E-visa Platform : Government Assures Users

The government of Cameroon, in an effort to digitalise its visa procedure launched an online platform for users. The portal, www.evisacam.cm, that went operational on April 30, 2023 was officially launched by the Minister of External Relations, Mbella Mbella. While the initiative allows Cameroon to comply with international standards in terms of visa issuance procedures, it is also in line with government’s ambition to modernise administrative services in the country. The system enables documents to be better secured and provides for visas to be issued within 72 hours (normal) or 24 hours (express) upon payment by the applicant.  
Unfortunately, a few months after the putting in place of the initiative, users are complaining of error messages, difficulty in online payments, longer processing durations, receipts generated without bar codes, excess debiting of credit cards without the matching service being provided, and a general difficulty in accessing every page of the platform. A statement issued on August 23, 2023 by the Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of Cooperation with the Commonwealth, Felix Mbayu, indicates that everything is being done to resolve the disruptions criticised.  In an interview with the Director of Communication, Documentation and Diplomatic Archives at the Ministry of External Relations, Jean Patrice Koé Jr., he takes stock of the first months of implementation of this project. He also highlights measures taken to provide solutions to some malfunctions noted by users of the platform.

Cameroon, on 30 April 2023, made a switch over to an online procedure for applying for an entry visa to Cameroon. What is your appraisal 30 days later? 
Kindly allow me, first and foremost, to express to you all the profound gratitude of H.E. the Minister of External Relations, Contracting Authority of this important project, for the opportunity afforded us to take stock of this significant project as instructed by the HEAD OF STATE, Head of our Diplomacy, whose wish is to see Cameroon align with international standards in terms of visa issuing procedures. 
In fact, as you rightly pointed out, on 30 April 2023, Cameroon effectively switched over to an online procedure for applying for an entry visa to Cameroon. To date, more than 40,000 visa applications have been processed on the dedicated platform: www.evisacam.cm. This is thanks to the dynamism of our teams deployed both in the Central Services, notably in Yaounde and in the Douala Protocol and Consular Outpost, and in our External Services, namely the Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts of Cameroon abroad. 
In a nutshell, it is now easier to obtain entry visas to Cameroon thanks to this technological innovation, which allows you to obtain, within a shorter time, a secure visa in the form of a self-adhesive sticker affixed to the holder's passport, after the holder has completed the online pre-registration process to travel to Cameroon. All these measures are part of the implementation of Decree No. 2023/147 of 2 March 2023 through which the President of the Republic laid down the conditions of entry, stay and exit for foreigners in Cameroon. The Decree supplements the Law of 14 July 2022, which amended Law No. 97/012 of 10 January 1997, which brought forth the online visa standards. 
So far, the new procedure for issuing entry visas to Cameroon has been a success and is gradually becoming the norm for many users who wish to travel to Cameroon.

While it is true that the new procedure for issuing entry visas to Cameroon is effective, there is no gainsaying that there are some difficulties with the new system operating on a full-time basis, according to the testimony of some users. What could be the causes for this?
Broadly speaking, the system is working well. However, like any technological innovation of this magnitude, this system has not yet attained 100% optimal level, and that is understandable because the beginning is not always so easy. With time, the system should reach cruising speed, especially as the few malfunctions observed here and there are gradually being addressed and the difficulties ironed out. The main highlighted difficulty lies with the online payment component. Many users have encountered this problem of payment, without which visa applications cannot be processed. It should be noted that at the outset, users were requested to pay their visa fees using a lone means, PayPal. This payment method proved to be limited in view of the large number of related transactions. The Minister of External Relations, Contracting Authority of this major project for the State of Cameroon, who is closely monitoring its progress, diversified the payment methods by bringing in the Visa and MasterCard. To date, these two options have enabled users to pay their visa application fees with much ease. 
It should also be noted that the incorrect use of banking platforms by some users is also the cause of this drawback at the time of payment, as some do not always enter information matching that of their bank records. In response to this, a tutorial has been provided to help them fill in the form more accurately. Nevertheless, negotiations are ongoing with the technical partner, which shall eventually result in liberalising payment methods by geographical area. It would be judicious to add that the malfunctions observed are also due to protectionist measures and banking restrictions specific to the legislation of certain countries, as well as limits on users' cards, both in terms of transaction quotas and amounts to be paid.

