Senegal Visa Compulsory For All Nationalities July 1st 2013
 

Hi Guys,

As you may or may not know, ALL nationalities except ECOWAS citizens and Moroccans and Mauritanians need a visa for Senegal as of July 1st 2013.

I do know that with pre enrollment and payment on the Senegal visa website you can get a 3 month multi entry visa at Dakar airport.

But for us overlanders it's not looking so easy. They have said it will be obtainable at the borders, but nobody knows how long it will take for this to become a reality. I for one do not fancy turning up at Diama or Rosso and dealing with the crooks there without a Senegal visa.

Rabat and Nouakchott Senegal embassies will only issue them to residents of those countries (bit odd, as residents here don't need a visa in the first place).

Reports suggest that only the 4 Senegal embassies/consulates in France (Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, Bordeaux) and the one in Berlin and Brussels are currently authorised to issue visas (they have the biometric facilities there). People also reporting the one in Banjul can issue them.

For those of us coming from Europe it's all a big headache. The Senegal embassy in London 100% will not issue the new biometric visa they don't have the facilities to do so. I am tempted to try at one of the embassies in France as we are passing through there, but concerned they will say as a non resident of France I can't get one there. Any thoughts?

Anybody have any more up to date information to share? This could really affect overlanders as the season for West Africa approaches.

Cheers

David

Just had this back from the Snedai office.....anybody confirm this is accurate? I have my suspicions, I suspect she is simply writing out what is on a bit of paper, and not what is actually the situation at the borders:

Dear sir

In response to your query ,you can apply online before you go by road .Once the application is validated you will receive two email first is immediate is the registration receipt and another within 48 hours. In your case please print his emails and travelling with you can get your visa at the border Mauritania Rosso we have a team
To do your enrollment online choose other country .Do not hesitate to come back if you have any other question

Thank

MAME SIRA VARORE
Online operator

I've send emails asking for informations to the embassys in berlin, bruxelles and in hague one month ago. so far no reply and i don't think i'll get any.

hi,
at the german wuestenschiff board 2 people stated that they did it exactly that way and they got the visa without any problems at july 8th. at rosso.
they applied online when they were in mauritania .
anyway they said this is not possible at diama, only rosso.

Wüstenschiff • Thema anzeigen - Visum für Senegal (17.07. 23:22, user: 7palava)

cheers
todo

Hi Todo,

Thank you so much for the information I really do appreciate it. If true, it does make our lives ALOT easier.

I just had another response from the SNEDAI office:

Dear sir

Don’t worry Rosso began the deliver visa I give you this assurance try to do your enrollment online and travelling with the official document

Thank

MAME SIRA VARORE
OPERATOR ONLINE

I just hope it is true!

If anybody else is passing Rosso I would very much appreciate hearing about your experience.

David

Does anyone know how long the pre-registration will be valid for?

there is a embassy in oslo aswell...our icelandic travelling partners got the visas there last year as they always needed visas for senegal

Same as us, we had Aussie/NZ passengers get it at the London embassy for Senegal, Norweigans in Oslo etc

Problem now is the visa is biometric.

You have to go in person for fingerprinting.

Only 4 Senegalese consulates in France, the one in Berlin, and the one in Brussels are biometric enabled.

Definitely can get it at Dakar airport, but still waiting for reports about getting it at land borders.

hi dave,
see last 5 at Wüstenschiff • Thema anzeigen - Visum für Senegal

plenty people (including joe from camping sukuta, gambia) already got the visa at rosso by now.
none of them went to any embassy, all applied online.

at the border rosso they take your fingerprints and use the photo
from your passport.

in future it shall also be possible to do it at diama.

greetz
todo

I'll be travelling in Senegal in October. I haven't even thought I'd be staying in hotels so how do i go about getting a letter of confirmation? I'm not even exactly sure when I'll be (trying) to enter the country. All I know for sure is that I'm leaving Plymouth on the 24th September and heading South, returning about 6-7 weeks later.

I phoned the Senegal embassy in London earlier today and the chap I spoke to wasn't particularly helpful, he just said I had to have a confirmation letter of accomodation and turn up at the Rosso border crossing having already completed the online visa application.

