Resume rules in Madagascar
What employers in Madagascar expect on a Curriculum Vitae (French/English), what the law lets them ask for, and where the two disagree.
Call it a CV for Madagascar or a resume for Madagascar: it's the same document. Employers there usually want it written in French, English, Malagasy.
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: Expected
Expected (80% of Madagascan recruitments expect a professional identity photo)
What the law says: Law No. 2014-038 on Protection of Personal Data applies; photo is personal data requiring proper handling but not legally mandatory
Date of birth: Expected
Expected
What the law says: Law No. 2014-038 treats age/date of birth as personal data subject to protection requirements
Marital status: Expected
Expected (commonly included)
What the law says: Law No. 2014-038 addresses marital status as personal data
Sex or gender: Optional
Optional
What the law says: Law No. 2014-038 addresses personal data; no specific restriction on CV inclusion
Nationality: Expected
Expected
What the law says: Law No. 2014-038
National ID number: Not found
Not found
The rest of the entry
- Local name of the document
- Curriculum Vitae (French/English)
- Language to submit in
- French, English, Malagasy
- Typical length
- 1-2 pages for junior; up to 3 pages for senior
- Address detail expected
- Full address with district mention required
- Officially prescribed form
- File naming convention recommended: CV_Surname_FirstName_YYYY.pdf
- Religion, ethnicity or caste
- Law No. 2014-038 designates racial/ethnic origin as sensitive personal data
- Health, disability or pregnancy
- Law No. 2014-038 designates health as sensitive personal data
- Other customary attachments
- Professional passport-size photo required for work visa applications; police clearance; copies of diplomas
- Employer may not ask for
- Not explicitly specified but data protection law restricts processing of sensitive categories
- Named statutes
- Law No. 2014-038 on Protection of Personal Data (16 December 2014)
- Data protection regime
- Law No. 2014-038 + Commission Malagasy sur l'Informatique et des Libertés (CMIL) - authority established December 2023 but not fully operational; draws from EU Directive 95/46/EC
- Local language source
- French
Where this came from
Looked up 2026-08-15. Independently checked 2026-08-15. High confidence. Result of that check: Corrected.
Notes: Law exists but data protection authority (CMIL) not yet established and not all sections in force; photo expected as custom despite being legally optional; personal details like marital status remain commonly expected by recruiters
Researched with AI assistants working from a written checklist, then independently checked. How we researched this