Kenya visa
Jan 5, 2024, 5:14 pm
#16
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 32
Previously you did not need an eVisa if just connecting through the airport to a destination outside Kenya, but it's not clear whether that has changed, and you need ETA as the site says all passengers require it and makes no distinction between transit or entry.
We will be transiting through the airport from JFK to SEZ on KQ with a 10-hour connection in NBO in March. We don't plan to leave the airport on this leg. On the way back we have an 18-hour connection and had planned to enter the country on an eVisa and do an excursion to the Nairobi National Park, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Giraffe Centre etc. Does anyone know if we need ETA for one or both legs? or do we still need an eVisa for the return and dont need anything when transiting. I know its early days and there seems to be a lot of confusion, but we don't want any nasty surprises if I mess up the required paperwork!
We will be transiting through the airport from JFK to SEZ on KQ with a 10-hour connection in NBO in March. We don't plan to leave the airport on this leg. On the way back we have an 18-hour connection and had planned to enter the country on an eVisa and do an excursion to the Nairobi National Park, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Giraffe Centre etc. Does anyone know if we need ETA for one or both legs? or do we still need an eVisa for the return and dont need anything when transiting. I know its early days and there seems to be a lot of confusion, but we don't want any nasty surprises if I mess up the required paperwork!
... I am sure that info was not there before. 
Jan 14, 2024, 11:23 am
#17
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 9
Valid E-VISA
Not knowing Kenya was about to roll out their new ETA platform I applied for and received an E-Visa in late December for my upcoming trip. The ETA website says unexpired E-Visa's are valid, but I'm somewhat concerned an airline ticket/gate agent is going to tell me I don't have the proper document. Flying AA from the US to LHR then to NBO on BA. Would love to hear from anyone who has successfully used an E-Visa to board a flight to Kenya since ETA rolled out in early January. Particularly from the US or UK. thanks
Jan 15, 2024, 2:07 pm
#19
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 32
Not knowing Kenya was about to roll out their new ETA platform I applied for and received an E-Visa in late December for my upcoming trip. The ETA website says unexpired E-Visa's are valid, but I'm somewhat concerned an airline ticket/gate agent is going to tell me I don't have the proper document. Flying AA from the US to LHR then to NBO on BA. Would love to hear from anyone who has successfully used an E-Visa to board a flight to Kenya since ETA rolled out in early January. Particularly from the US or UK. thanks
screenshot from : https://www.etakenya.go.ke/en/pages/FAQS
Jan 15, 2024, 3:25 pm
#20
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,467
The relevant page in ExpertFlyer states that a visa is required - unless you have an ETA:
Results from ExpertFlyer.com
Results from ExpertFlyer.com
Visa, Health & Passport:
Summary Conditional, The traveler will need to hold travel documents as detailed below.
Kenya - Destination Passport
Passport required.
Document Validity
Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be valid for a minimum of 6 months from the arrival date.
Warning
Passengers with a passport with manually extended validity are not allowed to enter.
Kenya - Destination Visa
Visa required.
Visa Exemptions
Passengers with a Kenya Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) obtained at https://www.etakenya.go.ke/en
.
Additional Information
Visitors are required to hold proof of sufficient funds to cover their stay (at least USD 500.-).
A valid "East African Tourist Visa" issued by Rwanda or Uganda is accepted if having first entered the country that issued the visa. The
visa is valid for 90 days and multiple entries/re-entries.
Warning Visitors not holding return/onward tickets could be refused entry.
Kenya - Destination Health
Exempt from Yellow Fever vaccination
Children under 9 months of age.
Recommended
Vaccination against yellow fever for all passengers over 9 months of age visiting any area other than the entire North Eastern Province;
the states of Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Malindi and Tanariver in Coastal Province; and the cities of Nairobi and Mombasa.
Malaria prophylaxis: malaria risk, mainly due to P. falciparum, exists throughout the year in the whole country. There is
normally little risk in the city of Nairobi and in the highlands (above 2500 meters.) of Central, Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley and
Western provinces. Recommended prevention:
C.
The WHO recommended type of prevention is referred to as:
- Type A (very limited risk of malaria transmission) - Mosquito bite prevention only.
