Visas for western Africa route - please update
 

This is for travelers headed north obviously: you can buy very easily a Nigerian visa in Buea, near Douala in Cameroon, in 20 minutes basically.

What you need: 2 photos, copy of passport and a fake hotel reservation as an LOI (well, I guess a genuine would work too ;-). And cash of course, it depends on the nationality, but for me (Swiss) it was 50'000 CFA (90 €). For British 60'000 and for Italians.. 218'000 ! But no interview, no question asked.

They gave me one month validity, explaining it was starting from the day it was issued although when I crossed the border (in Banki, all the way to the north) they gave me one month starting from then.

Coordinates: N4 08.869 E9 13.720

Cheers,
Laurent

Tour d'Afrique - and then some - ADVrider

Great news, thanks for the information. I just read your website, your pictures of DR Congo are superb! :cool4:

updates...?
 

is this still the case? has anyone tried this and been rewarded recently??

thanks in advance.

coming from the south, where did you get your Cameroon visa?
and the visa to enter that country where you got the Cameroon visa?

Online Nigerian Visa problems
 

So the Nigeria visa is now only payable online. Has anyone had trouble paying for this?

I have filled out the application and the payment service is a terrible website called "Innovate1 Services" which only accepts "verified by visa" or mastercard.
https://www.innovate1services.com/

I have 3 different valid visa cards in my name. None of them work. I have tried from two different computers with all 3 cards, trying each card multiple times. It says 'payment unsuccessful: Error: "attempts processing performed"' for two of the cards. The other card just crashes the website.

Customer service is India-based and when I can get them on the phone (difficult) they just repeat that the name on the application must match the name on the card, which it does.

Has anyone else done this successfully, or had any problems?

were did you apply, was in the capital of Benin?

No, Dakar, Senegal. The embassy will work with me since I work here.

I'm trying to "register" one of my cards now. Hopefully that will solve the problem.

How did you go getting your visa? Ill be in Dakar in a couple weeks and will also be getting my Nigerian visa there.

Not sure it's possible in Dakar for casual travellers. Though I am not an official resident I have been working here for 8 months. I showed my housing contract, my work contract and all my visas and he said it was OK if I could get a letter of invitation and a scan of the ID (front and back) from a Nigerian resident in Nigeria. I happen to have some Nigerian friends who have family in Nigeria and they invited me. You also have to apply and pay online (which causes problems).

I can't comment exactly on the success because still I am fighting to pay the visa fee. When that goes through (hopefully next two days) I will see if it is accepted or if they have more hoops to jump through.

Cheers for the heads up. What is your plan? Are you going further south? I'm going all the way to South Africa.


https://m.facebook.com/drcanafricanadventure

Well getting the visa in Dakar fell apart. 2 weeks of work for them to finally say "no residency card, no visa". I told you that the first day I came in! But I digress...

I figured out the problem with the payment:

"Verified by Visa" and "Mastercard SecureCode" are extra security services offered by some banks issuing Visa or Mastercard, but not all. You have to check with your bank to see if you have either of these services.

IF none of your cards are "Verified" or "SecureCode" do not try to register your card to get around this. They will be registered just fine but you will get the same error.

You CAN use a friend/family's card. On the embassy website they specifically say the card must match the applicant, but if you scroll down they say it is possible to pay with a different card but you must register it first.

When you register the card: If the bank statement does not have the card number (like for debit cards), scan/photograph the front of your debit card and copy the image onto the bank statement somewhere.

They say they will email you when the card is registered, but they don't, you have to check the website to find out. There is officially a two days processing time, but if you call customer service they will 'register' the card on the spot so you can use it immediately.

Here is an explanation of the error codes as far as I could understand them.
The hilarious 'attempts processing performed' error, 'Card has been used too many times' error or the website just crashing = the card is not "verified" or "securecode".
"Authentication failed" = call the bank and tell them to allow the payment.
"Issuer declined" = your friend's card isn't authorized for international use

So if you're having trouble, maybe that will help.
"INNOVATE1 Services where we make obtaining a passport or visa easier than ever"

I got mine in Bamako in one day. Real easy they just wanted a copy of my carnet. Paid the money.

great info...was it recently ?

Yes only 2 weeks ago.

just been reading your fb page...good luck with the malaria....get some mefloquin down you and stay in bed....look after yourself....things can go down hill fast in Africa.....

i personel recomend big millys backyard....its close( ish) to accra, good place to wait out the angola visa....friendly and Milly ( not her name but anyway) is a nice old english lady, looks after her guests...you can camp, cold beer...other overlanders to get info from...one of the girls on our last trip had malaria there and she was helpfull.

did you get the ghana visa in bukinafaso?