Immigration
ECOWAS free movement with limited administrative capacity
As an ECOWAS member Guinea-Bissau admits community nationals visa-free for 90 days. Others require a visa. Border control capacity is limited, and the country is both an origin and transit state for regional migration.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Serviço de Migração e Fronteiras administers entry and residence.
- Deadline — Residence authorisation: applied for through the Serviço de Migração e Fronteiras
- Deadline — ECOWAS nationals: 90 days visa-free
Governing law
- Lei sobre a entrada, permanência e saída de estrangeiros
- ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons 1979
In practice
Guinea-Bissau's membership of both ECOWAS and the lusophone CPLP gives it two overlapping mobility frameworks: the ECOWAS Protocol for West African nationals, and the CPLP mobility agreement covering Portuguese-speaking states including Brazil, Portugal and Angola. The CPLP route is significant for professional and student migration in a way the ECOWAS Protocol is not.