- Type B (risk of non-falciparum malaria) - Mosquito-bite prevention plus chloroquine or doxycycline or atovaquone-proguanil or mefloquine chemoprophylaxis.
- Type C (risk of P. falciparum malaria) - Mosquito-bite prevention plus atovaquone-proguanil or doxycycline or mefloquine
chemoprophylaxis. Chemoprophylaxis should be started preferably one week before departure and no later than the first day of exposure; it must be taken with unfailing regularity and continued for 4 weeks after the last exposure. No prophylactic regimen is 100% protective against infection, but even if it fails to prevent the disease it may, nevertheless, render the infection milder and less life threatening.
Summary Conditional, The traveler will need to hold travel documents as detailed below.
Kenya - Destination Passport
Passport required.
Document Validity
Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be valid for a minimum of 6 months from the arrival date.
Warning
Passengers with a passport with manually extended validity are not allowed to enter.
Kenya - Destination Visa
Visa required.
Visa Exemptions
Passengers with a Kenya Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) obtained at https://www.etakenya.go.ke/en
.
Additional Information
Visitors are required to hold proof of sufficient funds to cover their stay (at least USD 500.-).
A valid "East African Tourist Visa" issued by Rwanda or Uganda is accepted if having first entered the country that issued the visa. The
visa is valid for 90 days and multiple entries/re-entries.
Warning Visitors not holding return/onward tickets could be refused entry.
Kenya - Destination Health
Exempt from Yellow Fever vaccination
Children under 9 months of age.
Recommended
Vaccination against yellow fever for all passengers over 9 months of age visiting any area other than the entire North Eastern Province;
the states of Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Malindi and Tanariver in Coastal Province; and the cities of Nairobi and Mombasa.
Malaria prophylaxis: malaria risk, mainly due to P. falciparum, exists throughout the year in the whole country. There is
normally little risk in the city of Nairobi and in the highlands (above 2500 meters.) of Central, Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley and
Western provinces. Recommended prevention:
C.
The WHO recommended type of prevention is referred to as:
- Type A (very limited risk of malaria transmission) - Mosquito bite prevention only.
- Type B (risk of non-falciparum malaria) - Mosquito-bite prevention plus chloroquine or doxycycline or atovaquone-proguanil or mefloquine chemoprophylaxis.
- Type C (risk of P. falciparum malaria) - Mosquito-bite prevention plus atovaquone-proguanil or doxycycline or mefloquine
chemoprophylaxis. Chemoprophylaxis should be started preferably one week before departure and no later than the first day of exposure; it must be taken with unfailing regularity and continued for 4 weeks after the last exposure. No prophylactic regimen is 100% protective against infection, but even if it fails to prevent the disease it may, nevertheless, render the infection milder and less life threatening.
Jan 26, 2024, 8:45 am
#21
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 32
Not knowing Kenya was about to roll out their new ETA platform I applied for and received an E-Visa in late December for my upcoming trip. The ETA website says unexpired E-Visa's are valid, but I'm somewhat concerned an airline ticket/gate agent is going to tell me I don't have the proper document. Flying AA from the US to LHR then to NBO on BA. Would love to hear from anyone who has successfully used an E-Visa to board a flight to Kenya since ETA rolled out in early January. Particularly from the US or UK. thanks
A transit eVisa that would allow our family of three, including one 10-year-old, to enter for a single day (or up to 72 hours if needed) would have been US$21 for each of the adults and $free for the child. The corresponding ETA application that is processing now was US$32.50 for each person (including the child) plus a $5 'bank fee' on top so US$102.50 instead of around US$42. The increase is somewhat irritating but on the positive side, the application process was seamless, easy and well explained on the website, everything seemed to work well, and the links provided at the end of the process seem to allow for easy checking of the progress or submission of extra info if it is needed or requested. Now waiting for approval. Should take no more than 72 hours - hopefully this is as seamless as the application itself.
Jan 27, 2024, 3:50 pm
#22
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Exile
Posts: 15,656
I'm curious to hear your data point on this. In the first week of applications, the average processing time was nearly 6 days and around 40% of applications were rejected. Of course, that is very much teething pains (and they have tweaked a lot of things since then too) so I am curious to hear a more recent data point.
