Visa, Passport, and Entry Requirements for Senegal

Visa: there isn't one, and be wary of what you read

For a tourist stay of less than three months, no visa is required for citizens of France, the European Union, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. This has been the case since May 1, 2015, when the biometric visa introduced in July 2013 was scrapped — it had been judged a deterrent to tourism.

A point of wording that matters if your stay is close to the limit: French and British sources say "less than three months", North American sources say "90 days". That's not strictly the same thing, and no official Senegalese source settles it. Go with the stricter reading: 90 days.

Senegal sorts nationalities into three categories. Category A covers neighboring countries and ECOWAS, with a full exemption. Category B — France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and others — enters without a visa under standard conditions. Category C still requires a visa, with prior authorization from the Ministry of the Interior. If you are not European, North American or an ECOWAS national, check with the consulate: the publicly available official lists date from 2015 and 2023, and we found no consolidated list for 2026.

Now, the warning. You will read on some sites that an electronic visa is now mandatory, including for French citizens. That is false at the time of writing.

An e-visa based on reciprocity — a visa required of citizens of countries that impose one on Senegalese nationals — was indeed announced on July 30, 2025 at the Council of Ministers, then publicly confirmed by the Prime Minister. But no official platform exists, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' procedure remains consular only, and the exemption is confirmed by the official French, British and Canadian travel advice pages, the most recent dated September 2026.

That said, this is exactly the kind of rule that can flip from one quarter to the next. Check before you book your flights, and don't rely on an undated article.

What you need in your pocket

On passport validity, one nuance: French and British authorities count six months from the date of entry, Canadian authorities from the date of exit. Take the most cautious rule and count six months after your return.

The return ticket and proof of accommodation are worth a closer look, because there is an interesting gap between the law and practice. Both requirements have a legal basis: they appear in the Franco-Senegalese agreement of August 1, 1995, in force since April 2002, which calls for a non-transferable ticket in your name, sufficient means of support and proof of accommodation. The official British travel advice also mentions them. However, the official French advice does not list them in its "entry and stay" section, and no source documents how often they are checked on arrival.

In other words: they can be required, they are not systematically asked for, and a confirmed booking is exactly the proof expected. Keep it handy on your phone; it costs nothing.

For French minors traveling without both parents: their own passport, a signed authorization to leave the country, and a copy of the signing parent's ID. This is a French exit rule, not a Senegalese entry requirement — but it is checked on departure.

Beyond three months, a foreigner's identity card becomes mandatory, to be applied for locally from the Directorate of Foreigners' Police and Travel Documents. We won't give a fee: the only figure we found appears in a single secondary source, not cross-checked.

The March 2026 change nobody passed on

Here is the second thing that has changed, and it matters: since March 9, 2026, showing a vaccination record or certificate is no longer mandatory to enter Senegal. The decision comes from the Ministry of African Integration, Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad, and its stated purpose is to make international travel easier. Yellow fever, diphtheria-tetanus-polio, measles, hepatitis A and B: recommended, no longer required.

And here is the caveat. Four official foreign references — British, Canadian, American, and the Institut Pasteur — still require a yellow fever certificate in 2026 for travelers coming from or transiting through a country where the disease circulates. Two of them were updated after the Senegalese decision. The Senegalese wording itself makes an exception for arrivals from countries "facing epidemic or endemic situations".

The cautious reading is therefore this:

You're arriving directly from Europe or North America — no certificate required any more.
You're coming from or transiting through a country where yellow fever circulates — bring the certificate, even for a simple airport transit.

This changes nothing of substance: the yellow fever vaccine is still strongly recommended, as the virus circulates in Senegal. A single shot, valid for life, given at an international vaccination center, ideally ten days before departure. In Dakar, the reference center is the Institut Pasteur.

Don't confuse this change with an earlier one: in February 2018, the Ministry of Health announced that a vaccination record would be required at the airport in Diass, then suspended the checks the very next day. Some web pages still mix up the two episodes, when they don't contradict themselves from one paragraph to the next.

Health: what really matters

The real health issue in Senegal isn't yellow fever, it's malaria.

It is present throughout the country, all year round, with Plasmodium falciparum in about 98% of cases. Seasonality varies by region: continuous transmission in the south and southeast, concentrated at the end of the rainy season in the Sahelian north. French authorities consider the risk lower from January to the end of June in the west-central regions — which is precisely the Petite Côte beach area, where most stays take place.

Antimalarial prophylaxis is recommended. It's something to discuss with a doctor, not with an accommodation rental site: the choice of drug depends on how long you're staying, where you're going and your personal situation. What we can say: protection against bites — mosquito net, repellent, covering clothing in the evening — matters as much as the pill.

Also recommended, though not mandatory: up-to-date DTP and MMR, hepatitis A and B, typhoid, meningococcal ACWY, and rabies for long or rural stays. Meningitis has a seasonal upsurge from February to June, mainly in the center and east of the country. Dengue and chikungunya also circulate, which always brings us back to the same measure: don't get bitten.

