Ethiopian embassy services, from here
Renewing an Ethiopian passport, the Origin ID (yellow card), a power of attorney for something back home, getting a US paper accepted in Ethiopia, and taking a loved one home for burial — what the embassy needs, step by step, from Las Vegas or Atlanta.
Everything here was read from the embassy's and the Ethiopian government's own pages on the date shown. Fees change and pages move: call the line given before you pay or post anything. Sefer is not the embassy and cannot file for you.
Origin ID
For Ethiopians who became citizens of another country: the card that lets you enter, own property and work in Ethiopia without a visa.
The Ethiopian Origin ID (the “yellow card”)
People of Ethiopian descent who have become citizens of another country. It gives visa-free entry to Ethiopia, the right to own property, and easier residence and work there. Ethiopia does not allow dual citizenship; this card is what replaces it.
What you need
- Your foreign (US) passport, valid for more than six months.
- Proof you were Ethiopian: your old machine-readable Ethiopian passport, or an authenticated Ethiopian birth certificate.
- Proof of Ethiopian origin: a parent's kebele ID or Ethiopian passport, or your own old kebele ID (the father's and grandfather's names must match).
- If your name changed: the court decision, translated by a legal entity if not in Amharic or English. Under 18: the adoption document and the adoptive parent's passport.
- One recent passport-size photo.
How it goes
- From the United States, apply through the Digital Invea app, the same app as passports; the embassy's Origin ID line answers questions.
- In Ethiopia it is done at the Immigration and Citizenship Service, in person; it cannot be done by proxy.
- Renew before it expires: the immigration service charges a daily penalty for a late renewal.
- The fee
- Ethiopia's immigration service lists US$300 regular and US$400 urgent. Confirm with the embassy before you pay.
- Ask on
- (202) 587-1686 Consular phone lines: 2:00–4:00 PM Eastern (11 AM–1 PM in Las Vegas)
- Immigration and Citizenship Service — Ethiopian Origin ID — The government's own page: eligibility, documents and the fee.
- Digital Invea — App Store
- Digital Invea — Google Play
Read from Immigration and Citizenship Service — Ethiopian Origin ID · Checked October 20, 2026