Cameroon, like several African countries, has officially adopted online visas. The system announced months ago will become effective in a few days. 

Starting from April 30, 2023, applications for Cameroonian visas will be exclusively made online, announced Minister of External Relations, Lejeune Mbella Mbella, through a release issued on Thursday, April 6.

According to the release, regardless of the applicant’s geographic location, visa applications must be submitted on www.evisacam.cm following established administrative procedures. After the application, visa fees will be paid via various methods, namely Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, Mobile Money, Orange Money, Moov, Wave, Safaricom, Airtel, Vodacom, and Africell.

An online visa authorization will then be issued to the applicant who will be able to go either to a diplomatic mission or to a border post to retrieve the visa within three days. In this final stage, applicants’ biometric data, fingerprints, facial images, etc., will be collected. 

The Cameroonian government received the equipment for the project from Abidjan-based company Impact Palmarès R&D SAS  in June 2022. The bill updating the legal framework was submitted to the National Assembly on July 2, 2022, and the decree updating the conditions of entry, stay, and exit of foreigners in Cameroon was signed last month by the President of the Republic, Paul Biya.

The reform prescribed by the President of the Republic is the first step toward the digital transformation of Cameroon’s diplomatic apparatus. According to Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella, "the e-visa system [aims] to make Cameroon a more attractive destination, address the grievances of the Cameroonian diaspora and upgrade the consular system to international standards.”

Samira Njoya