Puntland State’s new visa deepens Somalia’s patchwork of borders — and tests fragile federal ties
AXADLE — When Puntland State’s immigration agency announced this week that travelers to the autonomous region must now secure a separate “VISO” visa for $60, it did more than introduce a fee: it underscored how Somalia’s experiment with federalism is colliding with the practical demands of travel, trade and security.
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The move, described by Puntland State officials as an effort to “modernize” immigration procedures, explicitly rejects the Federal Government of Somalia’s (FGS) electronic visa program, a digital gateway the central authorities say is meant to bring accountability and order to a country long hamstrung by shattered paperwork and weak institutions.
“We will run our own system,” a senior Puntland State Immigration official told local media, declining to be named. “Our borders, our rules.” Mogadishu has not publicly replied to the announcement, and airlines and travellers are left to navigate an increasingly confusing landscape for flying into Somalia.
Frayed federal ties, familiar replay
Puntland State’s assertion of immigration control mirrors a pattern already seen in North Western State of Somalia — the self-declared republic in Somalia’s northwest that long ago began issuing its own visas and has at times directed international carriers to ignore Mogadishu’s e-visa rules. Analysts say the latest development is less about passport stamps than power: member states contesting an asserted monopoly by the central government over policy instruments that directly affect their economies and security.
“This isn’t just about $60,” said Abdi Yusuf, a political analyst in Mogadishu. “It is about authority and the right to govern daily life at a regional level. The federal government’s push to centralize services without thorough consultation has provoked predictable pushback.”
Persistent tensions are not new. Somalia’s post-1991 trajectory produced hybrid governance: regions such as Puntland State (established in 1998) and North Western State of Somalia have built parallel institutions to fill security and administrative vacuums. But carving up immigration systems raises new practical challenges for airlines, aid agencies, and the diaspora that moves across these regions daily.
Airlines caught in the middle
For carriers, the priority is straightforward: avoid being stranded in the crossfire. Major airlines — including Ethiopian Airlines and Flydubai — have already signaled reluctance to rely on Mogadishu’s electronic visa after clashes between North Western State of Somalia and the FGS. The private sector’s response has been pragmatic; compliance that looks tidy on a government web portal can be untenable on the tarmac when local authorities demand separate documents.
“Airlines will follow what prevents fines, delays and bounced passengers,” said an aviation consultant who has worked in East Africa. “When regions assert their own controls, carriers naturally make operational decisions to minimise risk.”
The operational fallout can be immediate. A humanitarian worker or business traveler clearing immigration in Bosaso, Puntland State’s seaport, may now endure added bureaucracy, potentially multiple entry permits for a single itinerary, and uncertainty about whether a federal e-visa will suffice for internal movement. For Somali diaspora investing or attending family events, that is a new layer of friction.
Digital borders, but patchy infrastructure
The FGS argues that a centralized e-visa system is part of a global shift: countries from Azerbaijan to Rwanda are digitizing entry to enhance revenue collection, security screening and traveler convenience. In Somalia, proponents say, digital immigration offers the promise of transparency across a system long plagued by lost files and opaque approvals.
But digitization requires stable infrastructure, institutional trust and intergovernmental agreements — elements Somalia still struggles to assemble. With uneven internet access, varied administrative capacity across regions and deeply contested sovereignty claims, a single national portal can look like a policy ahead of its time.
“You can program a website quickly,” said Dr. Fatima Noor, a governance specialist who has worked in East Africa. “You cannot program away political distrust. Without broad consultations and shared protocols, digital solutions risk becoming another arena for contestation.”
Wider implications — security, recognition, aid
The dispute over visas raises questions that echo beyond borders and counters. Who will vouch for passports and entry records in case of security incidents? How will the UN, donor agencies and international businesses adapt their clearance procedures for staff and supplies? For North Western State of Somalia, which has long asserted autonomy, enforcing its own visa has already pushed some carriers to reroute, harming federal revenue aspirations and complicating regional connectivity.
International law generally recognizes states — not regions — as visa issuers; yet in practice, airlines and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) focus on operational safety and liability. If Puntland State’s VISO becomes widely enforced, international partners will have to decide operationally whether to treat it as de facto binding — a decision with political ramifications.
What comes next?
Policy fragmentation in Somalia is not inevitable. Countries with federal structures often negotiate clear rules about who controls borders and customs. But those arrangements rest on trust built through consultation and compromise — in short supply here.
Practical steps could lower the temperature: reciprocal recognition agreements between the FGS and member administrations; interoperable databases that respect regional administrative autonomy while sharing security flags; and staggered implementation schedules that allow airlines and travellers to adjust. Absent such measures, the result could be patchwork mobility — a headache for commerce and humanitarian operations, and a blow to Somalia’s efforts to present itself as a unified interlocutor to international partners.
For Somalis who travel between Garowe, Mogadishu, Hargeisa and abroad, the real cost will be measured in days lost at check-in counters, uncertainty at borders and, ultimately, in the signal the dispute sends about the country’s state-building project. As Puntland State tightens control at its gates, the rest of Somalia — and the world — must ask: is the future of movement in the country to be governed by competing administrations and airline choices, or can a framework be found that preserves regional autonomy while enabling seamless travel and security cooperation?
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