Another recurrent complaint from users is that they do not know who to talk to when they encounter any difficulties whilst submitting their visa application online. What solution does MINREX plan to provide?
It is worth pointing out that, as part of the implementation of this large-scale project, a call centre will soon be set up, from which users should be able to obtain any necessary assistance and information required for better interoperability of the new system for issuing visas in Cameroon. For now, studies are presently underway to achieve this goal, bearing in mind that this shall require additional technical and human resources to complete the task. In the meantime, users could contact our teams at contact@evisacam.cm. Hundreds of requests are processed on this site every day. Several users have found answers to their concerns, and many of them have left positive feedback of this assistance on Twitter or Facebook as you might have already noticed when navigating the web. 

In addition to the non-compliance with statutory deadlines for processing applications, Cameroon does not have Diplomatic Missions and/or Consular Outposts in every country in the world. How does MINREX manage these two situations?
Both in our Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts, as well as in MINREX Central Services in Yaounde and the Douala Protocol and Consular Outpost, our teams are working tirelessly to satisfy users within the deadlines provided for.  The large number of visa applications in some of our consular posts and the aforementioned malfunctions may explain the delays observed in some areas. The Minister of External Relations has instructed our entire diplomatic network to process visa applications promptly for the thousands of users who wish to travel to Cameroon. Steps are being taken to ensure that all these concerns are not only addressed but are, above all, resolved definitively. The same applies to coverage of all areas around the world. It is worth noting that, as part of the process of taking these other areas into account, all the countries where Cameroon does not yet have a Diplomatic Mission or Consular Outposts have been considered. This makes it easy to know how to guide users applying for visas from countries where there is no coverage. In other words, applications from users in countries not covered are automatically directed by the system to any Diplomatic Mission or Consular Post closer to them geographically, depending on the place of residence entered on the form by the user. May I recall, for all intents and purposes, that visa applications are processed within 72 hours of online payment. This deadline is within 24 hours on the express service. This goes a long way to show how much pride the Minister takes in satisfying the several users who place their trust in us and to whom I express our sincere gratitude, on his behalf. I would, therefore, like to avail myself of this opportunity to call on our Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts to make the most of this new tool made available to our Services by the President of the Republic, Head of our Diplomacy. Let us all do our utmost best to work together to satisfy our various users. This, in the best interests of our Services.

Mr Director, broaching the new visa application procedure in Cameroon, what does it mean in concrete terms?
You've given me the opportunity to go over the various stages of the visa application procedure in force in Cameroon.  As a matter of fact, this procedure follows four main steps here below: 
1.Online pre-registration by the applicant:  This is the first step of the procedure. Here, applicants create a user account on the platform www.evisacam.cm, then fill out the online form and validate with a click, after which a confirmation notification shall be sent to the applicant via email or SMS.
2. Online payment of requisite fees:  As mentioned above, payment is currently done using two means:  Mastercard and Visa.  Following the transaction, the applicant receives a notification as proof of payment through e-mail or SMS.
3. Application Processing:  This shall be done by the competent Diplomatic Mission or Consular Post or the closest one, geographically.  For applicants in areas far-flung from the Consular Posts or those not covered by any of Missions, an online visa issuance authorisation, together with a QR Code shall round off this phase.  For applicants residing in cities with a competent Diplomatic Mission, an automatically generated notification shall be sent to them via email or SMS in order for them to book an appointment for further biometric registration formality.  
May I recall, either procedure takes place within 72 hours of pre-registration. This deadline shall be reduced to 24 hours in the case of express visa applications.
4. Affixing the visa sticker: Once the applicant has been notified of the visa authorisation, the next step is to affix the visa sticker to the applicant’s passport.  This procedure is done either at the entry Border Control Post for holders of the online visa issuance authorisation, or at the competent diplomatic missions or consular posts for applicants having completed their biometric registration at the competent Embassy or Consulate. These are the main steps in the new Cameroon visa application procedure.

What about visa applications for diplomatic staff and others ranked as such?
Official personnel of diplomatic missions, consular posts and International Organisations residing in Cameroon, members of their families as well as special envoys and experts on official mission are granted diplomatic or courtesy visas for entry into our national territory. Granting visas to this category of visitors depends on the transmission of related files to the Ministry of External Relations for prior approval before the intended entry of said staff into our national territory. Once any application has been received, the Ministry of External Relations sends its full approval to the Diplomatic Mission or Consular Post and notifies the requesting mission/organisation. It is only at the end of this preliminary phase that the application could ...