Aerial view of the rock pinnacles of the Sindou Peaks, Burkina Faso

Who needs a visa for Burkina Faso?

Sub-Saharan Africa · Ouagadougou

Photo: Rwhaun / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Of 198 nationalities, 19 enter Burkina Faso with no paperwork at all. The rest: 179 must be approved before they travel.

We have not found a Burkina Faso government portal we can link to with confidence, so we link to none — a lookalike is worse than nothing. Apply through Burkina Faso's own immigration service or its embassy.

What do you need?

Who needs what

Visa free 19

Nothing to apply for and nothing to pay before you travel.

eVisa (electronic visa) 179

A real visa application, made online instead of at an embassy. It is assessed, it takes days rather than minutes, and it can be refused.

About Burkina Faso

Region
Western Africa
Capital
Ouagadougou
Population
24,074,580 2025 · 59th of 197
Size
272,967 km² 74th largest of 199
Density
88 per km²
Language
French
Currency
West African CFA franc XOF

Capital, area, languages and currency from the open country dataset, pulled 21 September 2026. Population from the World Bank, series updated 13 July 2026. Density is calculated from the two figures above.