Anyone lucky in getting a senegal visa in Europe? We applied on 4th aug., i've got the paiment confirmation and nothing else. Since then we tried to get some explanations, we send our paiment references 4 times, and since then no more reply from helpdesk.Anyone with similar problems?

I'm also interested by this question!

RR.

So am I.

Happy trails,

Gee

So, if anybody has the answer, it will be so welcome:helpsmilie:

RR.

Well, i don't think we'll get an answer, yesterday i was calling in senegal directly, they just hang up. Apparently they don't like the word " visa".

I heard that is for 3 months.
I'll ask for visa in a month and will let you guys know if nobody else will give updates before.

Another suggestion that the visa is obtainable at Rosso.

If you go to the Snedai site to pre register, there is a dropdown menu for where you want to collect the visa.

It now details a number of embassies, and also the border at Rosso and the border at Karang (border with Gambia).

Any more reports from people who have passed through recently?

I'm being told that we can get the Visa at the embassy in Madrid and the pre-registration form seems to confirm this... I actually called at the Embassy in London on Tuesday and spoke to a Mr N diaye who also confirmed... So why and I still suspicious? well I'm leading the latest Scoots trip down to Gambia and it will be a complete disaster if it all goes pear shaped when we get to Madrid. So any other help / info appreciated, including a waypoint for the Senegal Embassy in Madrid if anyone has one.

Other option I guess is Easyjet to Madrid and find out for myself....

Personally not convinced that Madrid is issuing, though stand to be corrected.

If you go to http://www.snedai.sn/en/

The box at the top of the page changes every few seconds, and lists within it the places you can obtain it.

Madrid is not in that box at any stage, though it does appear on the application stage under TRAVEL INFORMATION.

What interests me is that Rosso (Mauri), Karang (Gambia), and Mpak (G Bissau) have all appeared in this box in the last 72 hours. They were not there before, making me think they must know it is possible for them to suddenly have appeared.

I have heard from Joe and Claudia at the camp site near Banjul, they say you can get the Senegal visa at Rosso crossing.

Can anybody else confirm this?

Rosso or Diama
 

I've got my visa these days (easy process in Lyon) and I have a question about entering in Senegal from Mauri with my car:
I've heard that it's only possible in Rosso because Diama's border post is not ready for these biometric visas.
What is your opinions (or better, your experiences), because I prefer entering in Diama (less bribes and hassles, I've heard).

Thanks in advance,

RR.

Looking Good For Rosso
 

Latest article about visas at Rosso:

Visa biométrique : le poste frontière de Rosso inauguré

http://www.ndarinfo.com/Visas-biomet...013_a6506.html

From what I was told at the Sengal embassy in London. You can still enter at Diama but they do not yet issue the visas. Madrid is certainly on the list and I'mplanning on flying out to pick up my visa monday week rather than find that we cant get them with a group of 8 in tow...

I was also told that we could elect to collect the visas at Dakar and Diama would allow us through the border on the strength of the 2 application emails. Don't think I would like to risk that one though.

I'll post again once I've been to Madrid. However if it worked in Lyon I would think all should be OK

More news saying Mpak (G Bissau border) is now an option to get the Senegal visa with pre registration:

Visas biométriques : prolongement des facilitations jusqu’à fin octobre

So from all the reports I've read from travellers and media, Rosso is certainly an option.

Karang (Gambia) and Mpak (G Bissau) have been mentioned in many media reports and official statements, but no confirmation from travellers having obtained the visa there.

As for Guinea and Mali into Senegal, no news at all.

Having used the Rosso crossing earlier in the year it is certainly not an option I would even give consideration to again. The hassle and the scams on both sides of the river back the whole process a nightmare. I would go further and confirm what I told the embassy, that if I have to use Rosso I will cancel the entire trip, yes it really is that bad!

Was I just unlucky? I don't think so as I had been repeatedly told by travellers not to use Rosso as it was so bad. However as I was travelling on my own rather than leading a group I though I would give it a try. What a mistake to make.... Never again!:eek3:

Visa in Paris
 

My trip is planned for January so Madrid or NCK may be issuing visas by then,but if not, does anyone know if the Paris embassy issues the visa the same day, I don't want to hang around Paris longer than necessary .
It is a bit of a ball ache having to go to Paris but I suppose it is on my way from UK.
I presume armed with a visa I will still be able to cross at Diamma as usual, Rosso is not an option!!

