Immigration law in Chad

A foreign national is a person who does not hold Chadian nationality. The current general framework is Décret N°2299/PR/PM/MSPI/2025 of 17 September 2025, which replaced Décret N°0128/PR/PM/MSPI/2024. The Ministère de la Sécurité Publique et de l’Immigration, especially the Direction de l’Immigration et de l’Émigration, handles immigration matters. ANATS issues biometric identity and residence documents, while the Ministère des Affaires Étrangères handles diplomatic and courtesy visas in the current administrative practice. Chadian rules distinguish visitors from residents. Visitor categories include tourists, business visitors, temporary workers, people on missions and medical evacuees. Resident categories include contract workers, diplomats, members of religious congregations and students. Entry is legally permitted through air, land or water crossings. CEMAC nationals receive a preferential regime. A national of another CEMAC state can generally enter, transit through and stay in Chad for up to 90 days without a visa when carrying a valid biometric national identity card, CEMAC identity card, national biometric passport or an approved CEMAC passport. Bilateral agreements may create additional visa exemptions. Preferential treatment does not remove residence or departure requirements that apply to the particular stay. Non-privileged travelers generally need a valid passport and an e-Visa. Visa categories include transit without a stop, transit with a stop for up to 15 days, short stays of up to one month, short stays of up to three months, long stays of up to one year, diplomatic visas and courtesy visas. Since 11 May 2026, new visas are issued only through evisa.td. Manual entry authorizations have been discontinued, and visas issued outside evisa.td from 21 May 2026 are invalid. Visas issued before 21 May 2026 remain valid until their expiry date. Categories 1 to 5 normally go through evisa.td after an immigration review. Diplomatic and courtesy visas are formally covered by the same system, but current 2026 practice places their processing exclusively with the foreign ministry. An e-Visa application may be submitted no more than 60 days before entry. The standard processing time is about 10 working days, while an express service is listed at 72 hours. A passport and relevant passport pages, a photograph, a flight or onward ticket, hotel booking or attestation d’hébergement, a legalized invitation and proof of funds or income may be required. Depending on the purpose, the file can also require an employment contract, professional evidence, ordre de mission, company or tax documents, an NGO agreement with the Chadian state or proof of residence in a third country. Exact visa and residence-card fees are governed by Arrêté conjoint N°033/PR/PM/MFBEPCI/MSPI/2026, but the exact amounts were not publicly verified in the available material. A yellow-fever vaccination certificate is required for entry. The vaccination must generally have been given more than 10 days and less than 10 years before entry under Article 35 of the decree. Children under one year are exempt. Health authorities may impose additional measures or refuse entry during an epidemic. At a border post without PISCES or MIDAS, the traveler must register with immigration within three days of arrival and complete a disembarkation card or border register. A person staying longer than 90 days generally needs a carte de séjour or a long-stay visa through evisa.td. The residence-card application should be filed within the 10 days before the 90-day period expires. A carte de séjour is a biometric residence document valid for one year and renewable. Typical requirements include a passport valid for at least one year, a valid e-Visa, proof of payment and, for employees, an autorisation d'emploi. Students and long-term interns also use a residence card, with additional documents depending on the purpose of stay. Category 5 entrants must complete in-country enrolment within 10 days after arrival. Overstaying or filing late for the residence document can result in a charge of 5,000 FCFA per day. A residence visa or residence card does not automatically authorize paid or unpaid work. Every professional activity generally requires a residence card and compliance with the Code du travail. Employees additionally need an autorisation d'emploi from the competent employment body. Commercial, industrial and liberal professions may require a local authorization. Employers may not employ a foreign national who lacks a residence card, and an employee may not work without the required employment authorization. Contractually privileged representations and organizations can be exceptions. Family migration is less clearly developed in the current public framework. The legal spouse of a Chadian national has a special regime for entry and residence, with procedures determined by immigration regulations. Documents for an e-Visa recognize family visits and invitations, but no separately documented permanent family-reunification pathway was established in the available sources. People seeking protection can apply expressly or implicitly to the nearest administrative authority or to CNARR, generally within 90 days after entry. Force majeure can allow a late application at the discretion of the Sous-commission d’Eligibilité. A person who fled directly from a threatened area is not criminally sanctioned for irregular entry or stay when the application is made within 90 days and the reasons are plausible. CNARR registers applicants, conducts protection procedures and decides status. Individual refugee-status determination applies generally; accelerated procedures cover unaccompanied or separated children, survivors of torture or gender-based violence and other vulnerable people. Prima facie recognition can apply to mass arrivals or groups with similar circumstances. An asylum certificate functions as a residence document for six months and can be renewed until a final decision. Recognized refugees receive a refugee ID valid for five years and renewable. UNHCR provides support but does not replace CNARR as the decision-maker. Non-refoulement protects people from return to a place where they face the relevant danger. Recognized refugees may be expelled only for national-security or public-order reasons through the legal procedure, with a reasonable departure period and notification to UNHCR. Applicants and refugees with temporary documents may have rights to movement, residence, public assistance, health care, education, vocational training, court access and religious practice, although applicants are not fully equal to recognized refugees. No asylum fee was identified in the available primary sources, and legal or court assistance is provided for in law but has limited state implementation. Chad currently has no generally established indefinite residence card in the researched framework. The ordinary residence card lasts one year and can be renewed. A five-year refugee ID is a protection document, not general permanent residence. Naturalization is the functional long-term transition for some people, but it is not an automatic permanent-residence status. Naturalization is governed by Ordonnance 33/PG.-INT. of 14 August 1962 and Décret 211/PG.-INT. of 6 November 1963. It is granted by presidential decree after an investigation and creates no automatic legal entitlement. The applicant generally must be at least 18, have lived in Chad for at least 15 years, show good conduct, satisfy health and character requirements and have no relevant non-rehabilitated or non-amnestied prison sentence. Exceptions may apply to people born in Chad or people who have provided exceptional services. The file can include a birth certificate or substitute court judgment, civil-status records, criminal-record certificate N°3, residence evidence, three photographs, proof of nationality, residence card, employer and salary evidence, tax certificate, children's school records, diplomas or honors and military records. Authorities may assess morality, loyalty, assimilation, language and local customs and require a medical examination. The application is submitted to the President in three copies through the receiving authority and sent to the Interior Ministry within three months. The Interior Ministry gathers opinions from health, labor and foreign affairs authorities before submission to the President. A decree should be issued within one year from the application; otherwise the result is treated as an implied refusal. The application carries a stamp duty under the applicable tariff, but the exact amount was not verified. Border authorities may admit, refuse or remove a foreign national. Entry can be refused for an ongoing prosecution, a conviction for a crime, a connection with a criminal person or organization, a threat to public order or failure to meet entry requirements. After refusal, the person may be returned to the place of origin. Irregular entry after refusal can trigger a fine under the joint implementing order, and people who assist can face the same treatment. A carrier that transports a non-compliant traveler can face a fine of 400,000 to 4,000,000 FCFA. Expulsion can be based on a threat to national security, health, morality or bonnes mœurs, a final prison sentence of at least one year, drug trafficking, forgery or use of forged documents, unlawful administrative acts or usurpation of Chadian nationality. A residence card and current visa expire automatically when expulsion takes effect. The available public sources did not verify a general appeal deadline or automatic suspensive effect for visa or residence-card refusals. Asylum appeals go from the Sous-commission d’Appel to a reasoned decision or ministerial order and then to the Chambre Administrative of the Cour Suprême. Nationality disputes belong to the ordinary civil courts. A person should preserve the decision, filing proof, identity documents and supporting evidence when seeking review.