Key points
- The key change: Haiti's Ministry of the Interior and Local Authorities (MICT) has made the iKat electronic form mandatory for all travelers entering or leaving the country, effective October 1, 2026. The requirement was announced in a circular dated September 22, 2026.
- When to submit: The form must be completed on the official portal within 72 hours before travel. A separate form is required for each family member, including children.
- Applies both ways: Unlike digital arrival cards used only for entry in some countries, iKat must be completed for both arrivals and departures, covering airports, seaports, and land border crossings.
- What it collects: The iKat form centralizes immigration, health, and customs information in a single submission. After completing the form, travelers receive a QR code that must be presented during border checks.
Haiti’s Directorate of Immigration and Emigration now requires all travelers to complete the iKat form for every entry and exit, replacing the country’s paper arrival and departure cards
Haiti’s Ministry of the Interior and Local Authorities (MICT) announced in a Facebook post that all travelers “coming from or traveling abroad” must complete the electronic iKat form, effective October 1, 2026. The requirement applies to both arrivals and departures and is enforced by Haiti’s Directorate of Immigration and Emigration (DIE).
The iKat form replaces Haiti’s traditional paper immigration cards that were previously distributed on incoming flights. Before October 1, 2026, the digital form had been available to travelers on a voluntary basis and was mandatory only at Cap-Haïtien airport. It is now required at every port of entry and exit across the country.
Haitian authorities describe iKat as a single digital form that consolidates immigration, health, and customs information into one advance submission, with the aim of streamlining checks at border control points.
Who must complete the iKat form?
The iKat form is required of all travelers, both Haitian nationals and foreign citizens. The Directorate of Immigration and Emigration confirms that the obligation covers every international traveler regardless of nationality, visa status, or purpose of travel.
A separate form must be completed for each family member, including children. The requirement is not limited to air travel. The official iKat portal provides options for three modes of transportation: air, sea, and land. The DIE confirms that travelers using airports, seaports, and land border crossings must all complete the form.
The iKat form does not replace a passport or visa. It is a mandatory data declaration that must be submitted alongside existing travel documents.
When must the form be submitted?
The MICT circular states that the iKat form must be completed on the official portal within the 72 hours preceding the time of travel. This window applies equally to arrivals and departures.
A form must be filed separately for each direction of travel. A traveler flying into Haiti must complete one iKat submission before arrival, and must complete a second submission within 72 hours of their departure from the country.
The form is free of charge on the official government portal. Third-party websites have been found charging fees for what they describe as an “expediting” service, but the official portal does not charge a processing fee.
What information does the iKat form require?
The form is completed in four sections that bring together the main information required for immigration, customs, and health checks.
Section one collects personal details and passport information, country of residence, and accommodation details in Haiti. Section two covers travel information, including whether the traveler is arriving or departing, mode of transportation, travel date, country of departure, purpose of stay, carrier, flight number, and points of embarkation and disembarkation. For air travel, the portal lists arrival airports including Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien, Les Cayes, and Jacmel. Available purposes of travel include tourism, work, business, study, and medical treatment.
Section three contains the customs declaration. Travelers are asked whether they are carrying goods that must be declared, certain categories of regulated products, or cash or monetary instruments reaching the threshold set by Haitian authorities. Section four covers health information, including symptoms experienced during the previous seven days, countries visited or transited through during the previous 21 days, and emergency contact details.
What happens after submitting the form?
After completing the iKat form, the traveler receives a QR code confirming that the information has been submitted. According to the DIE’s official FAQ, the code may be requested during health and customs checks at the border. It can be shown on a mobile device or as a printed copy and should be kept for both arrival and departure procedures.
The form can also be amended after submission. The official portal includes a function allowing travelers to access their record using the form code and their passport number to update information before travel.
When was iKat first introduced?
The iKat system was not created in October 2026. Haiti’s Directorate of Immigration and Emigration first unveiled the digital embarkation and disembarkation card at a ceremony held in Port-au-Prince on December 4, 2025, marking the start of a pilot phase.
The DIE launched iKat’s operational phase on March 12, 2026, and began a gradual rollout across the country’s border control points. By May 2026, the US Embassy in Haiti published an advisory confirming that iKat registration was already mandatory for travelers passing through Cap-Haïtien airport and would be extended to all international travelers at all Haitian ports of entry later in the year.
The project was developed with several Haitian government agencies, including the Haitian Institute of Statistics and Informatics (IHSI), Haiti’s health authorities, the customs administration, and the Ministry of Tourism. Officials have stated that the digitized data will also be used to improve analysis of migration patterns and traveler flows entering and leaving Haiti.
