Resume rules in Cameroon
What employers in Cameroon expect on a Curriculum Vitae, what the law lets them ask for, and where the two disagree.
Call it a CV for Cameroon or a resume for Cameroon: it's the same document. Employers there usually want it written in French, English (bilingual country).
This is research, not legal advice. Employment and data protection law changes, state and provincial rules matter in federal countries, and practice varies by industry and seniority. Each entry shows when it was looked up and how confident we are. Where nothing reliable was published it says Not found rather than a guess.
Law and practice, side by side
The label on the right is what local hiring expects. The two lines under it are the law and the habit, which often disagree.
Photo: Common
Common; professional photo expected in practice
What the law says: No legal requirement for applicants; employer risk under data protection under new Law No. 2024/017
Date of birth: Common
Common; often included
What the law says: Not specified in CV requirements; protected under data protection law
Marital status: Uncommon
Uncommon; not recommended
What the law says: No legal requirement
Sex or gender: Uncommon
Uncommon; not recommended
What the law says: No legal requirement in CV
Nationality: Expected
Expected for foreign applicants; optional for citizens
What the law says: Work permit status must be documented for foreign applicants under immigration law
National ID number: Uncommon
Uncommon
The rest of the entry
- Local name of the document
- Curriculum Vitae
- Language to submit in
- French, English (bilingual country)
- Typical length
- 1 page
- Address detail expected
- City of residence mentioned in practice guides, full address not mandated
- Signature and date
- Not typically required
- Officially prescribed form
- None; French CV conventions apply
- Religion, ethnicity or caste
- Prohibited to request under data protection principles; no legal basis for inclusion
- Health, disability or pregnancy
- Prohibited to request under new data protection law and equality principles
- Other customary attachments
- Work permit copy for foreign nationals
- Employer may not ask for
- Religion, ethnicity, political opinion, sensitive personal data (per Law No. 2024/017); personal data on consent basis only
- Named statutes
- Law No. 2024/017 Relating to Personal Data Protection (2024); Cameroon Labour Code
- Data protection regime
- Law No. 2024/017 (2024) - Cameroon's comprehensive data protection law; Data Protection Authority established; 18-month compliance period
- Anti-discrimination statutes
- Labour Code provisions on non-discrimination in employment
- Local language source
- English only
Where this came from
Looked up 2026-08-15. Independently checked 2026-08-15. High confidence. Result of that check: Confirmed.
Notes: Cameroon adopted new data protection law in December 2024; limited published guidance on CV requirements. Bilingual country (French/English). Employment consent for data processing is problematic due to power imbalance, per the data protection law framework.
Researched with AI assistants working from a written checklist, then independently checked. How we researched this