Libya business visa: the temporary assignment visa

The temporary assignment visa is granted at the request of a competent Libyan body, an official delegation, an official invitation or an assignment by a competent body, or for reasons of public interest. It covers business people, investors, company directors and their assistants, and staff of foreign companies who come to Libya for a specific, time-limited task.

The visa lapses once the purpose is fulfilled or the period on the visa runs out. It is not a work permit for a regular job in Libya; long-term employment is handled through the work visa and residence.

The passport or travel document must have been issued by competent authorities, be valid for at least six months, and allow you to return to the issuing country; a copy is uploaded. The portal accepts regular and diplomatic passports and travel documents.

You need a valid return ticket. The sponsor must be registered with the Authority and hold a delegate card, and must be your employer. It issues a letter guaranteeing you for any obligations arising from the assignment and describing the task you are coming for; a copy goes into the system. You must state where in Libya you will go and sign an undertaking to report any change of address.

Only citizens of Algeria, Malaysia, Mauritania and Tunisia are fully visa-exempt for Libya, according to the country data published by the eVisa portal. Other travellers should check their passport with the portal's e-visa eligibility check and otherwise plan on needing a visa.

The portal does not publish a fee table. It states only that a visa fee may be requested after the form and documents are complete, and the payment page offers card payment. The amount is shown during the application, so check it there before you pay; we could not confirm a standard fee from an official Libyan source.

The portal lists the temporary assignment visa among its published visa types but marks it as not yet open for individual online applications, and tells applicants to contact the portal to find out how to apply. Applicants should likewise use the portal's contact form, or ask their Libyan sponsor, to learn which channel applies before relying on any other route.

The portal notes that these conditions apply under the current arrangements, before a second phase of the system gives registered companies their own portal for temporary assignment applications. In the meantime, sponsors file through Visa on Approval batches: the VISA Section reviews them and issues a visa ID for each approved person, which the traveller redeems in their own account before paying.

You upload a personal photo and a photo of the passport, confirm a declaration that you will have at least 1,000 Libyan dinars or more on arrival, and then pay the visa fee online when the system asks for it; the application can be edited until payment. The portal says a decision usually takes from several days to a week. An approved e-visa is sent by e-mail as a PDF to present to immigration on arrival; a refusal is also notified by e-mail and you may apply again after dealing with the reason given.

Every Libyan visa type described on the portal lets the holder stay for the period written on the visa unless it is extended, and both the grant and any extension are made at the request of the person concerned. The portal does not explain the extension procedure; ask the Passports, Nationality and Foreigners Affairs Authority or your sponsor before the visa expires.