Visa touristique d'entente
 

Hi all,
just a quick note to say that I've finally found one place where they sell a VTE: Ouagadougou. Unfortunately, you'll have to first get a visa for BF to get there.. I had tried in various embassies and couldn't get one.

It costs 25'000 CFA and is valid for 1 entry in each country (Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina, Niger, Benin, Togo) for 60 days, although only in a contiguous trip. Which means you can do, say, BF, Niger, Benin, Togo but not CIV, Ghana, Togo, Benin. Theoretically.

If you get it just to get through Togo and Benin it may not be worth it as the total price would be the same and they issue temporary visas at the border. For me, the only reason to purchase it is to be able to go to Cote d'Ivoire, as their own visa is supposedly only available in your home country and costs 100€ +. Now I'll need to get there to check it actually works..

Go to DGM (N12 21.630 W1 32.453) before 11AM with 2 photos and 25K CFA and you can pick up the visa next day at 4PM.

Cheers,
Laurent

I checked for it in Bamako in March and it was impossible to get - last chance was the Benin consulate but they stopped doing it a couple years ago.
So like you say Ouaga would be the place, or possibly in Benin. But then you already paid for the Burkina visa (which is what - 40000 CFA now?) and it makes less sense getting the VTE. Which is a pity.
Also remains to see if they will accept it when crossing into Niger.

I'm in Cote d'Ivoire, no prob at the border, quickly stamped in.

I had to show them how to fill in the carnet, they couldn't have cared less. And they haven't see a tourist for quite a while.

VTE and Ghana Visa in Ouagadougou.
 

We also got our VTE as above in the last few days and our Ghana visa after an interview to explain why we had not got the ghana visa in the UK.

Chris

Niger border is where they may not accept the VDE, from past reports.

Update from Burkina, Dec 2012
 

Hi all,
I can confirm they are still issuing in Ouaga as posted by lbendel.
25000 CFA, 2 photos required, takes 2 days to issue.
All very friendly and helpful.

Happy travels

Thanks for the update always good to know it is still available as a back up plan! Thanks again.

David

You can also get the visa in Niamey. I got it in Spring 2012. Same price as in Ouaga and takes half a day. To get to Niamey you already need a visa though.

Some bloggers wrote they got it at the French embassy in Mauritania
 

Some bloggers wrote they got it at the French embassy in Mauritania.

I wrote and visted the France embasy in Mauritania.

No one is available to speak to except security guards who just said yes to every question, so that was unreliable.

The process... go to the bank and pay US$ 10 to get a code. Phone a special phione number (borrow a phone or buy a SIM card). Arrange an appointment in 1 or 2 or 3 days.

I did not bother with this PITA (frustrating) process, possibly just to find out in 30 seconds that the embassy does or does not offer this VTE visa.

We were also told that VTE doesn't exist anymore. We asked at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014 at:
1. Embassy of Ivory Coast in Senegal
2. Embassy of Burkina Faso in Ghana
3. Embassy of Togo in Ghana

It seems that everybody knew about this visa but the helpful staff were always telling us that the embassies one by one were stopping to issue this visa, so nowadays it doesn't exist anymore.

It's a pity because it seems it was a really helpful visa scheme.

Some further info - tried to get it in Ouaga but they 'didn't even want to talk with me' since I only had a transit visa for Burkina.
To apply for VTE you need a full visa (90 days is it?) for Burkina.
VTE, 25000 CFA, two fotos, valid 60 days, single entry to the five countries.
They said you can also get it in the other four countries, but perhaps not at the embassies.

You need to go to Services des Passeports.
In Ouaga this is easy to find. As you come in from Bobo D. on the highway, there is an overpass 1 km before Centre Ville. After the overpass, look for the big sign BAC (Bureau Anti Corruption) to the right and next the Garage de la Police National - there you also have a smaller sign, "Services des Passports".
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-G...0/IMG_1071.JPG
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q...0/IMG_1073.JPG
They said it takes 4-5 days. I asked if there was a way to speed things up, but she wouldn't say, as I wasn't allowed to apply for the VTE (this made me think there is indeed a way to speed things up). :)
Hope this was helpful.

I ended up applying for visa for Niger at the consulate. Took two days, 20000 CFA.
The big gain with VTE is if you are going to CIV. And of course, you don't have to apply four more times, if you are going to all five countries.

Oh, that's great to know! Thanks for dropping a line!

It's true! We finally got the VTE in Ouaga and it was even recognised by the immigration officials in Togo and Benin! Worked a miracle!

More details at:
ΒΔ Αφρική - mad nomad

Glad it worked out for you.

//Still available, but mind you: it takes 3 days (no way to speed up the proces).

GPS:N 12 21.629 W 001 32.450