Drone Laws in Tunisia
Written by Francis Markert | Last update on 30. September 2026 | 6 comments
Tunisia is one of the riskiest holiday destinations for travelers with a drone. A permit exists on paper but is almost impossible to obtain. If you arrive without papers, your drone will be taken at the airport, and in the worst case you may face suspicion of terrorism or espionage. Here is what applies.
The German Federal Foreign Office explicitly warns that using drones is not permitted and can lead to detention on suspicion of terrorism. According to the Foreign Office, even importing a drone can give rise to suspicion of terrorism or espionage.
Overview: Drone rules in Tunisia
A permit from four ministries
The legal basis is still a joint order of several ministries dated April 6, 1995, covering tourist and advertising flights for aerial photography and filming. A permit has to be approved by four ministries:
- Ministry of National Defense
- Ministry of the Interior
- Ministry of Equipment and Housing
- Ministry of Transport
Readers have reported that the application must be submitted in person and in four copies to the Civil Aviation Department of the Ministry of Equipment. It consists of numerous documents, and processing can take up to a month. A permit, once issued, is valid for one month. According to media reports, only very few permits have been granted so far.
There is no simplification for travelers in sight. In December 2025, the Tunisian parliament passed a provision in the 2026 budget law allowing farmers to import and use drones for agriculture. The implementing rules are still pending, and nothing changes for holiday footage.
What happens at the border
Many travelers to Tunisia have already had bad experiences. If you enter the country with a drone but without a permit, expect it to be confiscated at the airport. You may also be questioned. In individual cases, travelers have been temporarily detained.
According to readers, a confiscated drone is kept until you leave the country and returned at departure. We do not have official confirmation of this.
Our advice: Leave your drone at home for your trip to Tunisia. The effort required for a permit is out of all proportion for holiday footage, and the risk at the border is high.
Useful links: German Federal Foreign Office (in German)
Have you been to Tunisia with a drone or applied for a permit there? Leave us a comment below and share your experience. You will help everyone planning a trip to Tunisia.
The drone rules for Tunisia listed here have been researched to the best of our knowledge. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information. To be sure, contact the Tunisian Civil Aviation Authority. Alternatively, you can reach out to the Tunisian embassy in your home country for more information about the regulations. Please leave a comment if you learn anything new or have your own experiences flying a drone in Tunisia!
Drone regulations in Jordan
We are with a sailboat in Tunesia, and the police is indeed quite nervous about drones. In this country drones aren’t toys, like in Europe. We knew this before, so we told them we owned a drone and after a few hours check if we did not film anything yet, they kept the drone and we where pointed to Tunis. So after a 3 hour travel we arrived in Tunis at ministry of Interior, they could not help us and pointed us to ministry of defence. They could not help us either, so we were pointed to ministry of Equipment. They have a department for ports and aviation, and that is the place where you should apply for an authorisation to fly the drone in Tunesia. They where very helpful and asked us to put up a document with the reason why we want to film, all the exact locations (with maps) the height, the pilot who is flying it and the date and time you want to use it. We have to deliver this in 4fold so they will forward our request to the ministry of interior, defence and 1 more. You can only do this by physically visiting this office and it takes about a month to have the authorisation ready to be picked up. The maximum time this document is valid is 1 month. When you want to use your drone for a longer period in the country you can visit this office again for another month. (this process can be repeated until you are done). It took us 2 days so far, and we still have to put up the documents, wait, and pick it up again. Hopefully this helps you so you know straight away where to go and what to do.
Oh wow, that’s a lot of work to accomplish to operate a drone. Thank you very much for your insights!
Yep! We filled out the documents now, and are waiting for the response. You need to prove that you have a ‘drone license’ and insurance for it as well.
Hey Marjolein,
i would love to know more information about getting a drone permit in Tunisia.
can i get your contact details please ? 🙂
Hi!
We made a vlog about it.
https://youtu.be/mRwHNBIk_aA
I think it makes it very clear when you watch this. When you have more questions you can ask them here.
The system to legally import a drone and then get a permit for it has changed. Here is a video detailing the (very long) process in 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGwbziCIr7U