Living in Djibouti as a French National: Visa, Residence, School, Heat and Safety

Djibouti is a small State in the Horn of Africa, opening onto the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, with more than a million inhabitants according to the World Bank, and modest GDP per capita. According to the DG Trésor (the French Treasury’s economic directorate), the economy is driven by services (85% of GDP), dominated by the port and logistics. The French education network is well developed there, with a lycée of 1,378 pupils and a second partner school.

The points of caution concern the climate, the regional environment and local rules. France Diplomatie describes a hot and arid country, a poor road network, uneven mobile coverage, expensive and unstable Internet access, and the ban on certain social networks without a VPN. Preparation before arrival covers the visa, housing, school and health cover. See also the guide to the Djiboutian healthcare system.

Djibouti City is home to the French embassy (boulevard Idriss-Omar-Guelleh), the consular section (boulevard du Maréchal-Lyautey), the French lycée and most services. France Diplomatie indicates that no attack has taken place in Djibouti City since the bombing of 24 May 2014, while recommending vigilance in public places and those frequented by expatriates. The page has no dedicated section on crime.

According to the updated map, approaching the border with Eritrea, the road from Djibouti to Loyada after the Décan Refuge, the Seven Brothers archipelago (Sawabi) for independent travellers, Oued Kalou and Mount Moussa Ali (access prohibited, including for tourism) and Somaliland are formally advised against. The rest of the country is under heightened vigilance; the Djiboutian armed forces control access to an area north of Balho, Adaïlou, Ouaddhi and Godoria. Occasional military operations take place in some regions of the north and west: French nationals are not targeted, but information should be sought at checkpoints.

According to France Diplomatie, French nationals need a visa. They can obtain it from a Djiboutian diplomatic mission abroad, through the e-visa portal (evisa.gouv.dj) for transit and short-stay visas, or on arrival for one month, the decision resting with the airline and the immigration services depending on the purpose of travel and the type of passport. Holders of a valid Djiboutian resident card do not need a visa. The page gives neither the cost nor the length of the e-visa.

• Stay of more than three months: Law No. 201/AN/07 requires a temporary residence card (one year at most, without exceeding the validity of the travel document) or a resident card, issued notably to employees of free-zone companies holding an employment contract.
• Visa overstay: penalty of DJF 40,000 up to 90 days and DJF 80,000 beyond, paid to the immigration police against a Treasury receipt; failing that, three to six months in prison and a five-year entry ban.
• Yacht owners: visa issued at the port, no e-visa; inform the consular section in advance by email; avoid arriving on a Friday or Saturday.
• Arrival by road from Ethiopia: two mandatory checks, police then customs; arriving on a Friday or a public holiday may prevent entry on the same day.

For employment, see the page on working in Djibouti. The embassy recommends registering on the register of French nationals living abroad for any stay of more than six months.

The ‘Economic indicators’ block above presents inflation and the Djiboutian franc exchange rate. The DG Trésor specifies that the franc is pegged to the dollar under a currency board system, that inflation remains low and sensitive to international tensions; the country imports nearly 90% of its food. The official pages consulted do not publish a rent scale: amounts should be requested from local agents and the employer, and checked in writing before signing a lease.

The useful information page gives no indication on means of payment or on the currency; it is useful to ask your bank and the employer before departure. For a family: expat family insurance.

The Lycée Français de Djibouti, located at the Kessel site, in Gabode (airport road), takes 1,378 pupils across 15 levels, from the first nursery class to the final year; all fifteen levels are accredited and none is followed through the CNED (the French distance-learning service). It follows the ‘Northern’ calendar and has agreement status. The École de la Nativité, a partner school of the network, completes the offer. Enrolment, tuition fees and grants should be requested directly from the school and from the consular section of the embassy (record of the AEFE, the Agency for French Education Abroad).

For children, insurance is chosen with a paediatrics and vaccinations component; chikungunya, dengue and malaria are recorded all year round. The page on healthcare reimbursement in Djibouti compares the cover options.

• no travel at night outside the capital; convoys of at least two 4x4s, water reserve of 8 litres per day per person, French-speaking guide advised for the north;
• dangerous driving in town and on the road to the Ethiopian border; only the main road is tarmacked, in poor condition near the border; spare wheel essential;
• French licence valid for a stay of less than six months; beyond that, Djiboutian licence by exam or exchange; comprehensive insurance recommended;
• alcohol: consumption allowed, but sale in public prohibited inland and in the working-class districts of the capital (except hotels and rest houses); public drunkenness is punished by two years in prison;
• narcotics: use and trafficking punished by one to twenty years in prison, plus a fine;
• photography: do not photograph without express consent; photographing military installations and official infrastructure is prohibited; recreational drones strongly discouraged;
• decent dress, especially near places of worship; no food or drink in public during Ramadan, from sunrise to sunset;
• swimming: risk of stings from stingrays, corals and sea urchins; piracy possible in the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.

As for numbers, the embassy publishes the police on 17, the fire brigade on 18 and the coastguard on 1500, as well as a telephone duty line for a French national needing emergency assistance (+253 77 86 32 93, excluding visa questions).

France Diplomatie describes a hot and arid country, with temperatures often above 40 °C from May to October; the period from November to April is more pleasant. It describes an assistance contract covering all medical costs (surgery, hospitalisation) and medical repatriation as essential, points out that the embassy in no case pays them and that Law No. 201/AN/07 requires foreigners to hold documents on their means of subsistence and on repatriation guarantees.

As for communications, mobile coverage is uneven in the capital and often poor elsewhere, and certain social networks are blocked and require a VPN. A railway line opened in 2017 links the Nagad station to Addis Ababa. See also repatriation and assistance.