Kenya Visa for Tourists: Eight Steps from Application to Arrival
Kenya stopped issuing tourist visas on 1 January 2024. That sentence confuses people, so here is what it really means: the Kenya visa for tourists as you knew it is gone, and in its place sits an Electronic Travel Authorisation, usually shortened to eTA.
The eTA is simpler than the visa it replaced, but it still trips travellers up. Most of the trouble comes from applying on the wrong website, applying too late, or not realising they never needed one at all. Since 6 October 2026 there is one more thing to plan for: mandatory travel health insurance, which you now buy as part of the application.
This guide walks through the process from start to finish.
Step 1: Check Whether You Need an eTA
Start here, because a good number of travellers skip the whole process.
Since an amendment in May 2025, nationals of most African countries no longer need an eTA to enter Kenya, with Libya and Somalia the stated exceptions. Citizens of the East African Community generally enter on their national ID or passport without one. Transit passengers who stay inside the airport and do not pass through immigration are also usually exempt.
Everybody else, including travellers from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia, needs an eTA before boarding. Rules do shift, so check your own nationality on the official portal rather than relying on a blog post, including this one. Some travellers who do not need an eTA may still need the new health insurance, so check that too.
Step 2: Get Your Documents Ready Before You Start
The form will not let you save halfway through comfortably, so have everything open before you begin.
You will need a passport valid for at least six months beyond your arrival date, with blank pages for stamps. You will also need a clear scan of the passport bio-data page and a recent passport-style photograph, usually taken against a plain background.
Beyond that, the system asks for proof of accommodation. A hotel confirmation works, and if you are staying with friends or family an invitation letter is normally accepted. Most applicants are also asked for a return or onward flight booking.
If you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is endemic, bring your vaccination certificate. Immigration can ask for it at the airport.
Step 3: Go to the Official Website, and Only the Official Website
The portal is etakenya.go.ke. Nothing else is official.
Dozens of lookalike sites charge two or three times the real fee for filling in the same form on your behalf. Some are legitimate agents, some are not, and none of them can approve your application any faster. If a site asks for US$80 or US$100 for a single eTA, close the tab.
Step 4: Create an Account and Complete the Form
Registration takes a few minutes and needs a working email address, because every update arrives there.
The form itself asks for your personal details, passport information, travel dates, flight numbers, where you will stay and the purpose of your visit. Tourists select the tourism category.
Type everything exactly as it appears in your passport. A misspelt name or a transposed passport number is the single most common reason an application is delayed, and correcting it after submission is far more work than checking it beforehand.
Step 5: Upload Your Documents, Buy the Insurance and Pay
Upload the passport scan, the photo and your accommodation proof. The system generally accepts PDF or JPEG files under a few megabytes each.
The fee is US$32.50, which covers the US$30 authorisation plus processing. Payment is by card, and you will get a receipt by email. Children normally require their own eTA, so budget per traveller rather than per family.
Mandatory health insurance. Since 6 October 2026, the portal also asks most tourists to have Kenya’s inbound travel health insurance before you can finish. The policy covers at least US$50,000 and must come from an insurer licensed in Kenya. The premium shown is about US$44, and reported tests put the total at roughly US$48 to US$52 per adult after fees. A typical tourist should therefore budget about US$80 to US$85 per person for the eTA and insurance together.
You can buy the policy inside the eTA application when the insurance page appears, or earlier on Kenya’s eCitizen insurance site. In August the Ministry of Health said visitors could upload qualifying home-country cover instead, but travel agents and the live system report that a Kenyan-regulated policy is still required, so plan to buy it and keep your own travel insurance as well. Read our full guide to mandatory Kenya travel insurance for the details.
Step 6: Wait for Approval
Submit at least three days before you travel, and ideally two weeks. You may apply up to 90 days ahead, and applying early costs nothing extra.
Most approvals arrive within one to three working days, and many come through in hours. Leave more room if you are travelling in July, August or December, when volumes climb. If something is wrong with your submission, the system will usually email you rather than reject it outright.
Step 7: Save and Print Your Approval
Once approved, you receive a PDF. Print a copy and save another on your phone. Airlines check it at the departure gate, so a copy you cannot open without Wi-Fi is no use to you.
Tests have reported that no separate insurance certificate is issued. Save the insurance reference number and a screenshot showing the policy as valid, and carry both with your eTA.
Step 8: At the Airport
Present your passport and printed eTA at immigration in Nairobi or Mombasa. Officers may ask about your accommodation and your return flight, so keep those handy.
The eTA is single entry and normally allows a stay of up to 90 days. If you leave Kenya for Uganda, Rwanda or Tanzania and come back within its validity, you can usually re-enter on the same authorisation. Tanzania has its own US$44 insurance requirement, so budget for it if you combine the two countries.
One Alternative Worth Knowing: The East Africa Tourist Visa
If your trip covers Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, the East Africa Tourist Visa costs US$100, runs for 90 days and allows multiple entries across all three countries. You apply through the country you enter first.
For a Kenya-only safari it is poor value. For a three-country trip it usually saves both money and paperwork.
Plan Your Kenya Trip with Yulle Adventures
Contact Yulle Adventures for a tailored quotation and we will send your accommodation confirmations in the format the eTA portal expects, so your application goes through first time. Browse our Kenya safari packages or request a quote. To budget for the rest of the trip, read our guide to how much a Kenyan safari costs.