Cameroon permanent residence: the ten-year carte de résident

Article 20 of Decree No. 2023/147 names three groups. First, foreigners in residence (workers, independent workers, long-term trainees, students, family members and refugees) who have stayed lawfully in Cameroon for at least six consecutive years. Second, the spouse of a person of Cameroonian nationality, subject to Article 21(1) of Law No. 97/012. Third, members of duly recognised religious congregations.

For the first group the decree translates the six years into a document requirement: the applicant must present a carte de séjour that has been renewed for the third time, which corresponds to an initial two-year card followed by renewals. Interruptions or periods without a valid card therefore break the count.

Foreigners in residence (and residents renewing): a carte de séjour renewed for the third time, or the current carte de résident, produced at least one month before it expires; a certificate of domicile from the administrative authority or competent police commissioner endorsed by the neighbourhood or village chief; a special criminal record extract; a certified copy, less than three months old, of the valid passport bearing the long-stay visa; payment of the stamp duty fixed by the finance law; and a valid tax clearance certificate.

Members of religious congregations: the act recognising the congregation, an identification document confirming membership signed by the head of the congregation, a certified passport copy less than three months old, a certificate of domicile endorsed by the religious head on whom the congregation depends, and a special criminal record extract. Spouses of Cameroonians: a certified marriage certificate less than three months old, plus the passport copy with long-stay visa, certificate of domicile, criminal record extract, stamp duty and tax clearance certificate.

The application is lodged with the emigration-immigration services of the DGSN. On filing, a provisional identity document valid three months, renewable, is handed over; it bears the identification post, parentage, height, the scanned signature, the receipt number and the type of stamp paid, and serves as presumption of identity. The final carte de résident is a green polycarbonate card with a chip, bilingual French and English, valid ten years and renewable on the same conditions.

The decree allows the residence, resident or refugee card to be refused to any foreigner whose presence constitutes a threat to public order. A resident who leaves Cameroon permanently must hand the card back when the exit visa is issued. Like other foreigners living in Cameroon, residents need an exit visa for each departure or a multiple exit visa, and exit visas can be suspended at the request of judicial or certain ministerial authorities for foreigners in breach of the law.