de résident.

Government fee

F CFA 0

Max stay

90 days

Validity

90 days

Under the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Residence and Establishment, nationals of the 15 ECOWAS member states enter Benin without a visa and may stay up to 90 days on a valid travel document and an international yellow fever certificate. The covered states include Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The Protocol's later phases provide a right of residence and a right of establishment, so ECOWAS nationals may also reside and work or run a business in Benin; for stays beyond 90 days they regularise their status with a carte de résident (issued to ECOWAS nationals at strongly reduced fees). The exemption itself does not require any application.

• Work: ECOWAS Protocol grants rights of residence and establishment; work/business is allowed, regularised by a resident card for stays over 90 days.
• Study: ECOWAS nationals may enrol and study; a student resident card regularises long stays.
• Residency: Resident cards available to ECOWAS nationals at reduced fees; no fixed PR timeline published.
• Family: Family members who are ECOWAS nationals enjoy the same free-movement rights individually.

Government fee

F CFA 0

Max stay

90 days

Validity

90 days

The official e-visa platform also covers transit through Benin for travellers continuing to a third country. Benin's clarified rules of 2024-2025 set the transit visa at a maximum stay of eight days, with the traveller required to confirm exit at the border. Transit is applied for online via evisa.bj and is generally priced on the single-entry tier (EUR 50). A passport valid at least six months, a yellow fever certificate, and evidence of onward travel (including any visa for the next country) are required. The transit visa does not authorise work, study or residence.

Government fee

€50

Processing time

2 days

Max stay

8 days

Validity

30 days

The same official e-visa platform (evisa.bj) issues visas for business purposes: meetings, negotiations, conferences and short commercial activity. Business travellers typically take the multiple-entry tier valid 90 days (EUR 100 / about XOF 65,596), though the 30-day single (EUR 50) or 30-day multiple (EUR 75) tiers are also available. The visa is delivered online within roughly 48-96 hours. A passport valid at least six months and a yellow fever certificate are required, and an invitation from a Benin company or proof of business purpose supports the application. The e-visa permits business meetings but not local employment; longer professional postings require a visa professionnel and a carte de résident.

Government fee

€100

Processing time

2 days

Max stay

90 days

Validity

90 days

Benin's restructured rules for foreigners define a study visa for non-exempt nationals enrolled at a Benin higher-education institution such as the Universite d'Abomey-Calavi. The initial stay is up to 12 months and is renewable once; where the cumulative stay exceeds 90 days the supporting file must be presented physically. Foreign students must hold a certificate of admission or enrolment and, for stays over three months, obtain a student carte de résident from the DEI (a residence/accommodation certificate replaces the chief's certificate for students). Official application fees for the study visa are not published as a single figure.

• Study: Full enrolment at the admitting Benin institution.
• Residency: Student resident card regularises long stays; switching to professional status is possible after studies.

Max stay

365 days

Validity

365 days

Benin's reform of its law on foreigners (2024-2025) defines a professional long-stay visa for foreigners coming to work or carry out a professional activity. The initial stay is up to 12 months and is renewable once; where the cumulative stay exceeds 90 days, supporting documents must be submitted physically (not only online). Foreign salaried work additionally requires a work permit (permis de travail) issued by the Ministry of Labour and a visa of the employment contract. Holders staying beyond three months must obtain a carte de résident from the Direction de l'Emigration et de l'Immigration (DEI). Government fees for the professional visa are not published as a single official figure.

• Work: Authorises professional activity once paired with a work permit and (for stays over 3 months) a resident card.
• Residency: Leads into the resident-card system (temporaire then ordinaire then privilegie).

Max stay

365 days

Validity

365 days

Under the Benin Labour Code a foreigner may only work if holding a work permit (permis de travail). The permit is delivered by the Direction Generale du Travail after approval of the Minister in charge of labour, conditional on a genuine job and a valid employment contract with an employer established in Benin; the visa (endorsement) of the foreign worker's contract is subordinate to the work permit. It is issued for twelve months and can be renewed several times. Since the 2020s the procedure is dematerialised: the work permit, the expatriate/foreign employment contract and the local contract can be processed online. The work permit underpins the professional visa and the carte de résident; published government fees vary by case and are not stated as a single figure.

• Work: Authorises salaried employment with the sponsoring employer for 12 months, renewable.
• Residency: Supports the resident-card path; renewable employment builds toward the ordinary then privileged resident card.

Validity

365 days

Benin has no passive golden-visa or citizenship-by-investment scheme; investor migration runs through setting up a company and, optionally, obtaining approval (agrement) under the 2020 Investment Code via APIEx, the single-window investment agency. The Code's preferential regimes are tiered by capital: Regime A for investments under XOF 1 billion, Regime B for XOF 1-50 billion, and Regime C for XOF 50 billion or more, offering tax and customs advantages (e.g. corporate-income-tax and patente exemptions) rather than any residence title. Foreign investors and company directors regularise their stay through the professional visa and the carte de résident; durable business ties support progression to the ordinary and privileged resident cards. There is no published government fee specific to investor residence.

