Cape Verde Travel Visa 2026: Requirements, Fees & Rules

Cape Verde Visa at a Glance

If you are still deciding between island destinations, check our Morocco travel visa guide and our Haiti travel visa guide — both run very different entry systems from Cape Verde's, and neither uses an EASE-style pre-registration. For a warm-weather trip that is about timing rather than paperwork, see our best time to visit the Maldives.

Who Needs a Visa for Cape Verde

Cape Verde keeps a two-track system. The Government of Cabo Verde's official visa portal states that a visa is mandatory for citizens of countries without an exemption or free-movement agreement, for visa-exempt travellers who intend to stay beyond the exemption period, for officials travelling on official, diplomatic or courtesy visits, for transit passengers at international airports, and for foreign citizens travelling to Cape Verde on business or work. Everyone else on the exemption list travels on a passport stamp alone.

Two points catch people out. First, the exemption is a stay limit, not a visa substitute for work: the official portal explicitly lists business and work travel as requiring a visa even if your passport is otherwise exempt for tourism. Second, exemption bands differ by agreement, so a 30-day stamp is not a universal number. Use our Visa Eligibility Checker to confirm the rule that applies to your specific passport before you book, and US visa requirements for US citizens explains how the reverse direction works when foreign nationals visit the United States.

EASE Pre-Registration & the TSA Fee

This is the requirement most first-time visitors miss, because visa-free travel sounds like "nothing to arrange." It is not. The Government of Cabo Verde states plainly: whether or not a visa is required, all foreign nationals must pre-register their trip through the EASE portal. You supply your passport details and travel date and pay the Airport Security Tax (TSA) where applicable. The platform lives at ease.gov.cv and the US State Department advises registering and paying up to 5 days prior to arrival, or paying on arrival at the airport if you missed the window.

1. Go to ease.gov.cv at least 5 days before departure. Five days is the published cut-off for online registration. Inside that window you will be completing the form and paying at the airport instead, in the arrivals queue.
2. Enter passport details exactly as printed. Name order, number and expiry must match the data page character for character — a mismatched record is the most common cause of a rejected registration.
3. Add your first hotel and travel dates. The registration asks for identity, travel dates, contact details and the first hotel of your trip, so have your booking confirmation open before you start.
4. Pay the TSA by card. The fee is 3,400 CVE per adult on an international flight; domestic flights are 150 CVE. The Embassy of Cabo Verde describes 3,400 CVE as about 35.00 USD.
5. Save the confirmation offline. Keep a screenshot and a printed copy with your passport. Every traveller, including children, files an individual registration.

Registration, tax and visa are three separate things. Paying the TSA does not grant you a visa, and holding a visa does not replace the EASE record. Our Visa Fee Calculator helps you budget the paperwork costs for a whole trip, and our Visa Document Checklist tool builds the folder you carry.

Entry Requirements for US Citizens

• Valid US passport with 6+ months validity. The US State Department requires a passport valid at the time of entry, with 6 months' validity beyond your intended stay, and one blank page for the entry stamp. Airlines enforce this at check-in. Check your expiry date with our Passport Validity Checker before booking.
• No visa for stays of 30 days or less. The State Department's Cabo Verde destination page states: "No tourist visa is required for stays of 30 days or less." Your passport is stamped on arrival.
• EASE pre-registration plus TSA payment. Register at ease.gov.cv up to 5 days before arrival and pay 3,400 CVE, or complete both on arrival.
• Onward or return ticket. Immigration officers may ask for proof you will leave within your authorized stay. A confirmed return booking answers it immediately.
• Accommodation details. Have your first-night hotel booking ready — it is also a field on the EASE form itself.
• Sufficient funds. No fixed threshold is published for tourists, but carry proof of funds for the stay plus the cash or card needed for the TSA.
• Currency declaration. You may bring in and take out up to 1,000,000 Cabo Verdean escudos (about 10,600 USD) without declaration, per the State Department.

For the general framework of how US citizens use passports abroad, see our US visa guide, and the B1/B2 tourist visa guide covers the reverse direction — how visitors come to the United States. Track any application you file with visa application tracking.

Arriving by Air: Sal, Praia, São Vicente & Boa Vista

Cape Verde is ten volcanic islands in the North Atlantic west of Senegal, and four international airports carry the long-haul traffic. Sal handles the bulk of European and leisure flights; Praia on Santiago is the capital gateway; São Vicente serves Mindelo's cultural scene; Boa Vista and Sal anchor the beach resorts.

Visa-on-arrival cases — travellers from countries where Cape Verde has no diplomatic representation — are handled at Sal, Boa Vista, São Vicente and Santiago international airports, with the visa paid for through the same EASE registration. If you arrive by private boat or yacht, entry is permitted only at Palmeira (Sal), Mindelo (São Vicente) or Praia (Santiago); arriving anywhere else can draw a fine. After mooring you must report to the port office and submit your passenger list, boat registration and ship's papers to customs and the border police.

