Visa requirements for Eritrean citizens

Eritrean citizens need a Schengen visa, which covers all member states for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, Eritrea and 2 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

2 countries ask holders of the Eritrean passport for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter Eritrea without one: Ethiopia and Sudan.

The reverse holds for 34 countries: holders of the Eritrean passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for Eritrea (Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde and 29 others).

103 countries ask holders of the Eritrean passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 14 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in Eritrea.

89 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in Eritrea, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for Eritrea, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in Ethiopia (12), Saudi Arabia (8), Kenya (5) and Yemen (4).

The United States refused 60% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of Eritrea in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 161 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 35 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Visa-free travel with the Eritrean passport

By continent, the Eritrean passport is visa-free in 6 countries in Africa, 3 countries in the Americas, 2 countries in Asia and 1 country in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for Eritrean citizens are allowed in Benin (90 days), the Gambia (90 days), Haiti (90 days), Kenya (90 days), the Seychelles (90 days) and Uganda (90 days).

Visa on arrival

Eritrean citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti, Ghana and 17 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Eritrean citizens enter Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bhutan, Bolivia and 51 others. Ivory Coast asks instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

Where Eritrean citizens are not admitted

According to the visa data used here, Eritrean citizens are currently not admitted to the United States.

Eritrea’s neighbours

For the neighbouring countries, the rules are: Ethiopia (e-Visa for up to 90 days), Sudan (visa required) and Djibouti (visa on arrival for up to 90 days).

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the Djiboutian passport ranks 176th (46 destinations), the Ethiopian passport ranks 180th (43 destinations) and the Sudanese passport ranks 186th (40 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 2 can enter visa-free, 2 get a visa on arrival and 194 need a visa from an embassy or consulate for Eritrea.