Benin resident card

Under Law No. 2025-15 and Decree No. 2026-049, a foreigner settling in Benin is either an ordinary or a privileged resident and must hold a resident card. The ordinary status requires proof of means of subsistence, a third-party guarantee of support or another legitimate interest in living in Benin, and good character. The privileged status goes to an ordinary resident whose card has been renewed twice and who proves a permanent job or activity, real estate, an effective marital home in Benin or a functioning company or industrial or commercial establishment; the minister of public security can also grant it to a foreigner whose residence is of particular interest to Benin.

The decree lists: a photocopy of a passport or travel document valid for more than one year from the application date; a photocopy of the foreigner personal identification certificate (CIPE); proof of a job, an income-generating activity, a promise of an employment contract, means of subsistence or a third-party guarantee of support; a criminal record extract from the country of origin or last residence for the first application, or a Beninese extract for a renewal; and the receipt for the card fee. The fees are set by a joint order of the ministers of public security and finance.

The DEI guide sets out seven steps: check the documents for your category or status; gather them; if you must pay a repatriation deposit, obtain a pro forma invoice from a travel agency; pay the repatriation deposit into the treasury account and 20 per cent of that deposit into the DEI account at the treasury; pay the file fees online; file the application at the DEI with all receipts; and be enrolled in the database, keeping the stamped enrolment receipt. A neighbourhood inquiry is carried out for a first temporary card and a first privileged card.

Approved investors in a special economic zone apply for a ZES resident card with a form, two photos, a passport copy, a CIPE copy, a medical certificate from a doctor approved by the zone authority, a criminal record and a certificate of approved-investor status, plus a fee receipt of XOF 350,000 paid to the treasury. For minors, parents add a parental authorisation and copies of both parents’ resident cards and CIPEs; an investor’s spouse adds the marriage certificate, translated at the foreign ministry if it is not in French.

The law grants foreigners in Benin the same rights and freedoms as citizens; where those rights involve public services, waivers or exemptions, foreigners enjoy them under the conditions set for those benefits. Foreigners have free access to property, subject to the prohibitions and restrictions in the laws. The ordinary card is issued by the Director General of the Republican Police and, by delegation, the DEI; the privileged card by the minister of public security, with delegation to the police and possibly the DEI.

A refusal to issue or renew a resident card is notified to the person, and silence from the authority at the end of the issuing period counts as a refusal. The refusal can be challenged by an appeal for abuse of power before the competent court within three days of notification or of the end of the issuing period. The appeal suspends the obligation to leave and any expulsion, the person can obtain a provisional certificate to stay during the procedure, and the court decides within 45 days. Without an appeal, the person must leave within three days.