UPDATE: HOORAY! Côte d’Ivoire’s land borders are officially open as of February 15th. There is no longer a need to obtain a laissez passer!!! Pass the palm wine, let’s celebrate!

Laissez-passer’s are nothing new for the overland traveler. It is common to receive one for your vehicle upon crossing a border. It’s a document acknowledging your vehicle’s transit through (rather than importation into) a country. It is not so common for the passengers themselves.

But this being West Africa, there is always a window for another layer of burdensome bureaucracy. Technically, Côte d’Ivoire’s land borders are still closed. They have not officially reopened since COVID. Air travel continues undisturbed, but if you plan on entering the country overland, you will need to get a laissez-passer. This is true even if you are traveling via public transport. It’s worth mentioning that this is completely separate from the visa, which you also need.

The laissez-passer is the Ivorian government generously granting you an exception so that you can cross their borders.

How Do You Get the Laissez-Passer to Leave Côte d’Ivoire?

Getting the laissez-passer to leave is straightforward. There is one address in Abidjan. The Ministry of the Interior.

Explain that you are there to get a laissez-passer and the whole thing should take less than 30 minutes. It costs nothing. It is important to note, however, that the information may take several days to reach the land border that you are crossing. Keep this in mind when organizing your departure. Do not get the laissez-passer, for example, and plan to leave Côte d’Ivoire the next day.

How Do You Get the Laissez-Passer to Enter Côte d’Ivoire?

Unfortunately, this bit has become somewhat more complicated since the start of 2023. Let’s just say the situation is fluid. Not exactly what you were hoping to hear if you are planning (or already in the middle of) an overland adventure. But this is West Africa. The headaches are many, but there is often a solution.

In theory, you need to get the LP from an Ivorian embassy in a neighboring country. BUT.

As of February 8th, 2023, the Ivorian embassy in Conakry is not issuing the LP. This is unfortunate as many people typically cross from Guinea into Côte d’Ivoire. While there has been some conflicting information in the West Africa Travellers group on facebook, the prevailing testimony is not encouraging. If we hear any information to the contrary, we will update this post.

The Ivorian embassy where travelers are still seeing some success for the LP is in Liberia.

In another post, someone paid $25. In yet another instance, someone paid nothing at all. Some travelers were required to submit letters from their own embassies acknowledging their plan to cross into Côte d’Ivoire while others just needed to write a letter to the Ambassador of the Ivorian embassy. All of this at the same embassy in Monrovia!

What is clear is that the requirements are changing constantly along with the embassies that are actually issuing the LP. It’s best to join the WAT group on facebook and follow along with others who are overlanding through West Africa. At the end of the day, the information in this post could be outdated by the time I hit “publish.”

If you do have any updates on the LP front, please leave a note in the comments below. We will update the post as we get new information.