Visa requirements for Sierra Leone

Most visitors get a visa on arrival in Sierra Leone. 15 enter visa-free; 0 need a visa or authorisation arranged in advance.

Find your passport

Rules by passport

Visa-free (15)

Benin
Burkina Faso
Cape Verde
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory Coast
Liberia
Mali
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
the Gambia
Togo

Checked against Sierra Leone Immigration Department, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca), Sierra Leone Immigration Service (official eVisa portal, interactive) on October 10, 2026.

Visa on arrival (184)

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macao
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
New Zealand
Nicaragua
North Korea
North Macedonia
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
the Bahamas
the Central African Republic
the Comoros
the Democratic Republic of the Congo
the Dominican Republic
the Maldives
the Marshall Islands
the Netherlands
the Philippines
the Republic of the Congo
the Seychelles
the Solomon Islands
the United Arab Emirates
the United Kingdom
the United States
the Vatican City
Timor-Leste
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Visa fees for Sierra Leone

Visa type	Fee	Source
Visa on arrival	80 USD, single entry, valid 1 month (extendable in-country); non-AU nationals	Sierra Leone Immigration Department
Visa on arrival	25 USD, single entry, valid 1 month; African Union nationals Applies to 54 specific nationalities only, including Algerian, Angolan, Beninese.	Sierra Leone Immigration Department

Processing times

Visa type	Processing time	Source
Visa on arrival	Issued at the point of entry; pre-apply online via the eVisa system	Sierra Leone Immigration Department

Apply through official channels

Start the official eVisa system (apply online)

SLID visa-on-arrival policy pageVoA explicitly covers tourism, business, religion, academic and family visits under the same rule and fee - no business override.

Travel insurance for Sierra Leone

Travel insurance

Not required. No official source we have checked requires travel insurance to visit Sierra Leone, and none publishes a minimum coverage amount for visitors.

Some visa services claim insurance is mandatory for Sierra Leone and charge you for a policy. We found no official rule behind those claims, so we will not present it as one. Insurance may still be a sensible choice for your trip, but for Sierra Leone it is your choice, not an entry rule. We watch for new mandates daily, and this page will say so if one appears.

Countries that do require it: the full travel insurance requirements list.

Sources and verification

199 of 199 passport rules verified against Sierra Leone Immigration Department, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca), Sierra Leone Immigration Service (official eVisa portal, interactive), 0 with no official source publishing the rule.

Sierra Leone Immigration Department (checked October 10, 2026)
UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (checked October 10, 2026)
Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca) (checked October 10, 2026)
Sierra Leone Immigration Service (official eVisa portal, interactive) (checked October 10, 2026)

Common questions

Do I need a visa for Sierra Leone?

It depends on your passport. 15 of 199 passports enter Sierra Leone visa-free, 184 can get a visa on arrival; 0 need a visa or authorisation arranged in advance. Find your passport in the groups above.

What does a visa for Sierra Leone cost?

It depends on the visa type and your passport. For example, the visa on arrival costs 80 USD, single entry, valid 1 month (extendable in-country); non-AU nationals. See the full fee table above.

How long does Sierra Leone visa processing take?

Standard processing for the visa on arrival: Issued at the point of entry; pre-apply online via the eVisa system.

Do I need travel insurance for Sierra Leone?

No verified requirement. No official source we have checked requires travel insurance to visit Sierra Leone, and none publishes a minimum coverage amount for visitors. Some visa services claim it is mandatory and charge for a policy; we found no official rule behind those claims.