Immigration to Somalia
Open-knowledge reference entry
Immigration in Somalia is regulated by the Somali Immigration Department of the Federal Government of Somalia.
Regulation
Due to the long absence of governmental regulation, it is uncertain how many foreigners travel to Somalia per year. However, visas and residence permits are now mandatory for all foreign nationals. As of April 2014, the re-established Somali Immigration Department requires all undocumented foreigners to register at its offices in the capital Mogadishu.
As part of IOM Somalia's Capacity Building for Migration Management (CBMM) projects, a Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) was installed in 2014. The new immigration and border management infrastructure strengthens security by screening travelers at 11 main ports of entry in the country. It in the process registers their biometric data and passport details, and generates statistics for policymakers.
In April 2015, the Federal Cabinet also passed a new policy prioritizing the local workforce and restricting the reliance on foreign labour.
Demographics
As of 2012, most emigrants to Somalia consist of Somali expatriates, who have returned to Mogadishu and other urban areas for investment opportunities and to take part in the ongoing post-conflict reconstruction process. Through both private efforts and public initiatives like the Somali Diaspora Corps, they have participated in the renovation of schools, hospitals, banks and other infrastructure, and have played a leading role in the capital's recovery.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17063624. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2014, 2015 and 2012.
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This entry incorporates text from “Immigration to Somalia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.