Senegal border technology

The biometric visa, 2013 to 2015

Financial Afrik reported on 17 May 2016 that in September 2012 the state decided to make a biometric visa compulsory for entry ². The rule applied to nationals of countries that charge Senegalese travellers for a visa ². The report said the state signed a concession agreement with SNEDAI Sénégal to produce the biometric visas ². The headline refers to a compensation. The part of the article read for this page did not give an amount, so this page does not state one ².

An article dated 28 October 2013 on Security World Market said Zetes had been awarded a contract by SNEDAI, which it described as the body handling identity documents for Senegal ³. The article names no author. It said the contract was build-operate-transfer over five years, for an estimated 300,000 visas a year ³. It said Zetes would handle data consolidation and AFIS fingerprint de-duplication, and that its subsidiary Fastrace set up online ordering and payment on the SNEDAI website ³. This page has not found a government record or a Zetes statement that names Zetes for this contract.

The APA news agency, in a report on the Cote d'Ivoire biometric visa dated 22 November 2013, said Senegal, Kenya and Rwanda had adopted this type of system before Cote d'Ivoire ⁹.

End of the paid visa and talk of a return

Financial Afrik reported on 4 April 2015 that the paid entry visa would be abolished from 1 May 2015 ⁴. The same report said parafiscal charges on airline tickets would be cut by 50 percent, with the aim of reviving tourism and cutting travel costs for the diaspora ⁴.

On 10 October 2019 Nicolas Le Page reported in TourMaG that the visa had run from 1 July 2013 to 1 May 2015 ⁵. He reported that Interior Minister Aly Ngouille Ndiaye told RFI the authorities were preparing its return for foreigners, except residents of ECOWAS states, on grounds of security and reciprocity ⁵. The minister was quoted as saying the file was very advanced, with implementation planned for the end of that year ⁵.

The TourMaG report said the visa could be issued electronically or on arrival at border posts ⁵. It noted that Tourism Minister Alioune Sarr had said on 3 October 2019 that a review of the visa exemption for tourists was not on the agenda ⁵. This page has not found an official record that a visa for these travellers returned after October 2019.

E-gates and kiosks at Blaise Diagne airport

Ndarinfo reported on 14 June 2024 that the Commissariat Spécial de la Police de l'Aéroport held a ceremony to commission automated border control (ABC) kiosks at AIBD on 13 June 2024 ⁶. The kiosks let passengers travelling to Senegal complete police formalities without contact with an officer, as reported ⁶. The report said e-gates had been installed earlier in the same area of the airport. It gave no number or date for the gates ⁶. The director general of LAS, the airport operator, attended ⁶.

A Senenews report of 15 June 2024, republished by the OSIRIS observatory, quoted Divisional Police Commissioner Abdou Leye as saying the kiosks would let travellers reduce the time spent at police checks ⁷. Both reports said the installation was done with the support of the company Securiport ^6,7. Neither report says whether Securiport supplied or operates the kiosks or gates ^6,7. This page has not found a government record that names a supplier for them.

ePassports and the ICAO PKD

The ICAO PKD participant list read on 24 October 2026 did not include Senegal ¹. The list gives a joining date for each participant, for example 19 July 2018 for Cote d'Ivoire ¹. A state missing from the list may still issue ePassports. This page has not found an official record of Senegal's passport chip programme.

Visa rules for Senegalese travellers in the region

Rwanda's Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration lists Senegal among the countries whose citizens receive a free visa on arrival for 90 days ⁸.