Immigration law in Haiti

Foreign travelers enter Haiti through an authorized airport, port or open border with a valid passport. Visa requirements depend on nationality; the Haitian Embassy in France states that most foreign nationals are visa-exempt, but travelers should verify the rule applying to their passport before departure. The passport should generally remain valid for at least six months. A non-resident tourist fee is listed as 10 USD, 10 CAD or 10 EUR. Travelers receive a Départ/Sòti card at entry and should retain it for departure. The iKat travel declaration applies to all travelers, including children, for entry and exit on each trip. The official page refers to submission 72 hours before travel, while an official FAQ refers to 48 hours, so the current instruction should be checked before travel. Older statutory categories describe transit stays of up to 72 hours, visitor or tourist stays of up to three months, and non-immigrant status for an authorized employment or stay longer than three months. A residence visa is described as having no fixed end date under the older framework, subject to expulsion rules, but current practice should be confirmed with the responsible authority. The Direction de l’Immigration et de l’Émigration (DIE), within the Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Communities (MICT), handles immigration administration. Haitian consulates and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also provide consular services. A foreign national planning to stay longer than 90 days generally applies for a permis de séjour through the DIE. The published checklist includes an application letter explaining the reason for the stay, a passport copy, an employer or sponsor letter guaranteeing accommodation or support and repatriation, an employer patente or an NGO operating authorization, a medical certificate issued no more than 30 days earlier, two color passport photographs, the last-entry boarding card, a birth certificate with French translation, proof of funds of at least 7,500 HTG or 200 USD, and a recent police record from the country of origin. The procedure includes an interview and form, and the published fee is 5,000 HTG by cheque payable to the Public Treasury. The permit states its duration. A reliable public processing time and a general renewal deadline are not published. Work normally requires both residence status and a work permit from the MAST Direction de la main-d’œuvre, also referred to as the SPMT. A foreign worker also needs a DGI tax identification number. The DGI describes different foreign licence requirements for an owner and an employee: an owner is listed at 50% of five times the patente, while an employee is listed at 45% of gross monthly salary. No current general investor pathway is evidenced in the available public material. Haiti has no current official dedicated student pathway located in the available sources. Study access therefore appears to rely on a general residence justification and does not create an automatic student status. No public family-reunification checklist or automatic family status is evidenced. A sponsor or guarantor may support a residence application, but the exact result depends on the case and the authority’s current practice. Haiti acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention on 25 September 1984, and Article 57 of the Constitution recognizes political asylum. The available authoritative review does not identify a functioning national asylum law and refugee-status determination procedure; UNHCR refugee-status determination was reportedly suspended at the State’s request in June 2024. This creates a protection gap and possible risks of detention, expulsion or return despite the treaty principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning a person to a place where they face serious persecution or other protected harm. The Constitution provides equal legal protection for foreigners, subject to statutory limits affecting areas such as property, certain professions, wholesale trade, commercial representation and import or export. Foreign nationals need to comply with passport, visa, iKat, residence-permit, work-authorization and tax requirements. The DIE has centers across Haiti’s departments, and the available research identifies no separate department-level immigration regime. Haitian nationality law recognizes citizenship at birth through a Haitian father or mother born Haitian, while other acquisition conditions are delegated to legislation. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) describes naturalisation as requiring five years of residence, reduced to two years where the applicant has a profession considered useful to the State. The petition goes to the Minister of Justice and normally includes a residence permit, a residence certificate from the Justice de paix with the mayor’s visa, a translated birth certificate and a patente or work certificate. No official processing time or fee is publicly specified. The available sources do not establish a current, generally available permanent-residence conversion procedure; a 1984 decree appears in the IOM legal framework, while current DIE public services describe time-limited residence permits. A visa does not guarantee admission. The 1959 framework permits forced departure through the same means of entry when a foreigner is considered undesirable on arrival. The Interior authority controls visa renewal or termination, and the Constitution permits expulsion for political involvement or statutory grounds. No current public dedicated appeal procedure or deadline for visa or residence refusals was located. Constitutional safeguards include judicial review of illegal detention and arbitrary acts, written reasons, access to a lawyer and family contact, and presentation before a court within 24 hours. The Office of National Identification (ONI) and Justice institutions may also become relevant to nationality and identity matters. French translations of civil documents are a practical document requirement, but no formal language examination, civic course or integration contract was identified.