Thandiwe Nkosi
Kenya no longer issues a conventional tourist visa to most visitors: since January 2024 entry runs through an Electronic Travel Authorisation, known as the eTA, applied for online before you fly. Most visitors who need one pay a standard fee of $30, should apply at least 72 hours before departure and ideally a week ahead, and receive an authorisation valid for 90 days from issue for a single entry, while East African Community citizens and many African nationals are now exempt altogether.
What are the quick facts for entering Kenya now?
- System: Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA), which replaced the visa in January 2024
- Official portal: etakenya.go.ke, or the official Kenya Travel Authorisation app
- Standard fee: $30 per traveller
- Transit fee: $20 for transit that requires passing through immigration
- Processing time: About 3 working days, or 72 hours, so apply at least 72 hours ahead and preferably a week ahead
- Validity: 90 days from issue, single entry
- Exempt: East African Community citizens for up to 180 days, many African nationals for 60 or 90 days under the 2025 amendment lists, and airside transit passengers who do not pass immigration
What exactly is the eTA, and how is it different from the old visa?
The eTA is a pre-travel authorisation, not a visa stamped into your passport and not an approval you can obtain on arrival. Kenya replaced its eVisa system with the eTA in January 2024 and framed the change as visa-free entry: the country opened its doors to visitors in principle, but kept a security and identity check in advance of travel. In practical terms the distinction matters less than the deadline. Without an approved eTA, or an exemption, an airline should not board you, and there is no desk at Nairobi or Mombasa that will fix the problem on landing.
Each traveller needs an individual application, including children, and each authorisation covers one person and one entry. The application asks for passport details, travel dates, accommodation or host information, a photograph and supporting documents that vary by purpose of travel, such as a hotel booking for a holiday or an invitation letter for a business or family visit. Prepare those files before you start, because gathering them mid-application is where sessions time out and details get mistyped.
Who is exempt, and who still needs to apply?
Citizens of East African Community partner states, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, are exempt and may stay for up to 180 days. A second, wider exemption followed in the 2025 amendments: nationals of many African countries may enter without an eTA for up to 90 days or up to 60 days depending on which published list their country appears on, and together those lists now cover most African nationalities. Somalia and Libya are the notable exclusions from that African exemption and their nationals still need an eTA. Holders of valid Kenyan residence status and Kenyan citizens obviously do not apply, and passengers who remain airside in transit, without passing through immigration, do not need one either.
Everyone else should assume they need an eTA until the portal confirms otherwise. That includes visitors from the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union in general, Australia and India, none of whom gained a general exemption. Citizens of a small number of non-African countries appear on exemption lists, and because Kenya has revised those lists several times since 2024, nationality alone is not a safe memory test. Check your exact passport on the exemption checker at etakenya.go.ke before you book, and check again before you apply, since a list checked months ago may not be the list in force on your travel date.
Why does the 72-hour rule matter, and when should you actually apply?
The official processing estimate is about 3 working days, which is the same period expressed as roughly 72 hours. That figure is an estimate for straightforward applications, not a guarantee, and some applications take longer when extra checks are required. Applying exactly 72 hours before a flight therefore leaves no margin at all for a weekend, a public holiday, a document query or a payment problem.
Apply a week before departure as a working rule, and two weeks ahead in the busiest safari months if your dates are fixed. You can apply earlier than that within the application window the portal allows, and there is no advantage in waiting: the 90-day validity runs from issue, so balance that window against your travel dates if your trip is still months away. If you are booking a safari at short notice, apply for the eTA before you pay non-refundable elements of the trip, or at least in the same sitting, so that a delay does not strand a deposit.
Keep the approval with you in both digital and printed form. Check-in staff are the first gatekeepers of this system and some will ask to see the authorisation before issuing a boarding pass, particularly on routes with a connection. A screenshot stored offline is a useful backup if airport connectivity is poor.
How much does it cost, and which site should you pay on?
