Cameroon business visa: short stays for meetings, trade and events

Decree No. 2023/147 places several business-related groups among temporary visitors: business men and women who carry out a profit-making professional activity on their own account, promoters who supply services or capital for an economic, scientific, cultural, artistic or social investment, persons on mission who come in an official capacity as part of their professional duties, and guests or participants in an economic, scientific, technical, artistic, cultural or sports event held in Cameroon. All of them receive the short-stay visa; there is no separate business visa sticker.

The visa covers meetings, negotiations, prospecting, site visits, trade fairs and conferences. Holding a salaried job in Cameroon is a different matter: the decree states that only the long-stay visa opens the right to a professional or gainful activity, and an employment contract approved by the minister in charge of employment is then required.

Besides the common uploads (passport valid six months, return flight, yellow fever certificate, proof of funds), the checklist of the Washington mission, which mirrors the decree's categories, asks business applicants for five items: a letter from the employer guaranteeing financial and legal responsibility for the traveller during a stay of up to six months; a repatriation guarantee; a letter of introduction from the business partner or prospective partner in Cameroon, legalised by the immigration or police authorities; where relevant, the business contract between the traveller and the Cameroonian partner, signed off by the administrative or immigration authorities; and any authorisation needed to practise a liberal profession or promote an agricultural, industrial, commercial or craft activity.

Event participants instead upload the invitation to the event organised on Cameroonian territory, which missions expect to be legalised by the police, plus a hotel booking or hosting certificate. People on mission add their mission order, which Article 35 of the decree lists among the documents for a short-stay visa.

Chapter VII of the decree explains what a repatriation guarantee is. For a stay of up to three months it is a non-transferable return or circular ticket valid at least for the planned stay. For a stay longer than three months it is a return ticket valid for at least one year or, for an employee, a written undertaking by the employer. Someone who entered for more than three months without such a guarantee must regularise within three months by paying into the Cameroonian Treasury a deposit equal at least to a tourist-class air fare from Yaoundé to the capital of their country; the deposit is refunded in full when they leave Cameroon for good.

The ordinary short-stay visa costs 100,000 XAF and is decided within three days of pre-enrolment; the express short-stay visa costs 150,000 XAF and is decided within 24 hours. Payment is by card on evisacam.cm and is not refunded if the visa is refused. For a trip at short notice the express option is the only official way to speed up the decision; the biometric step at the mission or on arrival still applies.

The traveller files the request on evisacam.cm and selects the business purpose; the Cameroonian mission competent for the place of residence examines it. If approved, applicants living in the mission's city book the biometric appointment there, while those living elsewhere download the QR authorisation and get the sticker on arrival. Have the original passport, the vaccination card and printed copies of the uploaded letters ready, because border officers check the documents used for the decision.