Algeria visa on arrival

The facility was introduced to promote Saharan tourism. It applies exclusively to tourists travelling in an organised framework through approved travel agencies to the Great South wilayas: Tamanrasset, Illizi, Tindouf, Adrar, Béchar, Timimoun, Djanet, Bordj Badji Mokhtar, Béni Abbès, In Salah and Touggourt. Some Algerian embassies publish a longer list that also includes, among others, Ghardaïa, Laghouat, Biskra, Ouargla, El Oued and In Guezzam, so confirm with your agency whether your itinerary qualifies.

Trips to other regions, and independent travel, remain subject to the normal consular visa. Embassy notices describe the document issued at the airport as a regularisation visa, the same instrument the border police use in emergencies, available at airports and land border posts.

Outside the Sahara scheme, Law No. 08-11 allows the border police, in an emergency and as an exception, to issue a regularisation visa to a foreigner who arrives without one. The interior ministry lists the file: the regularisation visa form, a passport valid for at least six months, a document justifying the entry (such as an official invitation or a medical appointment), proof of means for the stay, proof of accommodation, a return ticket and payment of the stamp duty fixed by the stamp code, subject to reciprocity. There is no right to this visa; it is an exceptional measure.

The fee for the Sahara visa is paid at the airport on arrival; official sources do not publish the amount. The emergency regularisation visa carries a stamp duty under the stamp code, also set according to reciprocity.

The Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts runs a digital platform, linked to the ministries concerned, through which approved agencies submit tourist visa requests for southern destinations. After processing, the agency sends each traveller a boarding authorisation with a QR code. You show it at your departure airport so that the airline lets you board without a visa, and on arrival the border police issue the regularisation visa for the duration of the organised stay. The visa fee is paid on arrival.