Benin entry requirements, by passport
Benin visa requirements at a glance: 61 of the 198 passports VisaRadar tracks can enter Benin without arranging a visa beforehand: visa-free, with a visa on arrival, or with an electronic travel authorisation. The other 137 must obtain a visa before they travel.
Which passport do you hold?
We'll take you straight to the entry requirements for Benin for your nationality.
What we've verified for Benin
Beyond the yes/no matrix, we've checked these against an official primary source (last checked 2 October 2026). The specifics depend on your nationality: open your passport's row in the table for the detail that applies to you.
- Typical processing time
- Required documents (3)
- Required vaccinations
- Customs limits (cash, alcohol, tobacco)
- Overstay penalties
- Stay and transit rules
Sources: exteriores.gob.es (travel advice of Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Benin, updated 12 May 2026: electronic visa only, 48 hours, passport, yellow fever, honorary consulates, northern half advised against, risk areas, currency, photography); gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/benin (UK Government: apply seven days ahead, collection at Cotonou, visas for neighbouring countries); data.unesco.org (World Heritage List). All checked on 2 October 2026.
This table summarises the exact entry mechanism for every passport we track. The difference between entering visa-free, with an electronic authorisation, with an e-Visa, or with a traditional visa is explained in visa, e-Visa, and electronic authorisation: what's the difference. How we verify every row before publishing it is on methodology.
Base entry rules refreshed 12 October 2026. Published: 2 October 2026.
| Passport | Requirement | Max. stay |
|---|---|---|
| Visa-free | ||
| Algeria | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Angola | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Bahamas | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Belize | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Botswana | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Burkina Faso | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Burundi | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Cameroon | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Cape Verde | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Central African Republic | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Chad | Visa-free | 90 days |
| China | Visa-free | 30 days |
| Comoros | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Djibouti | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Dominica | Visa-free | 90 days |
| DR Congo | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Egypt | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Equatorial Guinea | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Eritrea | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Eswatini | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Ethiopia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Gabon | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Gambia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Ghana | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Grenada | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Guinea | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Guinea-Bissau | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Haiti | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Hong Kong | Visa-free | 14 days |
| Ivory Coast | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Kenya | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Lesotho | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Liberia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Libya | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Madagascar | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Malawi | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Malaysia | Visa-free | 30 days |
| Mali | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Mauritania | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Mauritius | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Morocco | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Mozambique | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Namibia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Niger | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Nigeria | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Republic of the Congo | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Rwanda | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Senegal | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Seychelles | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Sierra Leone | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Somalia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| South Africa | Visa-free | 90 days |
| South Sudan | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Sudan | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Tanzania | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Togo | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Tunisia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Uganda | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Zambia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Zimbabwe | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Visa required | ||
| Afghanistan | e-Visa | — |
| Albania | e-Visa | — |
| Andorra | e-Visa | — |
| Antigua and Barbuda | e-Visa | — |
| Argentina | e-Visa | — |
| Armenia | e-Visa | — |
| Australia | e-Visa | — |
| Austria | e-Visa | — |
| Azerbaijan | e-Visa | — |
| Bahrain | e-Visa | — |
| Bangladesh | e-Visa | — |
| Barbados | e-Visa | — |
| Belarus | e-Visa | — |
| Belgium | e-Visa | — |
| Bhutan | e-Visa | — |
| Bolivia | e-Visa | — |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | e-Visa | — |
| Brazil | e-Visa | — |
| Brunei | e-Visa | — |
| Bulgaria | e-Visa | — |
| Cambodia | e-Visa | — |
| Canada | e-Visa | — |
| Chile | e-Visa | — |
| Colombia | e-Visa | — |
