Travellers need prior permit for drones or risk seizure in Algeria

Travellers bringing a drone to Algeria need a prior permit from the National Centre for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or the drone may be seized.

The rule affects anyone who brings a drone into Algeria, including those on a short holiday. According to Algérie 360, the permit is needed even for a holiday, and it must be obtained before the trip.

All drone activities in Algeria are the responsibility of the Ministry of National Defence. A drone is therefore not treated as an ordinary electronic device.

Who handles drones

Since the end of 2025, the National Centre for Unmanned Aircraft Systems has handled all these activities across the country. It issues permits, approves devices and keeps the drone register.

Every drone in Algeria must be declared and registered with the National Centre. The Ministry of National Defence set 30 April as the deadline for owners to do so.

The ministry warned that drones not declared in time would be seized, and that deadline has now passed. A drone that is neither declared nor authorised therefore has no place in Algeria, including one carried by a traveller.

How to apply

Travellers must ask the National Centre for a temporary admission permit, called 'admission temporaire' in French, before they leave.

The permit is personal, is issued as one original copy and covers one specific drone, identified by its brand, model and serial number.

Each entry and each re-export at the end of the stay is one operation under customs control. According to Algérie 360, customs officers cannot regularise the situation on the spot when a traveller arrives.

For a permanent import, Algérie 360 reported that the National Centre decides within 60 days at most, so the request needs to be made early.

Flight rules

A recreational drone must weigh no more than 2kg and may fly only in authorised zones. It must also carry a geovigilance system and an electronic identification system, and a private person may own only one recreational drone.

Flights must not be higher than 120m and take place in daylight, in plain sight of the pilot, without immersive flight goggles. Flight zones must be authorised, marked and secured, and pilots may not fly from a moving car or other vehicle.

Unless an exemption applies, drones may not fly over cities, border zones, industrial sites or gatherings of people. Military sites, sensitive sites and the areas close to airports remain strictly banned for drone flights.

Night flights, flights in bad weather and flights near high-voltage lines are also banned, unless an exemption applies.

When a drone is seized

A drone introduced or used without permission is held by security services until it is regularised. The measure covers the device, its accessories and the images and videos it produced.

Other sanctions remain possible depending on the facts, and customs officers check luggage at airports and ports, including on ferry arrivals.

Algérie 360 reported that travellers who want to bring a drone should ask the National Centre for the permit well before their trip.