Mauritania residence card

Students at public universities and institutes present a valid enrolment certificate with a passport valid for more than six months. Students at private institutes and schools need an enrolment certificate certified by the supervising ministry (higher education, national education or the ministry in charge of Islamic affairs), also with a passport valid for more than six months.

Private-sector employees present an employment contract certified by the labour administration with a work permit and a travel document valid for more than six months. Company owners add a copy of the commercial register; partners add the articles of association, the commercial register and proof of continuous tax payment. Workers can alternatively present a work certificate from the company with a work permit signed by the labour director. Public-sector staff present a work certificate or contract from the public body, and staff of diplomatic or consular missions a certificate or contract from the mission, each with a passport valid for more than six months.

Members of licensed associations and non-governmental organisations present a work certificate or contract issued by the association or NGO, a travel document valid for more than six months and a certified copy of the organisation’s licence receipt; for church staff and clergy, a work certificate or official letter confirming their attachment to the church is enough. Students of a mahdara, a traditional Quranic school, bring a certificate of attendance from their mahdara certified by the mahdara administration of the ministry in charge of Islamic affairs and original education. Under kafala, a Mauritanian citizen who requests before a notary accredited to Mauritanian courts to sponsor a foreigner working for them locally obtains a certificate, which the foreigner presents with a travel document valid for more than six months.

Residence cards are handled at ANRPTS residents' reception centres, including the centre in Ksar, Nouakchott. Bring the original documents for your category.

The birth of a child of foreign residents in Mauritania must be declared at the residents’ reception centre within 60 days, with a birth notice from a health facility, the parents’ documents and their marriage certificate; after that deadline a court judgment establishing the birth is required as well. A foreign marriage certificate offered for a spouse’s card must be certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad. Residence cards are governed by Decree No. 031/2012 of 25 January 2012, which amended Decree No. 64-169 of 15 December 1964 on immigration and set out how the card is secured, and by a 2024 residence card decree.

An applicant married to a Mauritanian proves the marriage by a biometric marriage certificate, a court judgment or a marriage certificate from a foreign authority, together with a passport valid for more than six months. For a minor, it is enough to prove the family relationship with at least one parent resident in Mauritania by presenting identity and civil status documents of parent and child at the residents' reception centre.