| Costa Rica | e-Visa | — |
| Croatia | e-Visa | — |
| Cuba | e-Visa | — |
| Cyprus | e-Visa | — |
| Czech Republic | e-Visa | — |
| Denmark | e-Visa | — |
| Dominican Republic | e-Visa | — |
| Ecuador | e-Visa | — |
| El Salvador | e-Visa | — |
| Estonia | e-Visa | — |
| Fiji | e-Visa | — |
| Finland | e-Visa | — |
| France | e-Visa | — |
| Georgia | e-Visa | — |
| Germany | e-Visa | — |
| Greece | e-Visa | — |
| Guatemala | e-Visa | — |
| Guyana | e-Visa | — |
| Honduras | e-Visa | — |
| Hungary | e-Visa | — |
| Iceland | e-Visa | — |
| India | e-Visa | — |
| Indonesia | e-Visa | — |
| Iran | e-Visa | — |
| Iraq | e-Visa | — |
| Ireland | e-Visa | — |
| Israel | e-Visa | — |
| Italy | e-Visa | — |
| Jamaica | e-Visa | — |
| Japan | e-Visa | — |
| Jordan | e-Visa | — |
| Kazakhstan | e-Visa | — |
| Kiribati | e-Visa | — |
| Kosovo | e-Visa | — |
| Kuwait | e-Visa | — |
| Kyrgyzstan | e-Visa | — |
| Laos | e-Visa | — |
| Latvia | e-Visa | — |
| Lebanon | e-Visa | — |
| Liechtenstein | e-Visa | — |
| Lithuania | e-Visa | — |
| Luxembourg | e-Visa | — |
| Macao | e-Visa | — |
| Maldives | e-Visa | — |
| Malta | e-Visa | — |
| Marshall Islands | e-Visa | — |
| Mexico | e-Visa | — |
| Micronesia | e-Visa | — |
| Moldova | e-Visa | — |
| Monaco | e-Visa | — |
| Mongolia | e-Visa | — |
| Montenegro | e-Visa | — |
| Myanmar | e-Visa | — |
| Nauru | e-Visa | — |
| Nepal | e-Visa | — |
| Netherlands | e-Visa | — |
| New Zealand | e-Visa | — |
| Nicaragua | e-Visa | — |
| North Korea | e-Visa | — |
| North Macedonia | e-Visa | — |
| Norway | e-Visa | — |
| Oman | e-Visa | — |
| Pakistan | e-Visa | — |
| Palau | e-Visa | — |
| Palestine | e-Visa | — |
| Panama | e-Visa | — |
| Papua New Guinea | e-Visa | — |
| Paraguay | e-Visa | — |
| Peru | e-Visa | — |
| Philippines | e-Visa | — |
| Poland | e-Visa | — |
| Portugal | e-Visa | — |
| Qatar | e-Visa | — |
| Romania | e-Visa | — |
| Russia | e-Visa | — |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | e-Visa | — |
| Saint Lucia | e-Visa | — |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | e-Visa | — |
| Samoa | e-Visa | — |
| San Marino | e-Visa | — |
| Saudi Arabia | e-Visa | — |
| Serbia | e-Visa | — |
| Singapore | e-Visa | — |
| Slovakia | e-Visa | — |
| Slovenia | e-Visa | — |
| Solomon Islands | e-Visa | — |
| South Korea | e-Visa | — |
| Spain | e-Visa | — |
| Sri Lanka | e-Visa | — |
| Suriname | e-Visa | — |
| Sweden | e-Visa | — |
| Switzerland | e-Visa | — |
| Syria | e-Visa | — |
| Taiwan | e-Visa | — |
| Tajikistan | e-Visa | — |
| Thailand | e-Visa | — |
| Timor-Leste | e-Visa | — |
| Tonga | e-Visa | — |
| Trinidad and Tobago | e-Visa | — |
| Turkey | e-Visa | — |
| Turkmenistan | e-Visa | — |
| Tuvalu | e-Visa | — |
| Ukraine | e-Visa | — |
| United Arab Emirates | e-Visa | — |
| United Kingdom | e-Visa | — |
| United States | e-Visa | — |
| Uruguay | e-Visa | — |
| Uzbekistan | e-Visa | — |
| Vanuatu | e-Visa | — |
| Vatican | e-Visa | — |
| Venezuela | e-Visa | — |
| Vietnam | e-Visa | — |
| Yemen | e-Visa | — |
Benin rules for every passport
Vaccinations, customs limits and penalties are the same for every traveller.
Vaccinations
- Yellow fever: required for all travellers over one year of age and for those who have transited through an airport in a country with risk of transmission.
Customs limits
- Cash
- Bringing currency in is unrestricted, but any large amount must be declared to customs. The currency is the West African CFA franc, at a fixed rate to the euro (1 euro = 655.9 CFA francs).
Overstay penalties
The penalty for staying longer than authorised could not be confirmed against an official Beninese source.
Grounds for refusal
- Arriving without an approved e-Visa: Benin only grants visas electronically.
- Not carrying the yellow fever vaccination certificate.
- A passport with less than six months' validity.
Travel insurance
Each destination decides whether to require insurance, and some check it at the border. If yours does, make sure the policy covers the whole trip.
See IATI's international site →IATI sells its policies according to the country you live in. Where do you live?
If your country isn't listed, try IATI's international site.
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Do you need a different visa for Cotonou, Porto-Novo, or Ouidah?
No. Benin sets the requirements, so entering through Cotonou asks for the same as entering through Porto-Novo or Ouidah. If you're arriving overland or through a small border post, check that separately: some countries apply their own rules to specific crossings.
What does change is where you file the application when a visa is needed, and that depends on the country you live in rather than the city you're travelling to.
What draws travellers to Benin
Benin has three properties on the World Heritage List. The Royal Palaces of Abomey, inscribed in 1985, belonged to the twelve kings who ruled the kingdom of Abomey between 1625 and 1900. Koutammakou, the land of the Batammariba, is shared with Togo, and the W-Arly-Pendjari natural complex with Niger and Burkina Faso. Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against travel to the northern half of the country, where terrorist attacks keep happening, especially near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger, which includes the Pendjari area. It rates the centre of the main towns (Cotonou, Porto-Novo, Parakou, Natitingou) as trouble-free by day and asks for caution on Cotonou's beaches.
Sources for this section: data.unesco.org (World Heritage List: Royal Palaces of Abomey, 1985; Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba, 2004; W-Arly-Pendjari Complex, 1996); Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs travel advice for Benin. Accessed 2 October 2026.
Things to see and do in Benin
Tours, skip-the-line tickets and day trips, most with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
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Where can Benin passport holders travel visa-free? →
Informational only. Always verify requirements with the official embassy or consulate before you travel.