The standard eTA costs $30 per traveller, paid by card through the official portal. A transit eTA, for travellers whose connection requires them to pass through immigration and enter Kenya briefly, costs $20. An expedited option has been offered at an additional charge for travellers in a genuine hurry, but the standard route is sufficient for anyone who applies a week ahead, and paying for speed does not correct an inaccurate application.
Apply only at etakenya.go.ke or through the official Kenya Travel Authorisation mobile app. Search results and social media advertisements are full of lookalike services that replicate the form and charge two or three times the official fee for forwarding the same application. Those charges are service fees, not Kenyan government fees, and using an intermediary also means handing your passport scan and photograph to a third party you did not need to involve. Type the address yourself, confirm it before you pay, and treat any total materially above $30 for a standard application as a warning sign.
Reports in October 2026 raised the question of mandatory travel insurance being added to the application. That requirement did not appear in the official portal summaries verified for this guide, so it is not stated here as a fact. Insurance is in any case strongly advisable for a safari trip, where medical evacuation costs are high, but the practical instruction is specific: read the payment screen on the official portal at the moment you apply, note every line item you are charged, and rely on that screen over any third-party summary, including recent news reports.
How does the eTA work once you arrive, and what does single entry mean?
On arrival, present your passport and be ready to show your approved eTA. The authorisation is valid for 90 days from the date of issue and permits a single entry: if you leave Kenya, for example to cross into Tanzania mid-safari, returning to Kenya generally requires a new authorisation unless your nationality is exempt. Travellers building a multi-country East African itinerary should map every border crossing in advance for exactly this reason, and should not assume that a combined regional tourist visa arrangement is available, since regional products listed on the portal have at times been marked as coming soon rather than open for application.
Once you are through immigration, the trip itself is the reward for the paperwork. Kenya pairs naturally with a classic safari circuit and a slower coast stay, and trip planning helps: our earlier visit to Sanctuary at Ol Lentille in northern Kenya shows the private conservancy side of the country, while practical preparation is covered in our companion guide on what to pack for a Kenya safari, from neutral layers to the soft bag your light aircraft flight will require.
What are the most common reasons applications go wrong?
The recurring problems are timing, documents and inattention. Travellers apply the night before a flight and discover that 72 hours is an estimate. They upload a blurry passport image, a booking in someone else’s name with no explanation, or contact details that do not match the itinerary. They apply on a copycat site and only realise when the charge is far above $30. And exempt travellers sometimes apply unnecessarily, while non-exempt travellers assume an old visa-free rule still protects them. Every one of those errors is avoidable with the same routine: check exemption status on the portal, assemble documents first, apply a week ahead on the official site, and read the confirmation carefully when it arrives.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kenya really visa-free now?
Kenya describes its policy as visa-free, and it abolished the conventional visa in January 2024. In practice most non-exempt visitors still need advance permission in the form of an approved eTA before boarding, so treat visa-free as a change of system, not as permission to arrive unprepared.
How far in advance should I apply for a Kenya eTA?
At least 72 hours before departure, because standard processing takes about 3 working days. A week ahead is the sensible minimum, and longer is better in peak season or if your application may need extra checks.
How long is a Kenya eTA valid, and can I use it twice?
A standard eTA is valid for 90 days from issue and allows a single entry. If you leave Kenya and plan to return on the same trip, check whether you need a new application, and plan multi-country itineraries around that rule.
Do children need their own Kenya eTA?
Yes. Each traveller, including children travelling on their own passports, needs an individual application and authorisation, unless the child is exempt by nationality. A parent or guardian completes the application on the child’s behalf.
Do I need an eTA if I am only transiting through Nairobi airport?
Not if you remain airside and do not pass through immigration. If your connection requires you to clear immigration and enter Kenya, you need the appropriate authorisation, and a transit eTA at $20 covers that brief entry.
Has Kenya made travel insurance mandatory for the eTA?
That was reported in October 2026 but was not confirmed in the official portal summaries verified for this guide. Check the requirements and payment screen on etakenya.go.ke when you apply, and arrange comprehensive travel and medical insurance for a safari in any case.
