Do you need a hotel booking for an Ivory Coast visa?

Is a hotel booking for Ivory Coast visa applications what you need? Not exactly. For the e-visa, SNEDAI requires “the invitation letter or the accommodation certificate” (our translation), and its French-language page never mentions a hotel booking. If you are staying at a hotel, ask it for a signed and stamped accommodation certificate. If a friend or relative is hosting you, they fill in SNEDAI's certificate and have their signature legalized at a town hall in Côte d'Ivoire.

This document is one of the three mandatory items in your application. Without it, the application is rejected and the 73 € are not refunded. The full process (form, payment, collecting the visa at the airport) is explained in our Ivory Coast e-visa guide. This article covers accommodation only.

Who needs proof of accommodation?

Only travelers who need a visa. Citizens of ECOWAS countries enter without a visa, as do those of a few other countries. For everyone else, the e-visa is mandatory, and so is proof of accommodation. The rule depends on your nationality, not on where you live. Our Côte d'Ivoire visa tool gives the rule passport by passport.

Whatever your nationality, a yellow fever vaccination certificate is required on entry. The details are on the same entry requirements page.

What SNEDAI requires, exactly

The official e-visa page on snedai.com lists three documents to upload online:

1. the identity page or pages of your passport;
2. proof of a round-trip flight booking;
3. “the invitation letter or the accommodation certificate” (our translation).

SNEDAI states that if even one of these documents is missing, the application is automatically rejected. Each file must be in JPG, PNG, GIF or PDF format and weigh 1 MB at most.

The rule for the invitation letter is strict. It “must be typed on a computer, printed, signed, stamped and legalized” (our translation). A handwritten letter, or one without a stamp, does not meet these conditions.

SNEDAI also publishes an accommodation certificate template. At the top, it reads “Please have the following document legalized at a town hall” (our translation). The template is designed for a person who is hosting you, with their ID card and address.

The invitation letter must be typed on a computer, printed, signed, stamped and legalized.

Is a hotel booking for Ivory Coast visa purposes enough?

This is the question travelers ask most often on forums. The honest answer: sometimes yes, but nothing guarantees it.

SNEDAI's French page does not mention hotel bookings. Other sources do. The Embassy of Côte d'Ivoire in the United States accepts a legalized invitation letter or a hotel booking confirmation. The embassy in Japan also lists a hotel confirmation. But both lists apply to visas filed at the embassy, not to the SNEDAI e-visa.

Travelers' reports point both ways. On a travel forum in 2023, a sales representative presenting himself as SNEDAI explained that a hotel booking could work for people with no contact in the country. If it is not accepted, SNEDAI sends an email listing the documents to add. The traveler who asked got approved within a week with a confirmation provided by the hotel.

In 2026, the reports are less reassuring. On the Tripadvisor forum, an American traveler wrote in July 2026 that her hotel letter was rejected. Her husband had been approved with the same documents. On the phone, an agent told her she needed a certificate legalized at a town hall. Another traveler, in May 2026, was asked for an invitation letter after five days, then approved two days later.

What document to ask your hotel for

A screenshot of a booking is the weakest document you can submit. Aim instead for something that looks like what SNEDAI describes: a typed document, signed and stamped.

Write to the hotel as soon as you book and ask for an “accommodation certificate” for your e-visa application. Ideally, it should include:

• the hotel's letterhead, with its address and phone number;
• your full name, exactly as it appears in your passport;
• your arrival and departure dates;
• the signature of a manager and the hotel's stamp.

Ask before you pay. If the hotel cannot provide this document, choose another one.

Scan the document as a PDF or JPG under 1 MB, and check that it is still readable. Keep the booking confirmation too, in case you are asked for more.

Do you need to book your whole stay?

SNEDAI does not say. A traveler on a travel forum reported in 2023 that the booking was requested for the arrival, not the whole stay. If you are traveling around the country, a certificate for your first nights in Abidjan is the most common solution, but nothing official confirms it.

Refundable bookings and fake bookings

A free-cancellation booking on a platform like Booking is not forbidden in itself. It is a real booking. The problem is that it does not match the document SNEDAI describes. If you book through a platform, then ask the hotel for the signed and stamped certificate.

If you cancel right after getting approved, the document you uploaded no longer matches anything. Once there, if someone asks where you are staying, you need to be able to give a real address.

