Situated on the west coast of Africa, Equatorial Guinea is a Central African country. With a relatively small size equal to 28,000 square kilometres, it is a bit hidden to travellers. You can come to this conclusion after looking at statistics of the number of people visiting the country. It is the seventh least visited country in the world. However, it should not lead you to the idea that the country has a limited number of places for tourists to see because it is not the case. The main reason behind that was bureaucratic obstacles which are now partially eliminated. The paradise island of Corisco, which is part of Equatorial Guinea, is 30 km away from the mainland. This small paradise island is full of natural wonders. It is a perfect place if you are sick of stressful daily life and want to get away from it all. Its white-sand beaches promise a relaxing day out. One of the must-go places in Equatorial Guinea is Ilachi Waterfalls. These waterfalls can have heights as high as 250 meters. Aside from a perfect and picturesque view of the waterfalls, getting there is another fun and challenging activity as you will need to go through thick equatorial forests. Speaking of forests, Monte Allen National Park is a hidden gem in central Africa. The diverse range of natural habitats is home to many endemic flora, fauna and wildlife. Here live many endangered animals like gorillas, chimpanzees, leopards, and even elephants. Another island, Bioko, in which the current capital city, Malabo, was established, is worth seeing. Alongside beautiful nature, it has some spectacular and historical architectural structures. You will find dark footprints of the colonial past. Beaches on this island are different from others. Here the sand is formed by the Vulcan eruptions; therefore, the colour of the sand is darker. Your reasons to visit Equatorial Guinea may vary. However, there is a good chance that you need a visa to Equatorial Guinea. Luckily in this article, we will cover many aspects of guinea visas. You might be asking yourself, “do I need a visa for Equatorial Guinea?”. You will get a clue after looking at the Equatorial Guinea visa policy.
Equatorial Guinea Visa Policy
According to the visa policy of Equatorial Guinea, only the nationals of three countries, namely Barbados, China, Tunisia, and the United States of America, are exempt from Equatorial Guinea visa application. The visa policy of the country classified the visas as short-term visas and residence permits. Although there is no term like long-term visa for Equatorial Guinea, instead, it is alternated by residence or work permits. Typically, short-term visas can be granted for travel reasons like tourism, business, transit, etc. The validity of these short-term visas can be as high as 90 days, depending on the situation. If you want to stay more in the country, then you will need to have a permit.
Visa Requirements for Visas to Equatorial Guinea
Main visa requirements can be noted as on the list given below: • Equatorial Guinea visa application form duly completed by the applicant. The form will be in English. • The applicant’s passport, which should have a validity of a minimum of 6 months after the applicant leaves Equatorial Guinea, will be asked. In the passport, there should be the bearer’s signature. The passport itself should be issued in the last 10 years. Furthermore, it should possess two blank pages ready to get processed. • Two passport-sized (2x2) photos of the applicant will be asked. The face of the applicant in the photo should take up 70-80 percent of the whole photo size. You will need to put on a uniform and take a photo with white background. No facial expression is needed. • You will need to present your ID card copy which in turn should remain valid for at least 6 months. • In the case of applying for a visa from a country that you are not a citizen of, the residence permit of your or visa which enables you to apply from that country is needed. • Copies of your passport’s main pages and previously earned visas (if any) are needed. • Airline ticket bookings and accommodation proof will be needed. You can prove your accommodation with a hotel booking. • Medical insurance, which will cover health-related expenses during the travel, is needed. • Police Clearance Certificate, which can be provided by police or the municipality issued in one of thee languages, English, French, or Spanish. • An invitation letter that should be legalized by emigration service authorities in Equatorial Guinea is needed. • Yellow fever vaccination certificate. Other additional documents can be asked based on your travel purpose. However, what about Equatorial Guinea visa fee? As usual, the amount of fee varies depending on your nationality and entry type. To give a sense of prices for Equatorial Guinea visa fee, we can say in most cases it is somewhere between 100 and 200 USD. Another thing that might interest you can be processing time. For short-term visas, the average visa processing time is somewhere between 2 and 15 days. However, it can vary based on some factors such as country of application, etc.
How to get a Visa for Equatorial Guinea?
Thankfully, we have different options when it comes to Equatorial Guinea visa application. What are they? Well, you have three options in front of you. They are getting a visa through local correspondents of Equatorial Guinea, which can be an embassy, consulate, Equatorial Guinea visa on arrival, and last but not least important, Equatorial Guinea e visa. They all have their own features, conditions, and requirements. However, requirements are somewhat similar.
To start with getting a visa through an embassy or consulate of Equatorial Guinea, the procedure is a bit complex than the other two, and obviously, it takes longer to get a visa from an embassy/consulate. The first step to start your application will be to locate the embassy. Then you will make contact and appointment for your application. Following this, you will attend the embassy at the scheduled time and present your documents, complete Equatorial Guinea visa application form, and make the payment. After some time, you will get a visa if your application is successful. You can inquiry the embassy about any issue related to visa to Equatorial Guinea. It is advised to inquiry the embassy since they got the latest information on documents, fees, conditions, etc.
For Equatorial Guinea visa on arrival, the procedure sounds much easier. You start your application at the airport or one of the international entry points. However, such procedures can be tricky. You should be aware that lacking a document that is asked by officers will lead to ultimate denial of your entry. Therefore, make sure that you got the documents that can be asked by the officers even if there is a slight chance that they are asked. Furthermore, another constraint about the procedure is that it is only accessible for the nationals of the United Arab Emirates.
Last but not least important, which is Equatorial Guinea e visa is another option for people who has a desire to visit the country. This newly introduced Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) allows people to benefit from visa application that is taken to an online platform. With this platform, you will avoid the hassle of documentation, as it is fully online and clear. However, due to the pandemic that we are facing, applications should be first directed to local correspondents of Equatorial Guinea before starting any activity at the online platform.
We mainly focused on short-term visa types and gave detailed information on requirements, applications, etc. You might be wondering about the residence or work permits that allow you to stay in the country for a long time. To briefly inform you, we can say that processing of applications for 1 year-long residence permit will be done by the Ministry of National Security. However, others can be processed at the embassies or consulates of Equatorial Guinea abroad. If the embassy you applied for does not process the residence permits, you can issue a short-term visa to enter Equatorial Guinea and then start the application for the residence permit. Note that this can change from country to country; therefore, it is advised to get more precise information from the embassy that you are going to attend.
To wrap up things, Equatorial Guinea is a hidden gem of Africa. And depending on your reasons, you might need a visa to travel to Equatorial Guinea. If your answer to the question of “do I need a visa for an Equatorial Guinea?” is yes, then you might want to consider contacting Pickvisa as our team is hardened by completing such procedures successfully many times.
