The adventure of entering Sierra Leone without a visa – 11/15/2253 – Robson Jesus

For control and organization, many countries require a visa to enter their territories. However, my visit to Sierra Leone, a country located in West Africa, was a little different, a great adventure, in September 2023.

Using a shared taxi, I crossed the border from Guinea to Sierra Leone. I paid, in local currency, 8,000 XOF, something around R$65, and with that I was able to travel 320 km in 12 hours. The journey was accompanied by heavy rain, precarious roads and unforeseen immigration problems.

During the journey, our driver had to stop several times at immigration checkpoints, where we were always asked to pay a fee. We were not informed what type of tax this was, but our release only occurred after payment. Only our driver got out of the car, and this made it impossible for me to obtain more details about the situation.

After approximately four hours of travel, we came across the fifth checkpoint — at which it was necessary for everyone in the car to get out. The police officer requested everyone’s passport, and after I handed over mine, he asked me why I didn’t have a visa.

For Brazilian tourists, it is possible to request a visa called “on arrival” at the immigration service, that is, when you arrive at the border. In this case, the police officer informed me that we had already passed ten kilometers from the border and that, therefore, I was in an illegal condition. Despite my astonishment at learning about this circumstance, I managed to reach an agreement with the police officer.

He spoke to the taxi driver in a separate room, then called me into another room with two other police officers and instructed me to regularize my situation in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.

When we were released to continue our journey, I immediately asked the driver why he hadn’t told me anything when we passed through immigration. I didn’t notice much sincerity in his voice when he replied: “I thought you were Guinean.”

Going back the ten kilometers was not an option, because I might run into a not-so-understandable police officer along the way. So I contacted my friend Rebecca Aletheia, who worked in the country as a nurse for a long time. She was able to connect me with the immigration service, who advised me to come to the Liberian border as soon as possible because there would be a police officer waiting to help me.

The driver dropped me off in Freetown in the early evening, and I checked into the Hotel Guest House, in the central region. My plan now was to wake up early the next day to try to resolve my situation on the other side of the country.

After all, I decided not to follow the advice of the police officer at the fifth checkpoint, as they could interpret my situation as that of someone who had intentionally committed an immigration crime.

As soon as dawn came, I took a bus to my new destination and, after 12 hours of traveling, I was able to regularize my passport by paying US$70. I practically crossed Sierra Leone, and because of this detail, the wear and tear and tiredness , I decided to take advantage of the context and enter my 131st country: Liberia.

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