Visa requirement
Benin visa for Swiss citizens
Official-source answer with stay limit, cost, required documents and last verification date.
Do Swiss citizens need a visa for Benin?
Checked answer — confirm before travel
Swiss citizens need an eVisa to enter Benin for up to 90 days.
Last verified:
What this means: An eVisa is a real visa you apply for online before travel; approval arrives before you fly, unlike a visa on arrival.
Confidence: Medium Likely current — confirm details with the official source.
This answer is for ordinary Swiss passport holders travelling as citizens of that passport. Residence permits, long-stay visas or living in another country can change which embassy or rule applies.
Visa types at a glance
| Visa type | Availability | Stay |
|---|---|---|
| Tourist visa-free? | Conditional | Up to 90 days. |
| eVisa? | Yes | Up to 90 days. |
| Visa on arrival? | No | No visa-on-arrival route is stored for this corridor. |
- 90 days
- Varies — see notes
- Apply online before you fly
Before you travel
- 1 Entry step Apply online before you fly Official route (opens in a new tab)
- 2 Stay limit 90 days
- 3 Official fee Varies — see notes
- 4 Passport validity Official rule stored below. See full note
- 5 Transit airside: conditional; landside: required. Full note below. See full note
- 6 Freshness Checked 23 Jul 2026; confidence: medium
Shareable verdict: Swiss citizens need an eVisa to enter Benin for up to 90 days. Checked 23 Jul 2026.
Open SVG cardCost note
The checked official eVisa pages do not publish a stable universal public fee. Confirm the current government fee inside the live Benin eVisa payment flow before paying.
Passport and transit notes
- Passport validity
- The checked official eVisa pages require a passport/document expiry date and reject expired passports in the public form validation. The checked sources do not publish a universal six-month passport-validity rule.
- Validity source (opens in a new tab) Validity guide
- Transit
- airside transit: conditional; landside transit: required; The checked Benin eVisa/MFA sources do not publish a universal airside transit waiver. Treat Benin transit as itinerary-specific and verify with the carrier and official route before travel.
- Transit source (opens in a new tab) Transit guide
What you need
- Swiss ordinary passport that remains valid for the trip
- Short tourism or visitor purpose
- Travel details matching the intended stay and entry date
- Health, vaccination, funds, accommodation or onward/return evidence if requested by carrier or border officials
- Approved Benin eVisa before travel
- Payment card supported by the official eVisa payment platform
Why this verdict
Swiss citizens are routed through Benin's official eVisa route because this launched ordinary passport is not in the African no-visa cohort. Diplomatic/service passport waiver rows in the MFA reciprocal-agreement list are not treated as ordinary-tourist visa-free access. This guidance is intentionally conservative: ordinary passport, short tourism/visitor travel only. Work, study, residence, diplomatic/service passports, non-tourist visits, carrier checks, health rules, border discretion, extension handling and the live eVisa application flow can change the practical answer. Reconfirm with Benin eVisa, the Benin Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a Beninese mission before booking.
Conditional rules
- Traveller qualifies as an African traveller under Benin's official no-visa rule Visa-free
Up to 90 days. Benin's official eVisa FAQ says Africans can visit Benin without a visa for 90 days. This exception should be used only when the ordinary passport is in that cohort.
- Traveller chooses a 30-day eVisa instead of a 90-day eVisa eVisa
Up to 30 days. The official eVisa FAQ says the eVisa validity selected in the application can be 30 days or 90 days; the issued eVisa controls the actual permitted stay.
- Work, study, residence, diplomatic/service passport, official duty or other non-tourist purpose Visa required
This row is for ordinary-passport short visits only. Use the appropriate Beninese mission, eVisa or government route for non-tourist or special-document travel.
- Passport expired or not valid for the trip Visa required
The official eVisa application form asks for the passport expiry date and the checked front-end validation rejects expired passports. The checked public pages do not publish one universal six-month validity rule.
- Transit through Benin without entering Conditional
The checked official pages do not publish a universal airside-transit waiver. Verify airside/landside transit with the airline, Benin eVisa and any Beninese mission before travel.
Frequently asked questions
Do Swiss citizens need a visa for Benin?
Swiss citizens need an eVisa to enter Benin for up to 90 days. (eVisa.) Verified 23 Jul 2026 against the official source.
How long can Swiss passport holders stay in Benin?
Up to 90 days.
How much does entry to Benin cost for Swiss citizens?
The official fee varies — see the official source. This page tracks the official government fee only, not agent markup.