Jan 27, 2024, 11:59 pm
#23
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 32
I'm curious to hear your data point on this. In the first week of applications, the average processing time was nearly 6 days and around 40% of applications were rejected. Of course, that is very much teething pains (and they have tweaked a lot of things since then too) so I am curious to hear a more recent data point.
Jan 28, 2024, 2:33 am
#24
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Exile
Posts: 15,656
Yes, the website has always had that 72 hours (it started out saying "up to 72 hours" like you displayed and now says "usually around 3 days" in many places). It is evolving and is a complete mess for now, but slowly improving I hope.
Jan 30, 2024, 7:24 am
#25
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 32
We applied online at 5:20PM on Thursday (EST), so Friday would be the first business day for processing. Monday would be second business day and the timestamp on the email was (today) Tuesday 12:53AM (EST) so I reckon that's about 1 hour into business day 3 on the Kenyan side. Overall, that's pretty good turnaround time I would say, and the whole process - even if it cost more than the system it replaced - was intuitive, easy and straightforward. The approval email also came with both an attachment and a link to the ETA so it can be downloaded directly to Apple Wallet or saved as PDF for printing later. The instructions note it should be printed and carried with your passport.
Feb 1, 2024, 5:07 pm
#26
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: United 1K, AC 50K, Hyatt Globalist, Marriot Platinum
Posts: 684
Has anyone had difficulty filling out the evisa online? For example, the flight number that I am arriving on doesn't show up in the system. Also, even though I am indicating transit and am not staying overnight it still wants a hotel listed and there is no option to simply put in "transit" as an option in lieu of a hotel. It also doesn't seem to like me putting in that I am arriving and departing the same day. I am not going to Kenya (on route to Seychelles which is on a separate ticket) until May, so I do have a fair bit of time.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Feb 1, 2024, 6:33 pm
#27
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 32
Has anyone had difficulty filling out the evisa online? For example, the flight number that I am arriving on doesn't show up in the system. Also, even though I am indicating transit and am not staying overnight it still wants a hotel listed and there is no option to simply put in "transit" as an option in lieu of a hotel. It also doesn't seem to like me putting in that I am arriving and departing the same day. I am not going to Kenya (on route to Seychelles which is on a separate ticket) until May, so I do have a fair bit of time.
Thanks.
Thanks.
if you are leaving the airport - for example to do a day of sightseeing as we are doing on our return journey - then what I did was to put in the same dates for arrival and departure and where it asks where you are staying type in JKIA and it will give you the option to select the airport as your destination. This is what I did and it got approved in just over 2 days. I did put my confirmed booking for the Elephant Orphanage and other documents in the page where it asks for documents, and at the end where it allows you to add comments, I also noted that this was a day trip starting and finishing at the airport.
Can’t advise about the flights. We are flying Kenya Airlines through NBO to SEZ and back again. It took our SEZ-NBO & NBO-JFK flight numbers without any issue. They were listed in the dropdown for the date we entered.
Last edited by HighlanderICT; Feb 2, 2024 at 8:10 am Reason: fixing typos
Feb 2, 2024, 12:19 am
#28
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Exile
Posts: 15,656
The eVisa site is no longer accepting applications. You need to apply for the ETA instead at https://www.etakenya.go.ke/en
Feb 2, 2024, 7:27 am
#29
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 32
The eVisa site is no longer accepting applications. You need to apply for the ETA instead at https://www.etakenya.go.ke/en
Feb 2, 2024, 9:56 am
#30
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: United 1K, AC 50K, Hyatt Globalist, Marriot Platinum
Posts: 684
Thanks guys for the advice. Yes, I meant ETA. HighlanderICT, I did see your post about not needing a visa if one is not leaving the airport. My concern is that this might perhaps only mean that one is fine if one is just transiting through on the same itinerary and does not need to clear immigration or collect bags, as I will have to as my departure from NBO is on a separate itinerary. Also, even if it does mean that one doesn't need a visa if one is staying within the airport I'm worried that the airline desk agent at check-in still might expect me to have a visa. I'd rather spend the money on the ETA than worry about all of this.