BRIEF INFO

MINREX

Press release by the Ministry of External Relations of 06 April 2023 on Decree No. 2023/147 of 02 March 2023 to lay down the modalities of application of Law No. 97/012 of 10 January 1997 on the conditions of entry, stay and exit of foreigners in Cameroon

 

14 April 2023

 

On 06 April 2023, the Minister of External Relations, H.E. MBELLA MBELLA issued a press release (hereinafter, the « Release« ) on Decree No. 2023/147 of 02 March 2023 to lay down the modalities for the implementation of Law No. 97/012 of 10 January 1997 on the conditions of entry, stay and exit of foreigners in Cameroon (hereinafter, the « Decree« ).

The Decree establishes new conditions and modalities for the issuance of entry visas on Cameroonian territory with the aim of optimising the processing time of applications and simplifying the procedures for users. The government is thus responding to the need to make the destination more attractive and to comply with international standards in this regard, by responding to the complaints of the consular diaspora. It should also be noted that the Decree repeals the provisions relating to Decree No. 2007/255 of 4 September 2007 to lay down the modalities for the application of Law No. 97/012 of 10 January 1997 relating to the conditions of entry, stay and exit of foreigners in Cameroon, as amended and supplemented by Decree No. 2008/052 of 30 January 2008 and Decree No. 2016/673 of 4 August 2016.

It should be noted that the Decree introduces as a major innovation the dematerialisation of procedures for obtaining a visa to enter Cameroon. Thus, visa applications for Cameroon and the payment of related fees are henceforth exclusively done online via a dedicated platform. Furthermore, visas or authorisations for the issuance of visas online are granted by the competent Diplomatic Mission or Consular Post within three (03) days from the date of online pre-enrolment. In case of express procedure, this period is reduced to twenty-four (24) hours[1] .

The Release specifies that as from 30 April 2023, all visa applications to Cameroon will be made exclusively through the www.evisacam.cm platform.

 

The procedure will be carried out in four (4) steps:

1. Pre-enrolment: the applicant carries out an online pre-registration (E-registration^[2]) by opening a user account on the platform, filling in and validating the online form, and receiving a confirmation by email or SMS;

 

2. Payment of fees: this is done online via various payment methods such as Master card, Visa, Paypal, Mobile Money, Orange Money, Moov, Wave, Safaricom, Airtel, Vodacom, Africell. The applicant receives a proof of payment notification by email or SMS;

 

3. Application processing: the application is processed by the relevant Diplomatic Mission or Consular Post. For applicants residing in remote areas or areas not covered by the Posts, an online visa authorization with a QR Code is issued. For those residing in the same city as the relevant Post, an email or SMS notification is sent to schedule an appointment for biometric enrolment. These procedures are usually finalised within 72 hours, which can be reduced to 24 hours for an express procedure;

 

4. Affixing of the visa: this is done either at the border post of entry for holders of the online visa authorisation or at the relevant Diplomatic or Consular Post for applicants who have completed their enrolment^[3] biometrically at the Post. This phase ends with the affixing of the visa sticker on the applicant’s passport.

 

Finally, the Release specifies that the E-visa system will be progressively installed at land and sea border posts in the near future. It is clear from this text that the implementation of this system will be gradual and that it is not yet effective to date.

[1] Articles 28 and 29 of the Decree.

[2] A dematerialised enrolment service via access to the above-mentioned platform which allows applicants, regardless of their geographical location or the place where the visa is issued in its secure form, to send their application to the consular services by filling in their personal information with all the necessary supporting documents and paying the set fee.

[3] Formalisation of a visa application, in particular: (i) that carried out directly at a diplomatic mission or consular post (ii) that carried out directly at border posts following e-enrolment and consisting, as the case may be, of the formalities of taking fingerprints, a photograph of the face and the iris of the eyes of the applicant in the case of a biometric visa or the issue of the requested visa.