Cameroon residence permit and resident card in 2026

Cameroon distinguishes the residence permit for aliens legally allowed to reside from the residence card for aliens admitted as residents.

The current controlling identification-document rules are in Decree No. 2025/059.

Residence permit

The 2025 decree makes possession of a residence permit compulsory for aliens legally resident in Cameroon.

For a first application, it lists:

  • a certified copy of a valid passport bearing a long-stay visa;
  • a certificate of residence;
  • a special criminal-record extract;
  • a valid tax-compliance certificate; and
  • justification for the purpose of stay.

The residence permit is valid for two years and renewable twice.

Resident card

The 2025 decree says the residence card is compulsory for aliens admitted as residents. For a foreign national staying or authorized as resident, the application can rely on a residence permit renewed for the second time plus current passport, residence certificate, criminal record and tax-compliance evidence.

The resident card is valid for 10 years.

Six-year resident framework

The 2023 immigration decree classifies long-stay categories that have regularly stayed in Cameroon for at least six consecutive years as resident aliens, subject to the governing law. The two-year residence permit plus two renewals aligns with a six-year period before the resident-card stage.

Not citizenship and not an investor fast track

A residence card is an immigration/identification status, not Cameroonian citizenship. The official sources reviewed do not create a separate investor shortcut around the normal residence framework.

Start with the correct activity route: long-stay visa, independent worker, entrepreneur/business, or foreign employment.

Verified against the 2025 and 2023 Presidency decrees and DGSN on 19 September 2026.

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Official and supporting sources

Related routes in Cameroon