• Work: Investor/director may run the business; the route confers tax/customs advantages, not an automatic residence permit.
• Residency: Via the resident-card system; durable business ties support the privileged 10-year card.

Min. investment

F CFA 1,000,000,000

Benin does not publish a separate named family-reunification visa; foreign spouses and family members of a person resident in Benin regularise their long stay through the general carte de résident system, with family ties (a spouse or family residing in Benin) accepted as grounds for residence and a factor toward the 10-year privileged card. Applicants over three months' stay apply to the Direction de l'Emigration et de l'Immigration with proof of the family relationship in addition to the standard residence-card documents. The temporary card costs XOF 100,000 for non-ECOWAS nationals (XOF 20,000 for ECOWAS nationals); a repatriation bond applies to non-ECOWAS applicants unless exempted by agreement. Marriage to a Beninese citizen is also a recognised path to acquiring Beninese nationality under the nationality code.

• Work: Residence on family grounds; salaried work still requires a work permit.
• Study: Covers residence including study.
• Residency: Family ties support progression to the ordinary then privileged resident card; marriage to a citizen is a path to nationality.
• Family: Spouse and minor children regularised via the resident-card system (minors under 18 generally exempt from holding a card).

Government fee

F CFA 100,000

Validity

365 days

Under Law No. 2024-31 of 2 September 2024 (amended by Law 2025-11 of 1 July 2025), Benin recognises Beninese nationality for Afro-descendants: persons of sub-Saharan African descent whose ancestor was deported from the continent during the transatlantic slave trade. Applicants must be at least 18, hold no other African nationality, and prove their descent through civil records, historical registers, attested testimony or DNA testing from a Benin-accredited laboratory. Applications are filed only on the official portal myafroorigins.bj (launched July 2025) with a USD 100 fee; a decision is issued within three months of a complete file. A successful applicant receives a Certificate of Eligibility valid three years, granting freedom to enter, stay in and leave Benin, the right to a Beninese passport, and the ability to transmit nationality to minor descendants.

• Work: Certificate grants freedom to enter, stay and leave; recognised nationals enjoy full rights including work.
• Study: Recognised nationals may study on national terms.
• Residency: Confers recognition of Beninese nationality and the right to a Beninese passport; Certificate of Eligibility valid 3 years.
• Family: Nationality can be transmitted to minor descendants; each adult applies on their own ancestry.

Government fee

$100

Processing time

90 days

Validity

1,095 days

The ordinary resident card is the second-tier residence document, valid up to three years and renewable, granted to foreigners with sufficient resources and good moral character who have already held a temporary resident card twice. It is delivered by the Direction de l'Emigration et de l'Immigration (DEI). The official fee is XOF 250,000 for non-ECOWAS nationals (XOF 50,000 for ECOWAS nationals), plus the repatriation bond for non-ECOWAS applicants where no exemption agreement applies. A valid resident card exempts the holder from the entry visa, and the holder may renew it or progress to the 10-year privileged resident card.

• Work: Permits residence and the declared activity (salaried work still needs a work permit).
• Study: Covers residence including study.
• Residency: Renewing the ordinary card twice with established ties opens the 10-year privileged resident card.

Government fee

F CFA 250,000

Validity

1,095 days

Any foreigner whose stay in Benin exceeds three months must obtain a carte de résident from the Direction de l'Emigration et de l'Immigration (DEI), and must apply within three months of arrival (minors under 18 and diplomats are generally exempt). The temporary resident card is the entry-level card, valid one year and renewable twice; holding it twice is the precondition for moving up to the ordinary card. The official fee is XOF 100,000 for non-ECOWAS nationals (XOF 20,000 for ECOWAS nationals). Non-ECOWAS applicants must also lodge a repatriation bond (caution de rapatriement) with the Treasury, unless their country has an exemption agreement, with 20% of the bond paid to the DEI. A valid resident card exempts the holder from the entry visa.

• Work: Permits residence with the underlying activity (work needs a work permit; business needs registration).
• Study: Covers residence of enrolled students.
• Residency: Holding the temporary card twice is the precondition for the 3-year ordinary card, then the 10-year privileged card.

Government fee

F CFA 100,000

Validity

365 days

The privileged resident card is Benin's long-term residence document, valid ten years and renewable. It is granted to foreigners who have twice renewed the ordinary resident card and can demonstrate durable ties to Benin, such as ownership of property, an established business, or family residing in the country. It is delivered by the Direction de l'Emigration et de l'Immigration (DEI). The official fee is XOF 800,000 for non-ECOWAS nationals (XOF 100,000 for ECOWAS nationals); a repatriation bond applies to non-ECOWAS applicants unless an exemption agreement exists. A valid resident card exempts the holder from the entry visa.

• Work: Long-term residence with broad activity rights; salaried work still requires a work permit.
• Study: Covers residence including study.
• Residency: This is the long-term (10-year) residence card, the top tier of Benin's resident-card system.

Government fee

F CFA 800,000

Validity

3,650 days