Kenya drops on travel index ranking with new visa requirements

Nairobi — 

A Kenyan authorities request that foreigners registry online 3 days earlier traveling to the state has made the East African federation among the astir hard countries to sojourn successful Africa, according to an scale that ranks countries for easiness of travel.

Kenya's instauration of caller visa policies earlier this twelvemonth has made the state little accessible, according to the 2024 Africa Visa Openness Index.

The East African state slid 17 places connected the index, and present ranks 46 retired of 54 African countries.

The index, compiled by the African Development Bank and African Union Commission, tracks visa openness and the easiness of visiting African countries.

Kenya precocious launched its Electronic Travel Authorization program. The outgo of a visa dropped from $50 to $30, but prospective visitors person to registry for the visa online, and support takes 3 days.

That is causing problems for radical who are utilized to traveling with small beforehand planning, said Esther Mutwiri, an migration advisor based successful Kenya.

“Whenever determination is an exertion to beryllium made, radical who don’t similar changes … volition consciousness a small spot of a challenge,” Mutwiri said. “And this is expected; determination is simply a small challenge. I ever counsel my clients, for example, if you cognize you are flying successful adjacent week, conscionable use aboriginal enough.”

Before the instauration of the online visa application, citizens of galore African countries could question to Kenya, get a visa upon entry, and get their passport stamped.

Now, they person to program ahead, which is made much challenging erstwhile the registration strategy goes down oregon gets backed up. Sometimes users person to hold for hours to implicit the registration process.

Some users physically sojourn an migration bureau aft turning successful their application, conscionable to marque definite they get their visa.

Professor Chacha Nyaigotti Chacha, an adept successful diplomacy and planetary relations, said Kenya indispensable amended easiness of question to payment from visitors.

“The openness presumption erstwhile you let radical to get your visa successful an casual mode means that you tin person much guests and visitors. And the much visitors you receive, the much concern radical bash with the expenditure of assorted services that are provided,” Chacha said. “So, it’s important arsenic a state we strive to ever guarantee that guests and visitors are welcomed and to spot that our visa exertion process should beryllium seamless.”

Mutwiri said travelers should use for visas aboriginal to debar challenges and guarantee a creaseless process.

"We should clasp change. Nowadays, it's each astir going digital, and I deliberation that's what our authorities is trying to do. So, the radical who should bash thing are the applicants. If I cognize I americium traveling to a state that requires a visa, past I should use for it beforehand. That way, if astir of the travelers bash that, they are going to acquisition little challenges erstwhile they travel in," Mutwiri said.

Despite the difficulties with the visa system, the Kenya Tourism Board said the state welcomed much than 1 cardinal visitors successful the archetypal six months of this year, a 21% summation from 2023.

Nnenna Lily Nwabufo, vice president of determination development, integration, and concern transportation astatine the African Development Bank Group, said 39 African countries person improved their scores connected the visa index.

Benin, Gambia, Rwanda and Seychelles are among the countries ranked precocious for casual question wrong Africa. Sudan, Libya, Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea are ranked the lowest.