Visa in Paris
 

My trip is planned for January so Madrid or NCK may be issuing visas by then,but if not, does anyone know if the Paris embassy issues the visa the same day, I don't want to hang around Paris longer than necessary .
It is a bit of a ball ache having to go to Paris but I suppose it is on my way from UK.
I presume armed with a visa I will still be able to cross at Diamma as usual, Rosso is not an option!!

I was in Senegal in August and I crossed the border from Mauritania in Rosso.
I made visa in Rosso, with the pre-registation from Italy. I noticed that the situation in Rosso has changed a lot....I had already been there in the past!!!
I crossed the border in one hour and a half and the whole thing cost me 22 euros including insirance for a month

Thanks for the information Fefo this is good news.

Just to say, on the Lonely Liar forum people have reported that visa can now be obtained at the embassy in Banjul. I don't know this is accurate but somebody said they got it there last week.

David

We've got our visas yesterday in Bruxelles. At 11:00 we left there the passports, an pass photo, an pass copy and the pre-registration form, filled up an form, fingersprint and an other photo taken there, all of this in about 20min, and at 16:00 we had our passports back in 5 min. Faster than many western embassyes can do.

Just Picked up my Visa in Madrid. It is the consulate you need not the Embassy contrary to what it says on the web site. As per previous post, you need two passport photos and a copy of your passport. Other than that piece of cake.

Madrid Consulate is at 55 Calle Luis Larrainza, Madrid
Tel: 913 095 488
Fax 913 090 087

Metro station is Alfonso Xlll

Lat Long
N 40 27.086
W 003 40.084

Just one further point you do not need the 2nd email that is mentioned on the web site. Don't wait for it as it won't appear.....:scooter:

Apparently you should definitely wait for the second email though if you are picking up the visa at Rosso. A German couple had to wait two days at the Senegalese side of the border for it and other people supposedly even 5 days.

We are in Nouakchott and waiting for the second confirmation.

If anybody has crossed without having the second mail and picked up the visa directly at Rosso please let us know.

Cheers Fabian

Hi Wootan,

We have just applied for the Senegal visa, to be picked up at Rosso, and we got the second confirmation email through within 48hours.

Did you have a hotel confirmation for the night you say you will arrive in Senegal? I am suspicious that this may have been an issue for some people, though thinking out loud.

David

Hi David,

good to hear that it actually came through in 48 hours in your case. We applied yesterday evening so there is nothing to be worried about yet. It apparently did take some people longer than others. Someone just phoned the contact number and after a little chat with the woman on the other side he had the second mail within 15 minutes.
I don't have a reservation though and others who have crossed recently did not either so shouldn't be of importance.
Just didn't want anybody getting ideas about going to the border without the second mail printed out as that was the reason for people being stucked there before. :thumbup1:

Fabian

in Rosso is not necessary to have the pre registration. This can be done directly to the police station to red and pay them directly (50 EUR)...but without pre-registation you need more time at the police office.
however, you must inform the police if you want a visa with single or multiple entry. If you don't ask, they made a single entrance visa..and after the print of visa, if you need more entrance... you must pay other 50 €...

senegal visa/boarders
 

hello, I,m thinking of entering Senegal from mali (kadeira I think ) jan/feb time, anyone heard anything about this boarder crossing regards this new visa carry on. regards chris

FYI: Found on the LP Forum....this guy tried for Senegal visa in Banjul (with pre registration paper) but refused. However offered cash, accepted, paid and visa issued!

The Visa :: The Little Baobab

have people been filling in names of people/addresses in senegal on the online form? have you made them up? cheers.

Ended up having to wait a whole week in Nouakchott for our confirmation e-mail. Trying to contact them by mail was never fruitful in our case and endless phone calls only started doing any good when we got too annoying.

Met three Portugese guys at Rosso Senegal who went there without a visa. They had to do the preregistration online and pay 100€ to some guy to be processed a day or two later. They were able to stay in St. Louis though with their passports being held at the border.

Border crossing took us 6 hours and went relatively smooth. Payed about 50€ in total for everything including fixer. Abdul N’Deng (00221776355549 – Senegal, 0022246135429 – Mauritania) was our fixer after not being juicy enough for our first one and did a good job. Very friendly and correct in our experience. Got receipts for everything but the 3000CFA to get the passports processed on the Senegalese side.
Was a very interesting day in our experience.

