ECOWAS passport

Last updated
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
  • Comunidade Económica dos Estados
    da África Ocidental
     (Portuguese)
  • Communauté économique des États
    de l'Afrique de l'Ouest
     (French)
ECOWAS members.svg
Map of Africa indicating the ECOWAS member states.

The ECOWAS passport is a common passport document for several countries in West Africa.

Contents

Member states of ECOWAS — the Economic Community of West African States — have implemented the common design for the passport. It was created to facilitate the intra-regional travel of member states' citizens for periods of unlimited duration. The passport can be used within the sub-region and is also recognized for international travel.

Types

There are three types of ECOWAS passports:

Ordinary passport
These passports are issued to citizens and are intended for occasional travel, such as vacations and business trips. They contain 32 pages, and are valid for 5 years.
Official/Service passport
These passports are issued to officials attached to government institutions who have to travel on official business.
Diplomatic passport
Issued to diplomats and consuls for work-related travel, and to their accompanying dependents.

Common design features

Overall format

Cover

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) itself does not issue passports, but the passports issued by its 15 members share certain design features. These include the green coloured cover for ordinary passports, blue colored cover for service passports, and burgundy colored cover for diplomatic passports, as well as common security features and biometrics. [1]

Additional common features include the inscription of the words ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS), French: COMMUNAUTÉ ÉCONOMIQUE DES ÉTATS DE L’AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST (CEDEAO), depending on the language of the issuing state. While the emblem of the ECOWAS community is emblazoned on the cover page of some passports, it is possible to notice some ECOWAS passports of certain countries with the respective state’s emblem on the cover instead. The name of the issuing country is usually the only distinguishing factor between passports issued by the various sovereign nations of the sub-region.

Near the bottom of the passport cover, depending on the official language of the issuing state, the words PASSPORT, French: PASSEPORT are inscribed on ordinary passports, OFFICIAL PASSPORT or SERVICE PASSPORT, French: PASSEPORT DE SERVICE on service passports; and DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT, French: PASSEPORT DIPLOMATIQUE on diplomatic passports.

Identification page

The following information is printed on the identification page, in both English and French:

  1. Type
  2. Code of Issuing State
  3. Passport No.
  4. Surname
  5. Given name(s)
  6. Nationality
  7. Date of birth
  8. Sex
  9. Place of birth
  10. Date of issue
  11. Date of expiry
  12. Authority

Overview of passports issued by the ECOWAS states

ECOWAS statePassport coverVisa requirementsCostValidityIssuing authorityLatest version
Flag of Benin.svg
Benin
EPassport logo.svg

BENIN biometric passport.png

Visa requirements for Beninese citizens.png

30,000 CFA [2]

6 years

Direction de l'Émigration et de l'Immigration (D.E.I.)

2016

Flag of Burkina Faso.svg
Burkina Faso

Visa requirements for Burkinabe citizens.png

46,000 CFA

5 years

Direction Générale de la Police Nationale

2013

Flag of Cape Verde.svg
Cape Verde

Passport of Cape Verde (white background).jpg

Visa requirements for Cape Verdean citizens.png

5,000 CVE

5 years

DEF

2005

Flag of The Gambia.svg
Gambia

Visa requirements for Gambian citizens.png

1000.00 D [3]

5 years

Gambia Immigration Department

2002

Flag of Ghana.svg
Ghana
EPassport logo.svg

Ghana Biometric Passport.jpg

Visa requirements for Ghanaian citizens.png

GH₵50

5 years

Passport Office

2010

Flag of Guinea.svg
Guinea
EPassport logo.svg

Visa requirements for Guinean citizens.png

500,000 GNF

5 years

Police de l’air et des frontières (PAF)

2018

Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg
Guinea-Bissau
EPassport logo.svg

Passaporte Guine-Bissau.jpg

Visa requirements for Guinea-Bissauan citizens.png

50,000 XOF5 yearsServiço de Migração e Fronteiras
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg
Côte d'Ivoire
EPassport logo.svg

Visa requirements for Ivorian citizens.png

40,000 CFA [4]

5 years

Police de l’air et des frontières (PAF)

2008

Flag of Liberia.svg
Liberia
EPassport logo.svg

Liberian Passport.jpg

Visa requirements for Liberian citizens.png

$50
(in Liberia)
$205
(Overseas) [5]

5 years

Liberian Passport Office

2017

Flag of Mali.svg
Mali
EPassport logo.svg

Visa requirements for Malian citizens.png

85

5 years

Direction de la Police des Frontière

2016

Flag of Niger.svg
Niger
EPassport logo.svg

Visa requirements for Nigerien citizens.png

30,000 XOF5 yearsDirection Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire
Flag of Nigeria.svg
Nigeria
EPassport logo.svg
Nigerian Enhanced ePassport.webp

Visa requirements for Nigerian citizens.png

15,000
(Standard, in Nigeria)
$ 94
(Standard, Overseas)
[6]

10 years

The Nigeria Immigration Service

2019

Flag of Senegal.svg
Senegal
EPassport logo.svg
Senegalese Passport.png

Visa requirements for Senegalese citizens.png

20,000 CFA

5 years

Direction de l'Automatisation des Fichiers

2007

Flag of Sierra Leone.svg
Sierra Leone

Visa requirements for Sierra Leonean citizens.png

Le 750,000

5 years

Immigration Department

2004

Flag of Togo.svg
Togo
EPassport logo.svg

Togo passport.png

Visa requirements for Togolese citizens.png

30,000 CFA

5 years

Direction Générale de la Documentation Nationale (DGDN)

2012

See also

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References

  1. ECOWAS Passport. rowacacancersl.webs.com.
  2. Direction de l'Émigration et de l'Immigration. "PASSEPORT ORDINAIRE BIOMÉTRIQUE" . Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  3. "Gambian Passports | (Gambia Immigration Department - GID)". Access Gambia. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  4. "Passeport en Côte d'Ivoire – SNEDAI GROUPE".
  5. "Liberia online passport application". liberiapassports.com. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  6. "The Nigeria Immigration Service".