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Benin visa requirements

Current entry categories for 199 passport nationalities, paired with official evidence as it is reviewed.

Access data checked August 24, 20269 official sources collected
Citizenship1Visa-free39eVisa159
Passport directory

Access by passport

Open any status for its canonical passport–destination page, evidence timeline, official sources, and application route where available.

199 passports

Citizenship

1

Visa-free

39

eVisa

159
Policy history

Official evidence timeline

One group agreement or destination policy can support many passport relationships. Dates are recorded only when an official source establishes them.

  1. Current official routeVisa-free

    Benin: current named ordinary-passport visa waivers

    The current Foreign Ministry agreement register expressly identifies these ordinary- or national-passport waiver entries, including the current UEMOA/ECOWAS free-movement entries.

    • The current Foreign Ministry register, not the 2020 general flyer, is the operative support for this named ordinary-passport cohort. It records both the country and the passport types covered by each agreement.
    • The reciprocal entries cover HT, HK, SG, BZ, DM, GD, MH, FM, AG, BS, BB, MY, PH and VC; its stated periods are 14 days for HK, 14 days for SG, 30 days for MY and PH, and three months for the others.
    • The UEMOA/ECOWAS entries cover SL, BF, CI, GW, ML, NE, SN, TG, CV, GM, NG, LR, GH and GN. The register identifies the applicable ECOWAS Protocol or UEMOA Treaty; duration and any travel-document conditions must be confirmed with the competent authorities.
    • The African-agreement entries cover ZA, TN, RW, CF, TD, CG, MU, ST, SC, KE and BI. Their register entries expressly include a national or ordinary passport and generally state three months, except ZA states one month.
    • The September 2020 MAEC flyer claiming a unilateral 53-African-country waiver is retained as historical official evidence but is not promoted for its other 28 codes. The current register lists several of those countries only for diplomatic/service passports and does not reproduce a 53-country unilateral rule.
    • This policy does not establish employment, residence, study, transit, crew, diplomatic/official, special-document, health, document-validity, prior-history, public-order, national-security or case-specific admissibility treatment. The separate 72-hour cruise exemption requires an approved travel agency.
    39 passport nationalities covered

    Haiti, Hong Kong (SAR China), Singapore, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Malaysia, Philippines, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Cape Verde Islands, The Gambia, Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Guinea, South Africa, Tunisia, Rwanda, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Rep.), Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Kenya, Burundi

    Official sourcesMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin: Ministry of Foreign Affairs: reciprocal visa-exemption agreementsMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin: Ministry of Foreign Affairs: UEMOA/ECOWAS movement agreementsMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin: Ministry of Foreign Affairs: African-country visa-exemption agreementsDirection de l’Émigration et de l’Immigration: Benin Directorate of Emigration and Immigration: ServicesGovernment of the Republic of Benin: Benin official eVisa platform: Travel without visaSecretariat General of the Government of Benin: Law No. 2025-15 on entry, stay, residence and exit of foreignersGovernment of the Republic of Benin / Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation: Benin Government: 53 African countries exempt from entry visaGovernment of the Republic of Benin / Benin Tourism: Benin Government: 72-hour visa exemption for cruise passengers
  2. Current official routeCitizenship

    Benin: Beninese ordinary passport

    A Beninese ordinary passport is issued to persons of Beninese nationality; this is not foreign visitor admission.

    • Applies to Beninese citizens holding an ordinary Beninese passport.
    • Does not decide dual-nationality document choice, foreign residence, or foreign-passport entry conditions.
    1 passport nationalities covered

    Benin

    Official sourceDirection de l’Émigration et de l’Immigration: Benin Directorate of Emigration and Immigration: Services
  3. Current official routeeVisa

    Benin: ordinary foreign visitor eVisa residual

    Foreign ordinary-passport visitors outside ECOWAS and without an MFA-listed ordinary/national-passport waiver must obtain Benin’s tourist/visit eVisa online before arrival. This exact residual excludes the 39 current waiver rows and Beninese citizenship.

    • DEI states that the tourist/visit eVisa is for family, professional, health or tourist stays not exceeding 90 days; it is renewable for the same duration.
    • DEI states that it is issued to foreign nationals outside ECOWAS or without a Benin visa-exemption agreement, obtained online via evisa.bj, and held before arrival.
    • The three current MFA agreement-register endpoints supply the exact ordinary/national-passport exemption roster excluded from this residual. The API is intermittently slow; its successful 2026-08-21 responses should be independently rechecked before promotion.
    • This does not establish work, study, business, transit, residence, cruise, crew, diplomatic, official, service, refugee, special-document, health, passport-validity, public-order, security, prior-history or final-admission treatment.
    159 passport nationalities covered

    Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoro Islands, Congo (Dem. Rep.), Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao (SAR China), North Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Korea, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau Islands, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Korea, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Sudan, Suriname, eSwatini, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei), Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Andorra, Palestinian Territory

    Official sourcesDirection de l’Émigration et de l’Immigration: Benin Directorate of Emigration and Immigration: ServicesGovernment of the Republic of Benin: e-Visa: How it worksMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin: Ministry of Foreign Affairs: reciprocal visa-exemption agreementsMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin: Ministry of Foreign Affairs: UEMOA/ECOWAS movement agreementsMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin: Ministry of Foreign Affairs: African-country visa-exemption agreementsGovernment of the Republic of Benin: Benin official eVisa platform: Travel without visaSecretariat General of the Government of Benin: Law No. 2025-15 on entry, stay, residence and exit of foreigners