Finally, travel insurance is not required on entry — we checked five official lists of required documents, and none mentions it. It is still strongly advised, with repatriation coverage: the European Health Insurance Card is not valid in Senegal.

Customs, and what the diaspora is entitled to

This section is mainly for those heading home with four suitcases. It contains the least-known and most useful information on this page.

The general rule: personal effects "in use" are admitted duty-free. Anything clearly used and intended for personal use goes through; anything new, in quantity, or resellable is treated as merchandise.

Traveler allowances, excluding minors for tobacco and alcohol: ten packs of cigarettes or fifty cigars or 250 g of tobacco; one bottle of spirits and one bottle of wine; one bottle of eau de toilette and one of perfume; fifty grams of personal jewelry in gold or silver; cameras, musical instruments, sports and camping equipment; food for personal needs.

And the point few people know: the traveler's guide published by the Directorate General of Customs provides, for Senegalese emigrants, an exemption from duties and taxes for non-commercial family gifts, up to 200,000 FCFA per year.

We flag this with an honest caveat: this arrangement is documented only in Customs' own publications, and no independent source repeats it. It is the official reference source, but the information is poorly circulated outside the customs website — all the more reason to know about it.

Two thresholds to remember. Above 200,000 FCFA in value of goods, using a licensed customs broker becomes mandatory, for both import and export. And on entry, non-residents must declare in writing any amount of foreign currency above the equivalent of one million CFA francs; CFA franc zone banknotes circulate without limit.

Don't confuse this last threshold with another one, which falls under anti-money-laundering rules: since March 2025, any physical transport of cash of at least ten million CFA francs across WAEMU (UEMOA) borders must be declared. Two separate regimes, two different thresholds.

If you are moving house, a full exemption applies to goods in use for at least six months, on presentation of an inventory stamped by the consulate, a certificate of change of residence and proof of ownership. Cars, motorcycles, pleasure boats and aircraft are excluded.

Import of narcotics and of pornographic publications or those deemed subversive is prohibited; weapons, transceivers, medicines beyond personal use, meat and protected species require prior authorization.

Senegalese abroad: your documents

Three clarifications, including a gap we prefer to point out rather than fill.

The consular card is not a travel document. Its official purpose is to identify and register Senegalese abroad, give access to consular assistance, prove length of residence, and establish eligibility for the investment support fund. No official source recognizes it as a document for crossing borders.

What gets you in is the biometric Senegalese passport or the ECOWAS biometric national identity card, established by Law No. 2016-09 and available to Senegalese abroad through the consulates, from age five. If your passport is lost, stolen or expired abroad, consulates issue a safe-conduct pass allowing you to return.

The gap: on the entry of dual nationals, particularly French-Senegalese, no official Senegalese guidance is published online — not by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not by the directorate in charge of Senegalese abroad, not by the foreigners' police. Unlike other countries in the region that publish explicit rules, there is no accessible text here. In practice, a dual national traveling on a French passport falls under the exemption described above. If your situation is unusual — expired Senegalese passport, child born abroad, national service — the only reliable answer comes from the consulate.

Safety: what the authorities say

No area of Senegal is formally advised against by the French authorities. The country is rated from normal to heightened vigilance depending on the area.

Advised against unless essential: the border areas of Casamance with The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, the border area with Mali, and the southern part of the Mauritanian border in the Matam department. Access to classified forests is strictly prohibited, as demining is not complete.

Under heightened vigilance: the rest of Casamance — where travel is recommended on main roads only, by day and not alone — and Dakar, where muggings and burglaries are on the rise, including in daytime, sometimes with weapons. The Corniche road after dark is specifically flagged. The official advice is simple: no jewelry or large sums of money, windows up and doors locked in the car.

The coast from Ziguinchor to Cap Skirring remains accessible; the Cap Skirring hotel area is described by the French authorities as presenting no particular danger. More broadly, an agreement between the Senegalese state and the MFDC was signed in February 2025, along with a recovery plan for Ziguinchor, Sédhiou and Kolda — though this has not, to date, led to any reclassification of the zones.

Finally, advice that applies everywhere and that we repeat on all our pages: don't drive between towns at night. No lighting, pedestrians and animals on the road, vehicles without headlights. It's the number one risk of the trip, far ahead of all the others.

Once the paperwork is sorted

There's one budget item the formalities don't cover and that many people only discover on arrival. With us, you pay 20% of the cost of the stay online — that's our booking fee — and the balance is paid directly to the owner or property on site, usually in cash. On top of that comes the tourist tax of 1,000 FCFA per person per night, collected by the host on behalf of the state.

The booking confirmation we send you serves as proof of accommodation when you enter the country. And if your dates change, our cancellation terms depend on the season of arrival, not on the date you booked.