Cape Verde runs on UTC−1, does not observe daylight saving time, and is 4 hours ahead of Washington, DC — worth factoring into connecting flight plans. The advisory picture is mixed: the country is Level 1: Exercise normal precautions overall, with Level 2: Exercise increased caution for Praia because of petty and violent crime, both issued December 18, 2025.

Fees & Costs

The short version: if you are visa-free you pay 3,400 CVE and nothing else to the government; if you need a visa you pay 4,898 CVE for the visa plus the 3,400 CVE TSA. Confirm the escudo figure against your card's exchange rate on the day — Cape Verde pegs the escudo, but your issuer adds its own margin. Estimate total trip paperwork costs with our Visa Fee Calculator.

Documents Checklist

• US or home passport valid at least 6 months beyond your intended stay, with at least one blank page for the entry stamp.
• EASE confirmation — printed copy plus a phone screenshot stored offline, filed at least 5 days before departure.
• TSA payment receipt — 3,400 CVE, paid online through EASE or at the airport.
• Return or onward ticket saved offline and printed.
• Accommodation confirmation for at least the first night, since the EASE form asks for your first hotel.
• Proof of funds covering the length of your stay — bank statement or card statements.
• Travel insurance documents with medical and emergency evacuation cover and a 24-hour assistance number.
• Yellow fever certificate — only if arriving on a flight from Senegal or another West African country. Carry the yellow card regardless if your routing touches the region.
• Phone photo of passport data page stored separately from the passport itself.
• Emergency contacts including the US Embassy in Praia and a contact at home.
• Visa-nationality travellers only: visa vignette, application copies, passport photos, proof of funds, and employment or invitation letters for business travel.

Assemble the folder with the Visa Document Checklist tool so nothing is missing at the counter.

Extending Your Stay

The visa-free grant covers up to 30 days. If you want longer, you must extend before the permitted stay expires — never after. In practice this means visiting the local police station with three things: your passport including the visa or entry stamp, a passport photograph, and proof of where you are staying (a hotel booking or a rental agreement). The cost depends on the number of days you are adding, and the process can take time.

Start at least two weeks before expiry. Overstaying the 30 days is penalised at the airport on departure, and the fine can run to several hundred euros — which is far more expensive and far less pleasant than extending properly. Note also that the official portal treats a stay beyond the exemption period as a visa case in its own right, so if your plans grow from a beach week into a longer assignment, confirm with a Cape Verdean embassy whether you need a formal visa rather than a simple extension. Travellers on assignment should separately check whether the activity requires a work authorization.

Yellow Fever & Health Requirements

Cape Verde has no yellow fever transmission of its own, but it does apply the International Health Regulations to arrivals. The US State Department's Cabo Verde page is specific: an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (yellow card) is required if you are arriving on flights from Senegal or other West African countries.

What that means in routing terms: a direct flight from New York, London, Lisbon or Frankfurt does not trigger the requirement. A connection through Dakar, or a multi-country West Africa trip with Cape Verde as the final stop, does. The certificate is a lifetime document under current International Health Regulations, so if you already hold one from earlier travel it remains valid — but check the entry conditions of every country on the same itinerary, since neighbours apply different rules. Consult the CDC Travelers' Health page for Cabo Verde and your own clinician at least six weeks before departure, because some vaccines need time to take effect.

Practical health planning for island travel also means thinking about medical capacity: routine care is available in Praia and on the larger islands, but evacuation cover is worth having. Build the certificate into your folder using our Visa Document Checklist.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Assuming visa-free means no online form. Every foreign national must pre-register on EASE. Skipping it is the single most common paperwork failure.
• Registering inside the 5-day window. Online registration is for trips departing more than 5 days out. Later than that, you register and pay at the airport in the arrivals queue.
• Passport under 6 months validity. Airlines deny boarding at check-in, not just Cape Verdean immigration. One blank page is also mandatory for the stamp.
• Confusing the TSA with the visa fee. The 3,400 CVE airport tax applies to visa-free travellers too. A separate 4,898 CVE applies only if your nationality needs a visa.
• Travelling to Cape Verde on business with a tourist exemption. The official portal lists business and work travel as requiring a visa even for exempt nationalities.
• Missing the yellow fever card on a West Africa routing. Arriving from Senegal or another West African country without the yellow card means refusal or quarantine.
• Overstaying the 30 days. Extend at the police station before expiry, or face a fine of several hundred euros at the airport.
• Arriving by boat at the wrong port. Only Palmeira, Mindelo and Praia accept private vessel entry.
• Treating Praia as low-risk because the country is Level 1. Praia itself is Level 2 for crime — read the advisory, not just the national headline.

Compare the mechanics with our Morocco travel visa guide and our Haiti travel visa guide, both of which run pre-arrival forms of their own, and see the Tourist Visa Complete Guide for the general rules of visitor travel.

Frequently Asked Questions