Get your Cape Verde travel document online

In practice, you fill in the form online, then send a copy of your passport so your data can be checked before submission. Approval takes the form of a travel authorisation as a PDF: it's up to you to print it and present it on arrival. It's this document — not a stamp issued on the spot — that determines your entry into the archipelago.

The EASE is only valid for arrival by air, at one of the archipelago's four international airports. You'll enter the arrival airport in your application: make sure it exactly matches your entry flight, as that's where your authorisation will be checked at immigration.

Obtaining an EASE is mandatory to enter Cape Verde. Several categories of travellers are nevertheless exempt, mainly because of ties to the country.

How long you can stay without a visa depends on your nationality: 90 days for nationals of ECOWAS member states, Morocco, Mauritania, Mozambique, Hong Kong, Macao and Singapore; 60 days for Russia; 30 days for the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican, Angola, Brazil, Canada, the United States and East Timor.

For nationalities that are not visa-exempt but are eligible for the online procedure, the EASE is not enough: a tourism visa is also required. The two do not replace each other, they add up. The EASE is the pre-registration required of every passenger, without which the airline will refuse boarding; the tourism visa is the actual permission to stay. Both are paid in the same online form, before departure.

The tourism visa covers holidays, business trips, official visits, medical treatment and studies, and the form also offers an “other” purpose.

The formalities therefore come down to three entries: your passport data, the details of your stay, and the information about your flights, travel dates and place of accommodation (hotel, family or friends). Note: your passport must remain valid for the entire duration of your authorised stay in Cape Verde.

The average processing time for an EASE application is around 48 hours, but some can take two to five days depending on the volume handled by the Cape Verdean authorities. Hence our recommendation to allow at least five days.

Once issued, the EASE remains valid for one year from its date of issue. It allows a stay of 30, 60 or 90 days depending on your nationality, for a single entry. If you leave the archipelago before it expires and wish to return, a new application will be required.

In short, the EASE is a simple but unavoidable formality to set foot on Cape Verdean soil. Apply at least five days ahead, check that your information matches your travel documents — passport and flight tickets first — and keep your PDF handy, both on your phone and printed. It's the key to a smooth passage through immigration, and your assurance of enjoying the archipelago without any nasty surprise on arrival.

A few simple precautions prevent most rejections. Enter your details exactly as they appear on your passport — surname, given names, number and dates — because a single typo in the passport number or a wrong date of birth can be enough to invalidate the EASE and complicate your passage through immigration. Also check that your stay dates match your flight tickets.

Bear in mind that each traveller must have their own EASE, apart from the exemption cases mentioned above (notably children under two). If you travel as a family or group, plan one application per person concerned and start all the steps at the same time so as not to multiply waiting times.

Finally, carefully keep the payment confirmation and the EASE received by email, both on your phone and printed. The airport security tax is single-use: for a new trip after expiry, or after a first departure from the archipelago followed by a return, a new application — and a new payment — will be required.