Special Requirements – Republic of Djibouti

Do I need a parental consent when departing Djibouti with my child/ren?
A national of Djibouti who is, along with his/her child/ren, beneficiary of a U.S. immigrant visa sponsored by a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident family member who is not the natural parent of the traveling child/ren, and is traveling out of Djibouti to the United States with such child/ren, will be requested by the Djibouti immigration at the airport to produce a parental consent form (“autorisation parentale” in French, delivered by the District of Djibouti) signed by the left behind Djiboutian parent, regardless of his/her current relationship with the left behind parent (i.e. never married, married or divorced).

Do I need an exit visa when departing Djibouti?
Immigration laws of the Republic of Djibouti stipulate that every foreigner leaving the country should obtain on his/her travel document an exit visa, prior to departure.

Most qualified immigrant visa applicants have travel documents valid for travel to the United States, on which they have the Djibouti exit visa stamped before leaving the country.  However, some immigrants either have no travel document (i.e. refugees), or have travel documents not recognized by U.S. immigration for entry into the United States.  In order to assist qualified immigrants falling into this category, the U.S. government has prepared a special form called “Unrecognized Passport or Waiver Cases” (Form DS-232), on which their U.S. immigrant visa foils are placed.

Experience has shown that individuals planning to travel using this special form have at times encountered problems with host government immigration authorities, who refused to stamp exit visas on this form.  Because of the foregoing, each individual traveling with the Form DS-232 out of Djibouti needs to make advance arrangements with the Djibouti immigration authorities as to how they can obtain exit permits.  The U.S. Embassy in Djibouti cannot force host country authorities to recognize form DS-232 as a valid travel document.