Immigration law in Niger

The Ministère de l’Intérieur, de la Sécurité Publique et de l’Administration du Territoire has central responsibility for immigration matters. Its DGECM-R, including the Direction des Migrations et des Réfugiés, works through eight DRECM-R and 63 DDECM-R. The Guichet Unique in Niamey, the Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, Nigerien missions abroad, the DST and the DGDSE may also have defined roles depending on the procedure. Entry normally requires a passport or equivalent travel document, a Nigerien visa or prior entry authorization, an international vaccination certificate and arrival through an official border post. A standard visa application through a Nigerien mission generally includes a passport copy, two signed application forms and two recent 4-by-4 photographs. The mission sets the fee, and the stated visa processing period is about 15 days. Bilateral or community exemptions may apply. Air transit can be visa-free only when the traveller remains within the airport limits. An exceptional border visa requires authorization from the Interior Minister when the country of departure has no Nigerien mission. Niger classifies foreigners as immigrants or non-immigrants. Diplomatic and consular staff, specifically authorized foreign officials and agents, their eligible family members and transit travellers fall within the non-immigrant categories described by the framework. Other foreigners are generally treated as immigrants. A foreigner settled in Niger is generally expected to obtain a permit de séjour or carte de résident after three months. An application receipt can temporarily replace the residence document while the application is being processed. Current enforcement material uses an age threshold above 15 for the relevant residence-document requirement. Residence fees, validity periods and renewal conditions are not reliably published in the reviewed sources. Work requires a foreign employment contract with prior approval from the labour authority and a visa from the public employment service. The work authorization is generally connected to the absence of suitable national competence, and the employer may have duties to train or replace foreign workers. Niger has a general entry and residence framework for study, but no standalone current student-permit category was directly evidenced. A host-admission document and proof of study are prudent. A general family-reunification procedure was not directly evidenced in the reviewed current sources, so applicants should not assume that a general procedure or fixed entitlement exists. Diplomatic and official missions follow separately recognized rules. Regional mobility requires case-specific checking. Niger’s exit from CEDEAO became effective on 29 January 2025, while the ECOWAS Commission instructed continued visa-free movement, residence and establishment for Nigerien, Burkinabè and Malian citizens until further notice. Bilateral arrangements and AES practices may affect a particular traveller’s position. Niger’s protection system is based on Loi N° 97-016 of 20 June 1997. The refugee definition covers persecution on recognized grounds and the broader OAU definition, including aggression, occupation, foreign domination and serious disturbances of public order. An individual asylum request is submitted to the DGEC-R or CNE, the Commission Nationale d’Éligibilité au Statut des Réfugiés, with identity, origin and protection evidence. The request normally includes a handwritten letter to the Interior Minister, a questionnaire, two photographs and an interview. A provisional asylum attestation is valid for three months and renewable until the final decision. A recognized refugee receives a refugee card valid for two years and renewable; the card serves as identification and residence authorization. A Convention Travel Document can support travel outside the country of origin. Malian applicants may follow a prima facie process through camps, host zones or the Guichet Unique in Niamey, with an attestation valid for one year. Temporary-protection practices have also been reported for displacement from northern Nigeria. Refugees have protection against refoulement, and expulsion or extradition is restricted by national-security and public-order rules. A negative CNE decision can be challenged in writing within 60 days after notification through the DGEC-R, addressed to the Interior Minister and the CNE. A further negative appeal may leave ordinary foreigner regularization as the available residence framework. Other remedies before a competent court may also remain possible. Refugee status does not automatically remove every administrative duty: truthful cooperation, interviews, document submission and lawful conduct remain relevant, and work authorization is still required for employment. Permanent residence is not fully resolved in the reviewed public material. A formal carte de résident exists after the three-month threshold, but no reliable evidence establishes a universal indefinite duration, a general long-term-resident test or a general appeal procedure. Local integration through UNHCR may involve valid origin-identity documents and cessation of refugee status, followed by continued stay under the ordinary foreigner regime rather than automatic permanent status. Nationality is governed mainly by the Code de la nationalité and Ordonnance N° 84-33 of 23 August 1984, as amended, including Ordonnance N° 99-17. Pathways include birth, descent, an option for a foreign woman married to a Nigerien within one year through a civil court or Nigerien consulate, and naturalization by presidential decree. Naturalization generally requires at least ten years of habitual residence, good conduct and morals, no unrehabilitated common-law prison conviction, and an administrative inquiry; exceptional service can affect the residence requirement. A minor may apply from age 16. The decision period is up to one year, after which the application is deemed rejected. Formal or implicit rejection has no appeal under the cited naturalization rules. A naturalization decree can limit eligibility for certain elective offices for ten years and public or ministerial office for five years. Nationality applications are submitted to the Justice Minister through the residence administration. Common evidence includes civil-status records for the applicant and minor children, proof of origin nationality, residence history, a police record, an inquiry record and a medical certificate. The implementing decree sets a chancery fee of 25,000 F CFA. A reported 2026 amendment mainly expands tribunal-instance competence for nationality certificates; the current consolidated naturalization rules still require verification. False or misleading information can damage an application. Irregular entry or stay can lead to refoulement, expulsion, conduite à la frontière, repatriation or administrative retention. Reported criminal penalties for irregular entry or attempted entry, and for facilitating irregular entry, circulation or stay, are two to five years of imprisonment and a fine of 5 to 50 million F CFA. No general public appeal procedure for an ordinary visa or residence refusal was identified, so the wording of the specific decision and professional legal advice can determine the available remedy.