Before you start

Your valid foreign licence and whatever authentication CONADEP asks for
Age 18 or over
Passport and establishment visa
For the vehicle: registration, compulsory third-party insurance and inspection paperwork

Step-by-step

1
Get the CONADEP biometric licence
CONADEP is the sole issuing authority for the national and international permits. The card carries twenty-two visible and invisible security features including a chip; the state reissued everybody rather than police a licence that was too widely forged. Enrolment capacity has been expanding province by province since the relaunch, and a provincial applicant should expect the process to be slower than a Kinshasa one.
In personWho: YouNot published; allow for the provincial rolloutNo official tariff we could verify — pay against the DGRAD note de perception, never to an intermediary
2
Treat any journey out of the city as an expedition
'Il n'y a pas la route' is said flatly here about places with roads drawn on maps, and it is usually accurate. Overland journeys in Tshopo need appropriate vehicles, recovery equipment, fuel margin, satellite communication and, in the rains, an acceptance that the plan may not survive. This is not caution, it is the standard operating procedure of every organisation working here.
In personWho: You and your organisationPlan days, not hoursVehicle, fuel, and the contingency you should not skip
3
Check the legal position before travelling east
Loi 86-007 restricts foreigners' stay and circulation in designated mining zones, and Article 1 names Bafwasende inside this province as well as all of Ituri and Haut-Uélé beyond it. A road trip east is a legal question before it is a logistics one, and the exemption route runs through an interdepartmental commission rather than a local office.
In personWho: You and your employerBefore the trip is planned, not before it departsNone to ask
4
Read the insurance geography clauses carefully
Third-party cover is compulsory. Congolese motor policies frequently exclude the eastern provinces, and Kisangani is close enough to those provinces that the exclusion is a live question rather than a theoretical one. Ask the insurer to confirm in writing which provinces are covered.
In personWho: YouBefore the car movesVaries by insurer
5
Maintain for permanent wet
About 1,620 mm of rain a year and roughly 86% humidity, with no dry season to recover in. Corrosion, electrical faults and mould are constant, and the service interval that works elsewhere is optimistic here. Budget for maintenance and for parts that may take weeks to arrive by barge.
In personWho: YouContinuouslyMaintenance and freight are the real motoring budget

Documents you’ll need

Original foreign licence and any authentication from your home authority
Passport and establishment visa
Photographs to CONADEP's specification
Vehicle registration, insurance certificate and inspection paperwork
Any dérogation or permis de circulation for travel into a designated mining zone

Things most newcomers don’t know

The river is the road, and the timetable is a suggestion.

Kisangani is the farthest navigable point up the Congo and about 2,100 km from the sea. Barge journeys to Kinshasa are measured in weeks and departure dates move. Anything you order overland arrives late or does not arrive; the planning consequence is that stock levels, not delivery dates, are what you manage.

Source: River navigation; the city's position on the Congo

'International airport' currently means domestic flights.

Bangoka (FKI) is 12 km east of the city and is listed among the DRC's international airports, but its scheduled service is to Kinshasa, Kindu and Goma. Every trip in or out of the country routes through the capital. Build that leg into visa validity, connection times and the cost of any emergency departure.

Source: Kisangani Bangoka International Airport, current scheduled services

Anything written before 2025 about DRC licences describes a dead document.

The CONADEP relaunch in November 2024 and enforcement from 30 June 2025 replaced the licence entirely. A source telling you an old Congolese card or an IDP is fine for a resident was written for a different regime.

Source: CONADEP relaunch November 2024; enforcement 30 June 2025

At a checkpoint, stay in the car.

British government advice for the DRC is specific: when stopped by security forces, remain inside the vehicle and show documents through closed windows. It is the standard practice of long-term residents and it de-escalates more reliably than getting out to be helpful.

Source: UK FCDO — DRC travel advice, safety and security