Before you start

A passport valid at least six months beyond arrival, plus copies of its first pages
A written employment contract stamped by the DGTSS, if you are working — Article L.33 of the Code du travail makes the visa compulsory for any contract requiring the worker to install outside their habitual residence
An extrait de casier judiciaire from your home country, less than three months old
A birth certificate less than six months old, and a medical certificate less than three months old
Foreign civil-status documents legalised and translated into French

Step-by-step

1
Employer files the contract for the DGTSS visa
Article L.33 of the Code du travail requires any contract that moves a worker outside their habitual residence to be in writing, preceded by a medical examination, and stamped by the Direction générale du Travail et de la Sécurité sociale. Article L.34 puts the obligation on the employer, makes a refused contract null by operation of law, and — the part worth knowing — deems the visa granted if the DGTSS has not answered within fifteen days of the request.
Via employerWho: Your employer15 days, after which silence counts as approvalBorne by the employer; no published tariff we could confirm
2
Enter — most nationalities need no visa at all
Senegal introduced a biometric entry visa in 2013 and scrapped it from 1 May 2015, and it has not come back. Every ECOWAS and EU state plus around fifty others — the UK, the US, Canada, Japan, India, Korea, Brazil — get ninety days on arrival with a passport valid six months beyond entry, proof of onward travel and an address. The exemption is broad but not universal, so check your own nationality against a Senegalese mission rather than assuming.
In personWho: YouOn arrival at Blaise Diagne (AIBD)Free for exempt nationalities
3
Write the demande manuscrite and assemble the file
The application opens with a handwritten letter addressed to the Ministre chargé de l'Intérieur — handwritten, not typed. To it you add copies of the first five passport pages, the casier judiciaire, the birth certificate, the medical certificate, your stamped employment contract (or enrolment certificate and proof of support if you are a student), three passport photos, the XOF 15,000 fiscal stamp and the repatriation-bond receipt.
In personWho: YouDays to weeks, gated by the home-country documentsXOF 15,000 fiscal stamp
4
Pay the repatriation bond — unless you are exempt
The caution de rapatriement is a deposit the state holds against the cost of sending you home, and its amount is set by nationality rather than by a single tariff; French nationals are commonly quoted XOF 75,000. It is refundable when you leave. ECOWAS nationals and students are exempt from it, and ECOWAS nationals are also exempt from the establishment authorisation.
In personWho: YouSame visitVaries by nationality — confirm yours at the DPETV before budgeting
5
Lodge the file at the DPETV in Dieuppeul
In Dakar the file goes to the Direction de la Police des Étrangers et des Titres de Voyage, Allées Sérigne Ababacar Sy, Dieuppeul, on 33 869 30 01 or 33 864 51 26, Monday to Friday morning and afternoon. Outside Dakar the file is lodged with the regional police or gendarmerie of your place of residence and travels to the DPETV — which is why a Dakar posting is administratively the easiest place in Senegal to be foreign.
In personWho: YouExpect months rather than weeks; a récépissé covers you meanwhileIncluded in the stamp

Documents you’ll need

Handwritten application addressed to the Minister of the Interior
Passport plus copies of its first five pages
Extrait de casier judiciaire from your home country, under three months old
Birth certificate under six months old and a medical certificate under three months old
Employment contract stamped by the DGTSS, or a school/university enrolment certificate and proof of support
Three passport photographs, the XOF 15,000 fiscal stamp and the repatriation-bond receipt

Things most newcomers don’t know

ECOWAS membership does NOT exempt you from the card here.

This is the single most consequential thing on the page and the easiest to get wrong, because the neighbouring rule is the opposite. Côte d'Ivoire abolished the residence permit for ECOWAS nationals entirely in 2007. Senegal exempts them from the establishment authorisation and the repatriation bond and leaves the card obligation intact — and the November 2025 sweeps picked up ECOWAS nationals among others.

Source: Ministère de l'Intérieur; press reporting on the November 2025 controls

Silence from the labour directorate is approval, not refusal.

Article L.34 of the Code du travail says that if the DGTSS has not made its decision known within fifteen days of the visa request, the visa is deemed granted. That is a hard statutory deadline in a system with few of them, and it is worth knowing when an employer tells you the file is 'still with the ministry' in week six.

Source: Code du travail, Loi n° 97-17, art. L.34

The application starts with a handwritten letter, and people get sent home for typing it.

The Ministry's own document list specifies a demande manuscrite addressed to the Minister of the Interior. It is the cheapest possible reason to lose a morning at Dieuppeul, and no aggregator guide mentions it.

Source: Ministère de l'Intérieur — carte d'identité d'étranger

The repatriation bond is a deposit, not a fee.

It is refundable when you leave the country, which makes it a cash-flow problem rather than a cost — but only if you keep the quittance. Its amount is set by nationality, so a colleague's figure tells you nothing about yours, and students are exempt from it entirely along with the fiscal stamp.

Source: Ministère de l'Intérieur / DPETV

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming the Ivorian ECOWAS rule applies in Senegal — it does not, and the card is still compulsory past ninety days
Typing the demande manuscrite
Collecting the casier judiciaire first and finding it stale by the time the rest of the file is ready
Losing the repatriation-bond receipt, which is what you present to get the money back
Travelling on the ninety-day exemption while working, on the theory that no visa means no rules
Letting an employer start you before the contract has gone to the DGTSS — a refused visa makes the contract null, not merely irregular

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.