Algeria visa and residence guide

Algeria requires a visa from almost every foreign visitor. Holders of ordinary passports from only a small group of countries (Libya, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Seychelles and Tunisia, according to Algerian embassy guidance) enter without one. Everyone else, including citizens of the EU, the UK and the US, applies in advance at the Algerian embassy or consulate that covers their usual place of residence. Algeria has no general e-visa; applications are made on paper, in person or, at some posts, by post.

The rules come from Law No. 08-11 of 25 June 2008 on the entry, stay and movement of foreigners. A consular visa can be valid for up to two years, but each stay is limited to 90 days, and embassies add that the total time spent in Algeria on visas may not exceed 180 days a year. The passport must be valid for at least six months, travellers must show they can support themselves, and, subject to reciprocity, short-stay visitors must hold travel insurance. Consulates issue tourist, family, business, cultural, medical, study, work, temporary work, press, transit and official visas.

Two exceptions allow a visa to be issued at the border. Tourists on trips to the Great South booked through an approved Algerian travel agency receive a regularisation visa on arrival, valid for up to 30 days, after the agency obtains a boarding authorisation with a QR code. Separately, the border police may issue a regularisation visa in an emergency to a person who arrives without one.

Anyone who wants to live in Algeria must apply to the police for a carte de résident étranger at least 15 days before the visa expires. The card is valid for two years, or for the length of a work permit or course of study, and a 10-year card can follow after seven years of continuous lawful residence. Algeria has no national asylum procedure in practice: UNHCR's office in Algiers registers asylum claims and decides refugee status.