Benin

Benin is +1 hours ahead of UTC/GMT

French is the official language. Indigenous languages include Fon, Bariba, Yoruba and Dendi.

The West African CFA Franc, which is the shared currency with Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. The local currency is the West African CFA Franc. Benin's economy is cash-based. ATM’s are rare outside major centres. Many businesses don't accept credit cards. You can exchange US Dollars and Euros at commercial banks and exchange bureaus. Plan ahead and take enough cash to meet your needs. Contact your bank to check you can access your money in Benin. Credit and debit card fraud is common.

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Type C Plug - 220V supply voltage and 50Hz

Visas for Benin are required for the following nationalities:

Australia

New Zealand

United States of America

Canada

United Kingdom

All other nationalities should check with your nearest embassy or consulate.

We recommend that you apply for eVisa online at least one (1) month before your date of entry to Benin. However, it is not possible to apply more than 90 days before your date of entry into Benin.

Electronic visa application procedure (Apply for Single Entry Visa for 30 days):-

- Access to the e-visa website via the URL: https://evisa.bj/

- Enter biographical information, address and contact data, contacts in Benin, information on the trip (purpose, dates, etc.).

- The border crossings used on your trip for your visa application - the Tohoun border from Togo to Benin, and the Hilla Condji border from Benin to Togo.

- Upload the various documents required by the authorities.

- For security reasons, the system sends to the requester’s email address a code that the requester will use for authentication.

- Upload the photo in the specified format.

- At the validation of the information entered on the form, the visa applicant is invited to enter the information relating to their credit card for the payment of visa fees.

- After the payment, you will automatically receive in your email inbox a pre-enrolment receipt.

- When the process is validated, the applicant receives an approval document which will act as a “pre-visa”. This document contains a barcode to automatically display the data entered on the pre-enrolment site. This document will be scanned at the border crossing of Benin.

- Online payment method by credit card (Visa; Mastercard, etc.). Visa application fees are non-refundable.

- An electronic visa application is usually processed within four (4) business/working days.