Fabian

Can the Senegal visa be obtained before we even get to the border? I plan to get the Lassez-passier at the embassy as well before heading south as I did when I drove north in the spring.

I'd like to get as much done before arriving at the border so to give the crooks at Rosso/Diama as little as possible to hang me on!

Overland travel to Senegal, coming from Mali - VISA
 

Hi guys,

we're currently in Togo, West-Africa and in one month we'll be travelling via Burkina and Mali to Senegal. It's all fine that you can pick up your visa in Rosso and 2 other places, but on the online application form the Kidira border (close to Kayes in Mali) is not indicated.

Does anybody have experience with getting a visa for Senegal in Bamako or so (or in Lomé)? What's the deal with cars older than 7 years? I do not have a Carnet de Passage en Douane. For older cars they used to give the "Passavant" for 3 days (to transit).
Any advise would be VERY welcome
Regards
Gert

Senegal visa in Madrid
 

Hi All,

Just thought I would share my experience of getting the visa in Madrid. I applied online, but lost the connection and at first would not accept my payment. That done, the mail arrives but says for collection at Dakar airport! I mail the helpline but no reply. So decide to just head to the Madrid consulate.
Got ushered straight into the visa office. They make you fill out the form again, same questions as online. But this seems to just be kept in her draw, as she gave me one that had already been completed as guidance.
Handed over copy of passport, 1 photo and they looked at my vehicle registration.
All done in about 20 minutes. So if you are heading through Madrid it is certainly an easy consulate to get the visa.

Mike

I cannot comment on visas as we didn't need one in the spring. Get a Lassez-passier at the Senegalese consulate/embassy. You'll need your ECOWAS brown card and vehicle papers. We got our lassez-passier at the Senegalese consulate in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It should be no problem even for an older vehicle. We have an '82 Toyota Land Cruiser and we drove through Senegal in the spring of 2013, spending nearly two weeks driving around Senegal as well as a little in The Gambia. We entered from Guinea and left via Diama.

So no problems for non-residents? Have you entered Senegal yet with this visa? Any problems entering?

Senegal visa in Banjul
 

Guys,

Just to confirm you can get the Senegal visa in Banjul (even without doing the online pre-registration). We were there 3 weeks ago and there were people there who had not completed the online registration and they received their visas the same as us. Be aware though the process is lengthy, you get there register at the little window (filling out another "local" set of forms) then you wait for your name to be called then you go round the front and enter the building get your photo and finger prints done and then told to come back at 3:30.

All well and good so we left did some maintenance on the Landy and went back on time but still had to wait till 5 to get our visas along with everyone else.

Be prepared for the visas to be issued in African time! :thumbup1:

G

Same day application and pick up at 3:30pm? That's not African time! :wink2:

What good is getting the visa in Banjul for overlanders? Unless you fly in you had to pass through Senegal to get to Banjul anyways?

Senegal visa
 

Cruiser guy,

Yep I agree with you what use is it giving information to other travellers who might be doing something different and searching the web for answers.....

Anyway back on topic..... you can get the new bio-metric visa for Senegal in Banjul, if you want to.

Hello folks!

I have a question on how to fill in the online pre-registration form (http://www.snedai.sn) so I can get the visa for Senegal.
What sould I type in the "date of departure" and "date of return" fields?
Is that the date of entry and date of exit?
Also what sould I put in the "address of stay in Senegal" field?
Is that OK if I put the camping that I'm going to stay?

Thanks!

Yes, you could put the address for where you are camping, somewhere like Zebrabar near St Louis.

However, you do need to provide a confirmed letter from a hotel in support of your application.

We had some passengers on our trips who did not provide one and there were considerable delays to their application.

Date of departure and date of return is as you say date of entry and date of exit.

David

Thank you for the immediate reply David!

But how can I get a confirmed letter from a hotel?
It can't work with a letter from the camping (if I ask from the camping to send me one)?

You can just use a campsite address. I got a email from zebrabar and use that and have just got the second of the two emails back from the pre registration. I intend to get my visa in Nouakchott.