Some websites sell bookings “for visa purposes,” sometimes with no hotel behind them at all.

You may also have to start all over again, closer to your departure, with a new payment.

Staying with a friend or relative: the legalized certificate

If a friend or family member is hosting you, they are the one who fills in the certificate. SNEDAI's template asks for:

• their full name, occupation, postal address and phone number;
• the number, date and place of issue of their national ID card;
• their exact place of residence: city, commune, neighborhood, street, block, lot and house;
• your name, your country of origin and the dates of your stay;
• the reason for the visit: family, business, school or other;
• their signature, which must be legalized.

Where and how to get the signature legalized

According to the Service public de Côte d'Ivoire government portal, legalization can be done at any town hall. Your host brings the signed document and their national ID card, passport or residence card. The stamp duty is 500 CFA francs per copy. A document in a foreign language is not processed without a French translation.

The same portal describes an option to file at a La Poste CI branch. It costs 3,500 CFA francs per copy, or 5,000 CFA francs if collected in another region. The portal states a turnaround of 5 working days at most at a town hall, and 10 working days at a sub-prefecture.

SNEDAI's template only mentions the town hall. We found no official source mentioning legalization at a police station for this document. If in doubt, call SNEDAI before starting the process.

Business trips, assignments and organized tours

SNEDAI does not list any specific document for business trips in the e-visa. The third document is still “the invitation letter or the accommodation certificate” (our translation). For a business meeting, it is usually the Ivorian company hosting you that writes the invitation letter.

Apply SNEDAI's rule to it: a letter typed on letterhead, printed, signed, stamped and legalized. One traveler quoted above says SNEDAI also asked her for a “company letter.” If the company is putting you up at a hotel, add the hotel's certificate to the same PDF file.

For a tour with an agency, ask the agency for the document. One traveler reported in 2026 that a tour operator in Abidjan got him a stamped certificate, for a fee, in about ten days. It eventually proved unnecessary, but the delay shows you need to start early.

Which document for your situation

Your situation	Document to upload	Who provides it	What to watch for
Hotel in Abidjan or elsewhere	Hotel accommodation certificate	The hotel	Letterhead, signature, stamp, your dates
Staying with a friend or relative	Accommodation certificate (SNEDAI template)	Your host	Signature legalized at a town hall, host's national ID
Business trip	Company invitation letter	The company hosting you	Typed, signed, stamped and legalized
Organized tour	Certificate or letter from the agency	The local agency	Allow several days to get it
Visa-exempt passport	No e-visa application	Not applicable	Check your nationality in the visa tool

And on arrival in Abidjan?

At the airport, SNEDAI asks for four documents: the payment receipt, the approved pre-enrollment, your passport and your yellow fever vaccination certificate. Proof of accommodation is not on that list.

Keep it with you anyway, printed, with the address and phone number of your host or hotel. France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry's travel advice) points out that every foreigner must be able to show their visa to the police when asked. Having a real address at hand avoids arguments at checkpoints.

When to apply

SNEDAI announces an answer within 48 working hours, while noting that this can take longer. The British government advises applying at least 10 working days before you travel.

That is our advice for every visa. But start gathering your proof of accommodation earlier, especially if a host has to go to the town hall. A request for an extra document from SNEDAI can also cost you several days.

Check your own government's travel advice too. To plan the rest of your stay, our Côte d'Ivoire guide covers Abidjan, Grand-Bassam, Assinie and Yamoussoukro.

Frequently asked questions

Is a Booking screenshot enough for the e-visa?

Some travelers have seen it accepted, others were asked for an extra document. SNEDAI refers to an “accommodation certificate” (our translation). A certificate signed and stamped by the hotel is safer.

Does my host have to be Ivorian?

SNEDAI's template asks for the host's national ID card number. The Service public portal also accepts a passport or a residence card for legalizing a signature. If your host is a foreign national, ask SNEDAI before starting the process.

Can the certificate be legalized outside Côte d'Ivoire?

SNEDAI's template asks for legalization “at a town hall” (our translation). We found no official source on any other route. In practice, your host has to do it in the country.

Who can I call if I have questions?

SNEDAI runs an information line at (00225) 27 22 51 08 08, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Abidjan time. For a question about your nationality, contact the embassy or consulate of Côte d'Ivoire in your country.