Our travels to the horn of Africa included a visit to Djibouti as well as Somalia. Somaliland Visa was required to continue our journey there. Based on the current situation in Somalia, the most obvious region to visit was Somaliland, a breakaway region that claims its independence for 27 years now. Although the UN does not recognise Somaliland as a country, you do need a visa for it and trust us you cannot get it at the border.
Getting Somaliland visa in Addis Ababa
The visa process is fairly straightforward in Addis Ababa and you can obtain a Somaliland Visa on the same day. The embassy entrance door is unmarked, however, the embassy is marked with a Somaliland sign with flags, you can’t miss it. Knock on the gate and a guard will answer it.
Tell them you’d like to apply for a visa, they’ll direct you towards a room with a few ladies that will assist you. You must complete the visa application that they supply to you, along with the below documents.
Somaliland Visa
What you need to apply for Somaliland Visa:
- Completed application form supplied by the embassy
- 2 Passport Photos
- Original Passport to get your visa stamped
- Photocopy of your passport page
- 100 USD per visa. Cash only, no other currency accepted.
Details of the Embassy:
Opening Hours: You can apply for Somaliland visa from 8 am – 12. Pick up is after 1 pm. Or 3 hours later.
Location: Address: Millennium Road, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The location of the embassy is correct on Google maps, next to the embassy of Malawi, just look for the flag of Somaliland.
Other tips for your Somaliland Visa:
If you need to print or copy any documents we recommend using these two hotels not far from the embassy.
- Desalegn Hotel on Cape Verde St
- Azzeman Hotel is located on Namibia St (not far from Tomoca coffee, where we enjoyed coffee many times).
Have your documents on a USB stick as you can easily print them out as well as on email if they prefer to print it for you from their email.
DANESH Bank accepts all international cards and you can withdraw your daily limit (300 USD). When selecting the account, choose ‘Credit Card’ instead of ‘Savings/ Current’, it will then work for you.
Please Note: There is a working DANESH ATM machine and bank located just next to Tomoca coffee on Namibia St. We frequently withdrew cash from this reliable machine during our stay in Addis Ababa.
In preparation for your stay in Hargeisa, the capital city of Somaliland – we recommend pre-booking a hotel for your travel dates. There are not many tourist hotels here, so it’s a good idea to have confirmation before your arrival. Affordable hotels and prices can be found here.
If you’ve got some spare time in Addis Ababa, we highly recommend doing a food tour of this delicious city. Find out more in our blog post – Where to find the best food in Addis Ababa.
Planning on visiting nearby Djibouti too? Read more about Getting a Visa for Djibouti in Addis Ababa.
Need some information about applying for other visas in Africa? Check out our Visa Guide.
I’m interested in going to Somaliland from Harar like you did. When you apply for visa in Addis Abeba, don’t they ask you for the yellow fever certificate and an invitation letter? I know they are both required for the Djibouti visa.
I also read about armed escorts on the journey through Somaliland but it seems you had none. Is that correct?
Hi Ivan,
No, the Somaliland embassy in Addis Ababa does not request LOI to obtain the visa. They didn’t request our yellow fever certificate, however, we always take it with us when applying for any visas in Africa (just to be safe and one step ahead of the game). Armed escorts are not required on the journey from Harar, Ethiopia to Hargeisa in Somaliland – however, you will encounter around 10-12 security checkpoints on the way. (We didn’t have any problems, just have your passport ready to show them). As you can see from our post, we took a few shared taxis to get to Hargeisa. If you do plan to travel outside of Hargeisa and further to explore Somaliland, this is when you are required to have armed escorts.
So they didn’t request your yellow fever certificate at the border to Somaliland, neither?
Didn’t you visit the Las Geel caves and Berbera? If not, was it for securuty reasons?
Thanks Rach! My plan is to leave Hargeisa, visit the Laas Geel caves and spend a few days at the seaside in Berbera at the end of my journey through Ethiopia. You have tips for that or you just visited Hargeisa? If so, was it for security reasons?
We only visited Hargeisa. We didn’t have the budget to pay for armed guards to travel anywhere else (it’s not cheap) and yes, the security situation outside of Hargeisa concerned us. It may have changed by now.
Ivan ,I hopped on local bus without guide and or security person.At a check stop only asked for passport.Did not get out at Laas Caves. Berbera looked for guest house,stayed two nights then return Hargeisa.Try it.If problem should arise at check point,get off bus hitch back to Hargeisa.Met independent back packer at Hotel in Hargeisa who did this and it worked .No security problems in Berbera.