Registration receipt
 

I have received the Recu dInscription/Registration receipt. Is there another email to come, or is this the one to take to the consulate. I got this one immediately after applying five days ago. There is a note at the bottom that says the conformation email must accompany it

Richard

There will be a second mail with your visa confirmation. Don't know if the registration receipt is enough for getting it at a consulate but would not have worked at Rosso.

Fabian

I emailed them to ask where the second email had got to and received this reply.

Dear sir

Please go at Madrid with the registration receipt and issue your visa don’t wait for the second email

Thank you

cordially.

So it looks like you can get the visa with just the first email. (maybe not Rosso)

Richard

i have also got the 1st email back straight away. im not going to worry about the other one just yet, but will prob email them soon. we are planning on collecting from nouakchott. good luck folks...

Hi Mavis,

Are you sure you can collect the visa from Nouakchott?

Cheers,

Gee

Senegal visa in Nouakchott
 

Hello, I confirm I got my Senegal Visa in Nouakchott 5 weeks ago.

yes, getting it in nouakchotte is easy enough, remember to take photocopies of the first 5 pages of your passport! they get a bit stroppy if you dont. also the embassy is not as stated in the lonely planet. if your driving from nouadhibou you will come to a large roundabout with a fish sculpture in the middle. turn left here and it is a few 100m (i think) on the right. no sign, but a flag and a security guard.sorry, but i didnt have my gps at the time.

Senegal visa in NKC update
 

The Senegalese embassy is at:

N 18 06.317 W 015 59.602

As Mavis says, turn left at the roundabout with the fish sculpture.
Takes less than half an hour, friendly and efficient. Pick up at 14.30 without waiting.

I asked Zebrabar (Ursula) for a confirmation and she kindly sent me a confirmation d'herbergement, which was accepted without any problems.

Happy travels,

Gee

Hi folks- we are planning to come into Senegal from Mali - Kayes to Kidira, then down through Niokolo-Koba park, continuing south to Guinea. Does anyone know if it is possible to obtain visa and Laissez-Passer at Kidira? We will be passing through Madrid on way down from Europe, so we could potentially pick up the visas there. Does anyone know if a Laissez-Passer can be acquired at the Madrid Consulate? Will be driving a 2001 Land Cruiser.

That is the one border that, as of yet, nobody has reported back on regarding the issue of Senegal visas.

I personally can confirm the visa can be issued at Rosso (with Mauri) and Mpak (with Guinea Bissau).....we have obtained the visa at these borders with our groups.

I have read reports you can get the visa on the border with Guinea and also one of the borders with Gambia....but that is info from other traveller reports.

If you are heading down through Europe, you can simply get the Senegal visa at the embassy in Nouakchott......presume from there you're heading into Mali, then turn back towards Senegal and Guinea?

Hi Dave - actually, no, not planning on going through Nouakchott. Heading east after crossing Mauri border, along railroad, to Atar, Ouadane, Tichit, then south. We will be coming through Spain, so could stop in Madrid. A bit concerned about the Laissez-Passer - we would prefer not to get a carnet if we don't have to.

thanks, Rick.

Ah ok.

Yes people have managed to get the visa in Madrid. There was a motorbike guide taking some bikers down and they got it in Madrid.

As for the laissez passez, I don't know, we use a CDP.

If you do get the LP it officially costs 2,500CFA (at the border)

But I believe your vehicle has to be less than 8 years old to get the LP.

If it is older than 8 years then they wont issue the LP (at the borders, and from our experience that is.........it might be different at the embassy).

Hi folks- two questions:
- has anyone any experience in getting Senegal visa in Bordeaux, FR? We will be passing through and it may be more convenient than Madrid and it is listed in the online application

- is it possible to get in Rabat? We plan to process Mauritania visa there, so thought it might make sense to do Senegal as well. But Rabat does not seem to be listed in the online app...

thanks, Rick.

Has anyone got a laissez-passier at an Embassy/Consulate north of Senegal? We got one in Freetown last year and it worked but this year for the return trip we were told we don't need one.

Personally, I'd like to give the folks at Diama/Rosso as little as possible to ask for a "cadeau". Our Land Cruiser is a 1982 so it's a little beyond the 8 year limit but it is also registered in an ECOWAS country (Sierra Leone).

We also found that the embassy cannot issue a visa for longer than 3 months even if you pay for more. We're told it may change latter this month.