Eritrea: visas, documents and safety

Eritrea at a glance

Key information to orient yourself in the country: current situation, essential facts and useful guidance.

Local time (UTC+03:00)

03:28:29

November 1, 2026

Capital

Asmara

Data status

Update delayed

13.1 °C

Clear

High 23.0°

Low 12.0°

Precipitation 0 mm

Wind 3.8 m/s

Today · Nov 1

Partly cloudy

12.0° / 23.0°

Precipitation 0 mm

Tomorrow · Nov 2

Clear

12.2° / 21.5°

Precipitation 0 mm

Tuesday · Nov 3

Clear

11.9° / 14.2°

Precipitation 0 mm

Weather: Asmara (capital) Official API

Essential facts

Currency: Eritrean nakfa (ERN)
Language: Arabic, English, Tigrinya
Capital: Asmara
Population: 3,607,000
Timezone: UTC+03:00

Country overview

The Italian presence in Eritrea brings together essential services, community organizations, official references and cross-country collaboration opportunities to support Italians traveling, living, working or connecting between countries.

Travel in Eritrea

Planning a trip to Eritrea means understanding entry requirements, the documents you need and safety guidance before you leave.

In this guide you will find information on visas for Italian citizens, passport validity, health and safety, along with embassy contacts, consular services and emergency numbers in Eritrea.

Before you leave

Italian passport · citizens of Italy

Entry requirements

Visa rules, permitted stay, required documents and official sources. Always confirm what applies to you before you travel.

Visa required

Source and verification date are shown in the card below.

Eritrea's embassy in Washington says a visa is required for non-Eritreans and for Eritreans without a national ID; Eritrea's Ministry of Information says Eritrea and Kenya agreed to abolish visa requirements for citizens travelling between the two countries from 9 February 2023. The UK, Canadian, Australian and Serbian governments say their citizens need one to enter. The Eritrean Embassy in Switzerland says that upon receipt of the visa application and fees, issuance takes ten working days, and that there is no assurance that a visa will be issued. The UK government says foreign nationals must apply in advance for a permit to travel outside Asmara's surrounding province, Zoba Maekel.

Passport validity: The UK government says that to enter Eritrea your passport must have an expiry date at least 6 months after the date you arrive. The Eritrean Embassy in Switzerland asks for a national passport valid for at least six months before the expiry date, with at least three blank pages for the visa.
Blank passport pages: At least 3 blank passport pages.
Vaccinations: WHO's Annex 1 lists Eritrea as requiring proof of yellow fever vaccination from travellers aged 9 months or over arriving from countries at risk of yellow fever transmission.

Entry & documents

Open the «Travel without surprises» checklist for this destination

Safety

Travel advisory: Level 2 - Exercise Increased Caution

Reissued with obsolete COVID-19 page links removed. Exercise increased caution in Eritrea due to travel restrictions, limited consular assistance, landmines, and wrongful detentions.

Official source

Source: U.S. Department of State

Health

Official health guidance

World Health Organization (WHO) Viaggiare Sicuri (Italy) CDC Travel Health

Italian offices

1 office listed

Office

Embassy - Asmara

Asmara

View all offices

Automated data for information only. It does not replace guidance from local authorities, MAECI or Viaggiare Sicuri.

Data transparency

Sources and updates

Origin, time reference and terms of use for data shown for Eritrea.

Sources and updates

Official references, verification dates and provenance of the information published on this page.

Last institutional source check: 3 Oct 2026, 02:00

Official country sources

Data used on this page

TravelRequirements.info Entry requirements for Italian citizens (Travel tab and /travel hub)

Official source Terms CC BY 4.0
MET Norway Weather conditions and forecast for the capital

Weather reference: 1 Nov 2026, 00:17 · Retrieved: 1 Nov 2026, 01:00 · Update delayed

Official source Terms NLOD 2.0 / CC BY 4.0
GeoNames Capital, coordinates and time zone

Official source Terms CC BY 4.0

Data is stored in the UnitedItalians database and refreshed periodically from the listed sources. Reference year, update date and availability may vary between providers.

Eritrea

Today in the country

Today · Nov 1

Tomorrow · Nov 2

Tuesday · Nov 3

Essential facts

Country overview