During the celebration of national independence in December 2023, the Kenyan President Ruto announced that as of January 2024 European travellers, among others, no longer need a visa to travel to Kenya. Instead of a visa, all travellers must now apply for an eTA for Kenya.
What is the eTA?
The abbreviation eTA stands for electronic Travel Authorisation. By introducing this digital travel authorisation, Kenya draws inspiration from countries that have already been using electronic travel documents for a long time, such as the United States, Canada and New Zealand.
eTA Kenya mandatory from 2024
Since the beginning of 2024, anyone wishing to travel to Kenya for holidays or business must already hold an eTA before departure. The eTA replaces the e-visa that was available until the end of 2023. The eTA Kenya can be easily applied for online using a digital form, which means that the application can be easily submitted from home. If the application is approved, the eTA is issued in digital form. From that moment, the eTA allows its holder to enter Kenya and stay in the country for up to 90 days.
Eligible nationalities for the eTA
Kenya has announced that no traveller in the world will still need a visa to enter the country. However, most travellers must apply for an eTA. Only travellers with the passport of a country that is part of the East African Community are allowed to travel to Kenya without an eTA or visa. You can read more about this below. For travellers from all European countries, including the United Kingdom and Ireland, applying for an eTA is mandatory.
Countries with visa waiver for Kenya
Even though travellers no longer need to apply for a visa for Kenya, they must almost always apply for an eTA before departure. It is necessary to apply for the eTA before departure. The only exception concerns travellers with the nationality of a country that is part of the East African Community, who are allowed to travel to Kenya using their ID card and stay in the country for up to 90 days without a visa or eTA.
| Travellers with the nationality of one of these countries do not need a visa or eTA for Kenya | ||
|---|---|---|
| Burundi | Democratic Republic of Congo | Rwanda |
| South Sudan | Tanzania | Uganda |
Nationalities with visa requirement for Kenya
The requirement to apply for an eTA before leaving for Kenya applies with no exceptions to travellers from all countries outside the East African Community. Minors and travellers from about 50 other countries who were already exempt from the visa requirement before 2024 will now have to apply for an eTA before travelling to Kenya. Travellers of all ages and from any country in the world can easily apply for the eTA online. It is important for travellers visiting Kenya to be well informed about the requirements for using the eTA.
Kenya eTA requirements
To be eligible for the electronic travel authorisation for Kenya, travellers must hold a passport that is valid for at least 6 more months upon arrival in Kenya and must contain at least 3 blank pages. In addition, travellers must already be able to show a return ticket upon arrival in the country. All data and information requested in the eTA application form for Kenya must be filled in truthfully and in full. If you apply for your eTA through e-Visa.co.uk, your application will be checked for common errors by experienced visa specialists before it is forwarded to the Kenyan immigration services.
Validity and authorised duration of stay of the Kenya eTA
Upon arrival in Kenya, your passport and eTA will be checked by a customs officer. The eTA is automatically linked to your passport number when granted, so you do not need to print anything. The check is done based on your passport number.
The eTA is valid for 90 days. This means that you may enter Kenya within 90 days after your eTA is granted. Once you arrive in the country, you may stay there for a maximum of 90 days.
e-Visa.co.uk is a commercial and professional visa agency, and supports travellers in obtaining, among others, the Kenya visa. e-Visa.co.uk is an official partner of the International Air Transport Association, IATA, with membership number 57231226, acts as an intermediary, is no law firm, nor does it employ lawyers, does not provide legal advice, and is in no way part of any government. You can also apply for a visa directly with the immigration service (32.50 USD per visa, via www.etakenya.go.ke). However, not with our level of support. If you submit your application via e-Visa.co.uk, our support centre is available to you 24/7. In addition, we manually check your application and all the documents you provide before submitting it to the immigration authorities on your behalf. If we suspect any errors or omissions while doing so, we will personally contact you to ensure that your application can still be processed quickly and correctly. To use our services, you pay us 32.50 USD in consular fees, which we pay to the immigration service on your behalf, as well as £39.33 in service fees as compensation for our services, including VAT. Our services have saved many travellers from major problems during their trip. Should an application be rejected despite our support and verification, we will refund the full purchase price (unless an application for a previous Kenya visa was rejected for the same traveller). Read more about our services here.