Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
»The most convenient place to get a visa is Addis Ababa. They are issued while you wait
through the Somaliland Liaison Office (
Click here
)
and cost US$40 for a one-month
visa. Visas can also be obtained in Djibouti, the UK, the USA and France; visa fees cost
about US$40, although requirements tend to vary arbitrarily from one Liaison Office to
another (US$80 in the USA).
»Another option is to go through a local sponsor, such as the Oriental Hotel, the Ambas-
sador Hotel or the Maan-soor Hotel. Email them the (scanned) ID pages of your passport
and give them at least three days to organise the visa. They will email a visa certificate
back to you as an attached document. Print it and present it upon arrival at the airport (or
at any land border). Note that this is a certificate; the original visa should have been de-
posited at the immigration office at the airport (or at the border post, if you arrive by land)
by your sponsor. In many cases your sponsor will be waiting for you at the airport with
the original visa. If you plan to enter Somaliland at Tog Wajaale (from Ethiopia), ask your
sponsor to send the original visa to the Somaliland border post (your sponsor will put it in
an envelope and give it to a reputable taxi driver heading to Tog Wajaale). Hotels charge
US$20 to US$50 for the service, and expect that you spend a couple of nights with them.
VISAS FOR ONWARD TRAVEL
The Ethiopian Liaison Office (
Click here
) can issue Ethiopian visas. You'll need two
photos, US$20 and a letter from the
Immigration Department Office Headquarters
(north of Independence Rd, Hargeisa; 8am-noon Sat-Thu)
, though this letter is not al-
ways required by the Ethiopian officer. The whole process should take less than a day
provided you arrive early in the morning.
Getting There & Away
Entering Somaliland
Entering Somaliland, whether by air or land, is a surprisingly painless process, provided
you have your visa ready (or prearranged) and your passport at hand.
