Getting a visa for Mauritania: the e-visa in two stages

Updated

Do you need a visa for Mauritania?

For French and British citizens, yes, and it starts online. Since 5 January 2025, you first apply for an e-visa on anrpts.gov.mr, the website of ANRPTS, the Mauritanian agency for the population register and secure documents. The visa itself is then issued when you arrive.

These two advisories are written for French and British citizens. Rules can differ for other nationalities, especially for citizens of neighbouring countries: check on the portal or with a Mauritanian embassy before you travel. According to France Diplomatie, people living in Mauritania with a valid residence card don't need a visa, as long as they have been away for less than six months.

Viva Mauritania does not sell visas: only the official portal issues the e-visa. To file the application, the French and British advisories point only to anrpts.gov.mr: a website that asks you to pay to file it for you is not the Mauritanian administration.

Applying on anrpts.gov.mr

We went through the first page of the form on 14 November 2026. The portal is in English, Arabic and French, and the application has five steps, named on the form:

  1. Visa Options: you choose the duration, 30, 90 or 360 days.
  2. Passport.
  3. Traveler.
  4. Details.
  5. Review, before you send the application.

The portal states that all visas are issued electronically and allow entry through all international ports of entry. A link on the form lets you track an application you have already sent. The documents asked for in the later steps and the processing time are not listed on the first page. For a technical problem with your application, the UK Foreign Office gives the agency's address: contact@anrpts.gov.mr.

How much does the visa cost, and how do you pay?

According to France Diplomatie (9 November 2026), the 30-day single-entry visa costs 55 euros, paid on arrival, when the visa is issued. The UK Foreign Office (19 October 2026) adds that the fee is paid in exact cash, in euros or US dollars, with no change and no receipt: bring the exact amount. None of the sources we read gives the amount in US dollars: bring 55 euros in notes if you can.

The portal also offers 90 and 360 days. Their price is not shown on the first page of the form, and the French and British advisories don't give it. For durations and fees, the UK advice refers to a page of the Mauritanian foreign ministry, which did not load when we tried on 14 November 2026.

When to apply

No processing time is published on the form. The UK Foreign Office advises applying well in advance of your travel date, so that the e-visa is issued in time. France Diplomatie specifies that the e-visa authorisation must be shown before boarding, or obtained before you reach an international crossing point.

On arrival, and when you leave

Enter through an international crossing point. France Diplomatie counts 21, open to all, among them the PK55 border post, Nouadhibou airport and port, Nouakchott airport and port, Rosso and Diama. The other 61 crossing points are reserved for Mauritanians and citizens of the neighbouring country concerned. France formally advises against the Gogui crossing, in its red zone.

Read the safety advisories for your crossing point before you choose it. The PK55 post is on the Western Sahara border: France excepts it from its orange zone, while the UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel within 25 km of that border, except the section of the Nouakchott to Nouadhibou road and the city of Nouadhibou (advice updated on 19 October 2026). Our iron ore train guide quotes both advisories for the north of the country.

At the crossing point, your biometric data are taken, you pay, and the visa is issued. Keep the e-visa: according to France Diplomatie, you show it again when you leave, with your entry stamp. There is no exit tax, but if you stay longer than your visa, you must regularise before you can leave, at the price of an entry visa, which France Diplomatie gives as 55 euros (9 November 2026).

France Diplomatie also says that foreign currency must be declared on entry and exit: keep your exchange and purchase receipts. If you arrive with your own vehicle, it asks for a carnet de passage en douane, or else a deposit at customs, refunded when the vehicle leaves the country.

Passport and vaccinations

Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months after the date you arrive. A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required if you come from a country with a risk of transmission (UK Foreign Office, 19 October 2026).

Sources