whereTOemigrate
Get your free results
BJ country scene

ECOWAS Right of Residence for Employment

BeninFree movement

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

Official link

Explore pathways in Benin Read the five questions ↓

Which citizenship, status or regional agreement creates the person's right to move/reside?

The person's right derives from ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/7/86 on the Second Phase (Right of Residence) of the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, the Right of Residence and Establishment (signed in Dakar, 29 May 1979). Each ECOWAS Member State, including Benin, grants Community citizens who are nationals of other Member States the right to reside in its territory for the purpose of seeking and carrying out income-earning employment.

See recorded sources
  • ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/7/86, Article 2
    For the purpose of implementing the second phase (right of residence) of the Protocol on free movement of persons, the right of residence and establishment, each of the Member States shall grant to citizens of the Community who are nationals of other Member States, the right of residence in its territory for the purpose of seeking and carrying out income earning employment.

Under which circumstances can the person reside: worker, self-employed, student, jobseeker, self-funded person or another recognised basis?

The right of residence covers applying for effectively-offered jobs, travelling freely within Member States for that purpose, and residing in a Member State to take up employment under that state's own employment laws, as well as continuing to live there afterwards under the host state's conditions once employment has been held. It does not extend to civil-service employment unless the host state's own laws and regulations permit it.

See recorded sources

What entry, registration or residence-document formalities remain?

Community citizens admitted without a visa who wish to reside must obtain an ECOWAS Residence Card or Residence Permit. The application is deposited with the host state's Department of Immigration, addressed to the competent Ministry, and the applicant receives a receipt confirming the application and documents were submitted. Processing the application may not delay the immediate start of an employment contract already concluded by the applicant.

See recorded sources
  • ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/7/86, Article 5
    Citizens of the Community who are nationals of Member States admitted without visa into the territory of one Member State and desiring to reside in the territory of that Member State, shall be obliged to obtain an ECOWAS RESIDENCE CARD or a RESIDENCE
  • ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/7/86, Article 6
    The applicant for the RESIDENCE CARD or RESIDENCE PERMIT in the territory of any Member State, shall deposit with the Department of Immigration of the host Member State, an application for a Residence Card or Residence Permit in accordance with the
  • ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/7/86, Article 8
    The processing of an application for a Residence Card or Residence Permit may not delay the immediate execution of employment contracts concluded by applicants.

Which non-member-country family members can accompany or join, and what broad rights do they receive?

The Protocol does not set out a separate right for family members to accompany or join a resident migrant worker. It does provide that a resident migrant worker who complies with the residence rules receives equal treatment with the host state's own nationals in access to general and professional education institutions and professional training centres for their children, and that in an expulsion case the family's situation must be taken into consideration.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • No explicit family-accompaniment, family reunification, or dependant work-right clause is stated in this Protocol beyond the children's-education and expulsion-consideration provisions.

When do permanent/long-term rights arise and what continuity, absence or retention conditions matter?

Rights guaranteed under this Protocol may not be withdrawn once granted, and no pressure may be exerted on a migrant worker to give them up. However, this Second Phase Protocol grants an ongoing right of residence tied to lawful employment and compliance with host-state residence rules; it does not itself establish a route to permanent residence, settlement or citizenship beyond that continuing right.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • No separate permanent-residence, settlement, or citizenship-progression mechanism is stated in this Protocol; the right of residence continues only for as long as its conditions (e.g. lawful employment, compliance with host-state rules) are met.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

Explore more pathways in Benin · All pathways

Your story.
Your next step.

Explore pathways in Benin →