Student Services

Embassy and Visa Information

Visas:

Options for Obtaining/Receiving a Visa

Option 1: You arrange the visa yourself.

If you arrange the visa yourself, you need to contact the Yemeni Embassy/ Consulate in the country where you reside. They will inform you of the process of obtaining a visa. Please note that you must apply for a student visa. If you need a letter stating your affiliation to YLC in order to obtain the student visa, your YLC contact will provide you with the letter.

If you have organized your own visa through your local Yemeni Embassy / Consulate, they will advise you on how to retrieve your visa prior to your departure. 

Option 2: The YCMES/YLC arranges your visa.

If you would like YLC to arrange your visa, we will need a copy of the picture page of your passport ( as well as any renewal pages) to process the visa. The cost of arranging the visa through us is $45 for US/Canadian/Australian citizens and €35 for EU citizens. (Please note that if you are not a citizen of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or a Western European Country, the process may take up to two weeks with additional fees). Please contact the head office in Sana’a with any specific concerns.

 If you have organized your visa through YLC, you will be able to pick up your visa at Sana’a International Airport upon your arrival. When exiting the bus into the arrival hall, please proceed to the visa window located on your left-hand side as you enter the immigration hall. You will show them your passport and the officer will have the visa ready to place into your passport.  Remember, the visa is already paid for, so you will not have to pay anything extra. After receiving your visa, you may then proceed through the normal customs and immigration line in the same hall before entering the baggage claim area.

Type of Visa YLC Arranges

If you organize your visa through the YLC, you will receive a student visa.  This allows one entry into the country.  Should you plan to travel and return to your studies at YLC, the office in Sana’a will arrange an exit/re-entry visa for your travels.  This is at an additional cost to the student.  All EU-citizens should receive a visa good for three months.  All non-EU citizens generally receive a one month visa.

Restrictions on Yemeni Visas

 You are unable to get a visa to Yemen if you are carrying an Israeli passport or have an Israeli stamp/visa in your passport. If you are coming to Yemen and have an Israeli stamp/visa, please apply for a new passport before trying to get a Yemeni visa.  A Pakistani visa may also be problematic, but does not in and of itself prohibit a Yemeni visa from being issued.

Please note that if you are not a citizen of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or a Western European Country, the process may take up to two weeks with additional fees. Residents of Asian, African, Eastern European, Central American, and South American countries should check with their local Yemen Embassy / Consulate on further restrictions to obtaining a Yemeni visa.

If you are studying with the YLC for longer than your initial visa allows (usually between six weeks to three months, depending on the type of visa you originally received), you will be required to apply for a residency visa. The YLC will handle all visa fees and paperwork, but the student is responsible for paying and having an HIV test administered locally. An HIV-positive result will prohibit a residency visa from being issued and consequently, you will be asked to leave the country.

Please contact the head office in Sana’a with any specific visa concerns.

Visa Extensions for Long-Term Stays 

All American and non-EU residents arrive to Yemen on a one-month study visa.  For any student studying between five to seven weeks, your initial visa and the two-week exit visa are sufficient for your stay.  Students studying longer than seven weeks must take an HIV-blood test, scheduled by the administration, in order to extend their visas for the duration of their stay. 

EU-nationals arrive on a three-month visa, and do not need extensions unless they are staying at the YCMES longer than this time period. 

Note: The exception to the visa process if you are exiting and returning to Yemen, in which case you will need an exit visa prior to departing the country, and then purchase a new visa when you return. 

An HIV test is not required for students studying with the YLC for less than three months.  Students studying for longer than three months must apply for a residency visa and are required to take an HIV test.  This test cannot be administered prior to arrival in Yemen, as the Yemeni government does not accept any test results other than those from national health clinics.  An HIV-positive result will prohibit a residency visa from being issued, and you will be asked to leave the country.

Embassies and Consulates of the Republic of Yemen:

MAIN YEMENI EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON DC
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 705, Washington DC 20037
Telephone: (202) 965-4760
Fax: (202) 337-2017
E-mail: info@yemenembassy.org
URL: http://www.yemenembassy.org

MICHIGAN
Detroit (HCG) 10415 Dix Av., Dearborn, 48120. (313) 842-7032
Mr. Abdulhakem Ahmed ALSADAH, Honorary Consul General

CANADA
Telephone: 1 (613) 729-6627
Fax: 1 (613) 232-8276
350 Sparks St., Suite 1100
Ottowa, Ont. KIR 570

FRANCE
Telephone: 331 47236176
Fax: 331 47236941
25 rue Georges Bizet, 75016 Paris

GERMANY
Telephone: 49 228 220451, 261490
Fax: 49 228 229 364
Adenauerallee 77, 5300 Bonn

NETHERLANDS
Telephone: 31 703 653936
Fax: 31 703 563312
Noordeinde 41, 2414 GC The Hague

UK
Telephone: 44 171 5846607, 5846608
Fax: 44 171 5893350
57 Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2ED
yemen.embassy@btconnect.com

Frequently Asked Questions