Algeria work visa

Algerian missions issue a work visa for employment of more than three months and a temporary work visa for a maximum stay of three months. They point companies that send teams for support missions, installation or maintenance to the temporary work visa if the job lasts up to three months, and to the work visa in all other cases. A business visa never covers this kind of work.

Before the visa, the employer in Algeria obtains the work authorisation from the labour division of the wilaya where the person will work. Law No. 08-11 lists three documents that open the way to a resident card for a salaried foreigner: a work permit, a temporary work authorisation, or a declaration of employment for foreigners who are exempt from the permit.

For short assignments the file contains a commercial invitation from the Algerian company, signed by its legal representative and attested by the Chamber of Commerce or the municipality, travel insurance unless the company covers costs, and one of two work documents: the provisional authorisation for temporary work (APTT) issued by the wilaya labour division, or an assistance or service-provision contract between the applicant or their employer and the Algerian company. Some missions ask for such a contract to be attested by the authorities of the country where you apply. Embassies explain that when a service contract is presented, the visa does not require the APTT.

Algerian missions ask for the temporary work permit issued by the labour division of the wilaya, an employment contract or employment letter for more than three months, and a repatriation letter signed by the employer and sealed by the wilaya labour office, together with two forms and a passport valid for six months. The Washington embassy lists the same set as documents obtained from the Algerian Ministry of Labour and adds a detailed list of foreign workers when a company sends several people.

Work visas are priced above ordinary visas at some missions: USD 190 for US citizens in Washington, against USD 160 for most other visas. The resident card requires a fiscal stamp set by the stamp code.

Every employer must declare a foreign employee within 48 hours to the local labour services, or failing that to the town hall, police or gendarmerie, and again when the employment ends. Workers staying longer than their visa apply to the police for the resident card at least 15 days before the visa expires. For the resident card the interior ministry asks for the application form, the birth certificate, five identical photos, a fiscal stamp, a medical certificate (general medicine and chest/tuberculosis screening), a copy of the passport with the entry visa and a residential tenancy contract, plus the work permit, temporary work authorisation or declaration of employment. The card is valid no longer than the work document.