Hello, Everyone. We're all excited as the MTP Summit in Hotel Djibloho in Equatorial Guinea is getting closer!
Many people have questions or doubts about the visa process, as traditionally an Equatorial Guinea visa has been difficult to obtain. Our conference has the support of the government, which is issuing Letters of Invitation instead of visas to all registered attendees. This week, our intrepid representative went ahead and tested the process. Here is the first part of her story. More tomorrow!
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Being the “Equatorial Guinea Pig", as Charles had coined it, I was the first MTP member to enter EG with the paperwork prepared by our hotel for the group, and I test drove the whole process starting from airline check in, to airport transit, to entry of the country, then transit to Bata, to Ciudad de la Paz, and finally to check in at the Grand Hotel Djibloho.
Today I’ll write about the experience up to my passage through EG immigration (or not, as the case may be!).
My trip to EG started from LLW, Malawi, with an overnight transit in ADD, on ET. Prior to my trip, I printed out my three Letters of Invitation as issued by the Director of Foreigner and Borders at Ministry of National Security. The bodies of the letters were almost identical, but the authors of the letters were Hotel Manager, Airport Commissioner, and Minister of External Affairs, respectively. They were entirely in Spanish, which was a blessing in my case. The check-in staff at Malawi had no idea what they said, but they look very official and legit, bearing essential wording such as "Una Autorizacion de Entrada", a government letterhead, a signature, and a stamp, so they had no trouble accepting it as the visa (which they were) indeed, even though there's not explicit wordings of "visa" appearing on the letter.
As cautious as I am, I used the "online check in" function ahead of time just to play out what document and information I needed to produce for check-in. It turned out my entry requirements included: visa number, issuing date, and place of issuance. I put in the number appearing on the upper left hand corner (that is your visa number which will appear on your entry stamp upon arrival), the date when the letter was produced, and Malabo. Voilà, the system recognized all the information I entered and gave me the green light for generating boarding passes. Next day when I stood in front of the check in counter, I only gave the staff one letter (instead of all three), in order not to confuse him. I told him confidently and firmly that was the visa, and coached him exactly what to enter in the system. As expected, the system accepted all information and issued me boarding passes all the way to Malabo. My advice to deal with airline check in staff is to act confidently. Present yourself as you know what you're doing, and if they don't, you're going to help them to get the job done.
I've used ET's transit service many times in the past, before the pandemic. This time however, was the first time after the pandemic. I looked up online and found out that they require visas to enter the country now, even for transit passengers. I wasn't going to obtain a visa for this transit, so i was prepared to spend a night at their in-terminal Skylight Hotel if needed. At Lilongwe, I was given a hotel voucher since my transit was 12.5 hrs. As soon as I landed, i went straight to the immigration counter and presented my voucher and my onward ticket. I specifically asked if I needed a visa to utilize the transit hotel service; he said no. He verified my passport, onward ticket, and hotel voucher, and waved me past without any stamps or documentation. I can confirm that as of now, you don't need a visa to use ET's transit service. The assigned hotel was the Skylight Hotel, which is owned and managed by ET. There are two wings and I was assigned to a room in the newer building. Rooms and amenities were clean and adequate. I didn't eat at the hotel even though dinner and breakfast were included, so i can't report on their F&B service. A shuttle bus was provided every 15 minutes, no prior booking needed. I have to say, ET has perfected their transit service. There was no queuing up in line throughout the process; everything ran smoothly as a well-oiled machine.
My biggest fear was to enter immigration and customs in Malabo, which turned out to be the easiest step of all. As soon as I walked out of the air bridge, I spotted someone holding a sign with my name on it. My passport was taken by another airport staff member while I was escorted to the lounge area where our hotel representative was conversing with a couple of other executives.
Later someone brought back my passport with an entry stamp on it, and the number was precisely the number which appeared on the LOIs. I didn't go through the immigration counter in person, but through my talking to the hotel representative, the process is a fairly standard one and there shouldn't be any difficulty or kinks once you arrive in Malabo airport. He's going to try his best to organize assembled group exit for each arriving flight (of summit attendees), but the actual process may vary depending other factors at the moment. He's aiming to replicate the simple process I experienced for the larger groups which will arrive before the conference.
All in all, the process was straightforward - even VIPish at Malabo, and I wouldn’t have any anxiety about doing it again. Be sure to print out and carry your LOIs carefully, as those actually serve as your visas into EG.
Tomorrow: My Transit from Malabo to the Grand Djibloho Hotel