Publications
Partners
- Kenya scrapped visas for 155 countries as it migrated to an Electronic Traveller Authorisation (ETA) system at the beginning of 2024.
- The ETA costs around R600, making it cheaper than the visa, which was just under R1 000.
- But you have to apply for the ETA before travel – even if you didn't need a visa to enter Kenya before.
Travellers to Kenya are complaining about a new system that requires them to apply for Electronic Traveller Authorisation (ETA) three days ahead of their trips - which means they effectively still pay for visas in all but name.
Travel visas, which cost the equivalent of just under R1 000, were dropped on 1 January. The new ETA comes in at a little under R600.
But the new system isn't a discount for everyone. Before the system came into effect, travellers from 51 countries didn't require visas at all, so they paid nothing.
That included South Africans.
READ | Kenya says first 'visa-free' tourists arrive in the country
According to Kenya's Ministry of Interior and National Administration, "so far 9 787 ETA applications have been received" and "4 046 had already been processed, while the others are undergoing review on a priority basis guided by the travel schedule submitted by each applicant" as of 8 January.
The government said the new system was in line with the country's "security and other strategic interests" and was intended to "boost tourism and attract more foreign investment to Kenya."
— Immigration Services | Kenya (@ImmigrationDept) January 7, 2024
Zimbabwean academic Dr Ibbo Mandaza said the ETA was "a visa by another name," as he discovered on arrival in Nairobi.
Posting on X, One Jones Ntaukira, said the ETA system was "hectic" and an inconvenience.
"So until 24 hours ago, as a Malawian, I could just wake up, buy a ticket, and fly to Kenya in the afternoon, visa-free. Now Kenya has "removed visas" for everyone visiting Kenya, but now everyone has to pay a $30 travel authorisation fee 72 hours before travel. What? Hectic."
The ETA is issued 72 hours ahead of one's travel to Kenya.
To get the ETA, a passport-size photo and one's flight itinerary, accommodation reservations or an invitation letter from a person one would be visiting are required.
Children under the age of 16 accompanied by their parents will also need the ETA. This is despite that they were exempted from paying visa fees as of 2016.
Those coming from endemic countries should have yellow fever vaccination cards.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
