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
An extrait de casier judiciaire under three months old, a birth certificate under six months, and a medical certificate under three months
Three photographs, a XOF 15,000 fiscal stamp, and the repatriation-bond receipt
Foreign civil-status documents legalised and translated into French

Step-by-step

1
Employer files the contract for the DGTSS visa
Article L.33 requires the contract to be written, preceded by a medical examination, and stamped by the labour directorate. Article L.34 puts the obligation on the employer, makes a refused contract null by operation of law, and 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 — and land half an hour away
Senegal introduced a biometric entry visa in 2013 and scrapped it from 1 May 2015. Every ECOWAS and EU state plus around fifty others get ninety days on arrival with a six-month passport. Blaise Diagne International is at Diass in the Thiès region, about half an hour by road from the city — you are closer to the airport than any Dakar resident.
In personWho: YouOn arrivalFree for exempt nationalities
3
Write the demande manuscrite and assemble the file
The application opens with a handwritten letter to the Ministre chargé de l'Intérieur — handwritten, not typed. With it go copies of the first five passport pages, the casier judiciaire, the birth certificate, the medical certificate, your stamped contract or enrolment evidence, three photographs, the XOF 15,000 fiscal stamp and the repatriation-bond receipt.
In personWho: YouDays to weeks, gated by home-country documentsXOF 15,000 fiscal stamp
4
Lodge it with the regional police
Outside Dakar the file goes to the police or gendarmerie of your place of residence and is forwarded to the DPETV. Thiès is a regional and departmental capital, so the services that take your file are in the city, and the onward journey to Dieuppeul is an hour rather than a day. Confirm which office receives it before you carry the papers anywhere.
In personWho: YouAdds to an already unpublished timelineIncluded in the stamp
5
Keep the récépissé on you
The receipt issued when the file is accepted covers you while the card is produced. Document checks intensified across Dakar in November 2025 and the lesson generalises: what you are carrying is the argument, not what is in a drawer at home.
In personWho: YouUntil the card is issuedFree

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 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 enrolment evidence and proof of support
Three photographs, the XOF 15,000 fiscal stamp and the repatriation-bond receipt

Things most newcomers don’t know

Thiès is the cheapest place in Senegal to be foreign outside Dakar itself.

The residence card is issued in one place — Dieuppeul, Dakar — and every other city's file has to get there. From Thiès that is 70 km of motorway, not a day's travel. If a file stalls and needs a person to stand in front of a counter, this is the only regional capital from which that is a morning rather than an expedition.

Source: Ministère de l'Intérieur / DPETV

ECOWAS citizenship does not excuse you from the card in Senegal.

Côte d'Ivoire abolished the residence permit for community nationals outright in 2007; Senegal did not. It waives the visa and, as reported, the bond and the establishment authorisation, and keeps the card. The November 2025 sweeps in Dakar picked up ECOWAS nationals among others.

Source: Ministère de l'Intérieur; press reporting, November 2025

Silence from the labour directorate is approval.

Article L.34 deems the contract visa granted if the DGTSS has not decided within fifteen days of the request. It is one of very few hard statutory deadlines here and worth citing when an employer says the file is 'still with the ministry' in week six.

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

Being an hour from the airport changes what the ninety-day exemption is worth.

Blaise Diagne is about half an hour away by road. For anyone whose situation involves leaving and re-entering — consultants, people waiting on a home-country document, families splitting time — the practical friction of the visa-free regime is lower from Thiès than from almost anywhere else in the country.

Source: Local geography; Blaise Diagne International at Diass

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming the Ivorian ECOWAS rule applies here — it does not
Typing the demande manuscrite
Driving to Dakar with the file before checking which local office is supposed to receive it
Letting the casier judiciaire or medical certificate go stale while the file travels
Working on the ninety-day exemption because the airport is close and re-entry is easy
Starting work on a contract that has not been to the DGTSS; a refused visa makes it null

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