Immigration law in Madagascar

The main legal framework consists of Loi n°62-006 of 1962 and Décret n°94-652 of 1994. It applies to foreign nationals and stateless persons; diplomatic and consular personnel are treated separately. Short visits for tourism, visits, business, events, medical treatment, research, film production, cruises and nautical activities generally use non-immigrant status. Work, investment, study, religious or lay missions, retirement, family reunification and scientific or native categories use immigrant or long-stay procedures where the category is available. Special diplomatic and courtesy visas form separate arrangements. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handles entry visas through a Malagasy embassy or consulate where representation exists. If no representation exists, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handles the application. An immigrant candidate normally applies before entry for a transformable visa valid for one month; this visa can be extended under the applicable procedure. A short-stay visa does not authorize paid work and cannot be converted inside Madagascar into an immigrant visa. A long-stay visa is not issued at an airport or port. For an accord d’embarquement, the applicant submits the online file. A complete file has a target processing time of 72 hours; an incomplete file can receive an additional 72-hour period. The authorization is free. After arrival, the applicant presents the original documents within 72 hours and attends the required fingerprint appointment. The visa must be transformed or extended within one month after arrival, and an immigrant normally applies for a residence card within the same period. Common evidence includes a passport valid for more than six months, two photographs, a motivated request, a police record from the home country issued less than six months earlier and translated into French or English, accommodation evidence or an undertaking, and a lease or host documents. A host generally provides a CIN or residence card and a residence certificate. The application also needs proof matching the purpose of stay. A worker needs an approved employment contract or visa from the Ministère du Travail, proof that an employment authorization was deposited, an employer attestation, and the company’s registration, tax and identity documents. An investor may need company statutes, registration, RCS and CIF records, bank evidence and tax proof. A student may need a diploma, enrolment, scholarship or other resource evidence. Family reunification commonly requires a marriage or birth record. A retiree provides pension evidence and recurring bank resources, while a researcher needs prior ministry authorization. The Ministère de l’Intérieur et de la Décentralisation, through the Direction de l’immigration et émigration, or DIE, handles long-stay visas, residence cards and expulsion matters. The Economic Development Board of Madagascar, known as EDBM, operates a single-window service for investors, expatriate workers and family members. The Ministère du Travail handles employment authorization and work cards. A salaried foreign worker needs both a work card and employment authorization. A residence visa alone does not automatically authorize paid work. Trade, industrial activity or a patented profession may also require a professional card and a local declaration. An immigrant aged 15 or more declares identity and nationality within three days after landing. A residence card is required for an immigrant staying more than 21 days. The holder presents the annual visa during the first quarter, requests renewal at least three months before expiry, and records an address change while notifying the new authority or police within three days. An immigrant needs exit authorization to leave Madagascar and may also need authorization to return. A force-majeure extension can last for up to 30 days. Marriage in Madagascar does not by itself create an automatic right to settle. Fees depend on the pathway and procedural stage. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs schedule lists 70,000 Ariary for students and religious missionaries and 140,000 Ariary for investors, workers, lay missionaries, family members and retirees. EDBM’s V13 worker schedule lists approximately 225,000 to 375,000 Ariary for the visa and a residence-card charge of approximately 300 to 838.47 euros depending on duration; an indefinite-card category also appears in published tariff tables. Applicants should obtain the current quotation for the exact category and stage because schedules differ. Visas can be withdrawn or treated as precarious when the grant, admission or stay was irregular, when the original purpose has disappeared, or when public order or security is threatened. A person who lacks the required documents may create repatriation costs for the carrier. A visa holder must carry the visa and residence documents, comply with the permitted stay and leave when the visa expires. Madagascar has acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Its formal framework includes stateless-person and refugee categories. The Bureau des apatrides et réfugiés can issue documents, refugee residence cards and attestations concerning family, civil status and work history. Admission as a refugee follows a decision by the Ministère de l’Intérieur et de la Décentralisation, after which the admitted refugee or stateless person applies for a residence card within one month. Operational access to refugee-status determination remains fragmented: the latest located UNHCR assessment reported no effective governmental determination system, and current UNHCR SAMCO information directs registration and asylum files through the Counseil de Développement D’Andohatapenaka. The legal basis for formal work rights in this setting is not clear from the available material. An indefinite residence-card category appears in published EDBM tariff tables, but no clear general statutory eligibility rule, residence threshold or automatic transition was located. A five-year permanent-residence pathway should therefore not be assumed. Citizenship is governed by the Code de la nationalité malgache, Ord. n°60-064 as amended by Loi n°2016-038. A child of a Malagasy father or mother generally has Malagasy nationality by origin. A foundling or a child whose parents are unknown has only a presumption of Malagasy ancestry, and birth in Madagascar alone does not create a general right to nationality. A foreign woman married to a Malagasy citizen may make an express declaration at marriage or the latest civil registration, subject to a two-year government opposition period. Naturalization generally requires the applicant to be at least 18, mentally sound, free from a dangerous health condition and serious disqualifying convictions, of good conduct, and habitually resident in Madagascar for five years before applying and until the decree. The process also includes assimilation, including sufficient Malagasy. Exceptional services or the wife of a foreign man acquiring Malagasy nationality can affect the ordinary sequence. A rejected applicant may reapply after two years. An expulsion or residence order blocks acquisition until rescinded, and the affected residence period is excluded. Irregular entry or overstay and a temporary presence threatening public order, health, morals or security can lead to refoulement. The DIE can initiate expulsion for an order or security threat. After notification, the person can request a hearing within eight days, alone or with counsel, before a special commission, except in an absolute emergency. The commission holds a closed hearing, records its advice and sends it to the Ministry of the Interior and Decentralization for the decision. If departure is impossible, the person may receive an assigned residence and periodic police or gendarmerie reporting duties. A refused visa may be marked non-renewable, with departure required within the granted preparation period; no general statutory appeal procedure for visa refusal was located. A naturalization refusal carries a two-year waiting period.