Sudan residence permit and foreigner registration

The Passport and Immigration Act 2003 regulates the entry, exit and residence of non-Sudanese nationals, and the Aliens Affairs Regulations of 2020 contain the detailed rules. The Aliens Affairs Department of the General Directorate of Passports and Immigration applies them. Its Khartoum premises were destroyed in the war; in January 2026 the Director General of Police announced that residence permits, visas and entry and exit permits for foreigners would be issued again, and in February 2026 the department was officially relaunched in Khartoum State with updated technical systems. In July 2026 the Directorate reported that the aliens system was being modernised as part of a move to digital services.

The Berlin embassy reports that the mandatory AIDS test for foreigners' entry and residence procedures has been cancelled. Students who will hold residence for study at Sudanese universities need a health card, introduced under Article 56(2) of the 2020 Aliens Affairs Regulations after hepatitis cases were found among student residence applicants.

The General Directorate of Passports and Immigration handles residence permits and entry and exit permits for foreigners through its Aliens Affairs Department, which was relaunched in Khartoum State in February 2026. Official Sudanese sources reviewed do not publish a registration deadline, document list or fee for short stays, so ask your sponsor or the department after arrival how to regularise your stay.

Registration is separate from a residence permit. If you stay beyond your visa for work, study or family reasons, your sponsor, typically the employer, university or relative, applies for residence at the Aliens Affairs Department. Sudan does not publish the fees, the documents or the validity periods online, so ask the department or your sponsor.

The Directorate's services for foreigners include entry and exit permits as well as residence permits, so check with immigration before travelling within the country or leaving whether a permit is needed for your situation. In November 2025 the authorities urged foreigners to carry their identity documents at all times.

Control of the foreign presence is an official priority. The Aliens Affairs Department runs field monitoring campaigns, and in January 2026 a holding centre at Jureif West with room for 250 to 300 people was prepared for foreigners who breach residence rules, pending removal or deportation. In November 2025 a Khartoum committee urged foreigners without legal status to leave voluntarily and warned citizens against employing, sheltering or renting to them, and in August 2026 Gezira State began a count of all foreigners in its localities. Keep your registration and residence papers valid and with you.