The numbers
Published in the Kenyan Directorate of Immigration Services FAQ.
The official figure, described as the starting price for a normal application.
An additional charge for immediate processing, taking the total to $130.
Three business days. Immigration recommends applying two weeks ahead regardless.
Each traveller needs their own, including children and groups.
The old visa was more expensive. Kenya previously charged 51 dollars for a single entry visa and 101 dollars for multiple entry. The eTA at 30 dollars replaced both. This is one of the few permits on this site that made travel cheaper rather than dearer.
What it asks you to upload
More than a typical electronic authorisation, and the third item catches people out.
- A passport valid at least six months with one blank page. Checked at the point of application and again on arrival.
- A selfie or passport style photograph. Taken during the application. There is no separate photo booth requirement.
- A confirmed accommodation booking. This is the one people are not ready for. Kenya asks for proof of where you are staying, so an open ended itinerary will not get through the form.
- A travel itinerary with arrival and departure details. Flight details both ways, not just the inbound leg.
When you do not need one
The transit exemption is genuine and quite narrow.
Changing planes in Nairobi without leaving the airport
ExemptPassengers in transit who arrive and leave by the same aircraft, or transfer to another aircraft, and who do not leave the airport precincts, are exempt.
Leaving the airport for a few hours between flights
eTA requiredOnce you pass through immigration the exemption no longer applies, however brief the visit.
A safari with a night in Nairobi
eTA requiredAny actual entry into Kenya needs the authorisation, regardless of length.
Where to apply
One website and one official app.
etakenya.go.keOfficial, Kenyaapply.joinsherpa.comNot the governmenttraveldocs.comNot the governmentThe last two are established commercial agencies rather than impostors, and they rank on page one for Kenyan travel authorisation searches. They are not the government, they charge more than 30 dollars, and the document they obtain is the same one you can get yourself in about fifteen minutes.
Kenya also publishes an official mobile application called Kenya Travel Authorisation. The suffix .go.ke is restricted to Kenyan government bodies.
What goes wrong
Four failures, and the first two are about documents rather than money.
- Starting without an accommodation booking. The form asks for confirmed accommodation. Travellers planning to decide on arrival have to book something before they can finish the application.
- Relying on the 72 hour processing time. Immigration itself recommends applying at least two weeks before travel, despite quoting three days, because verification can take longer.
- Assuming an approved eTA guarantees entry. The Directorate states plainly that possession of an eTA is not the final authority to enter Kenya, and that admissibility is determined at the point of entry.
- Looking for the old visa. It no longer exists. Guides describing a Kenyan eVisa at 51 dollars are describing a system that was retired in January 2024.
What changed
One large change, and it is recent enough that older advice is still circulating.
Kenya abolishes visas for all visitors and replaces them with the electronic travel authorisation, at a lower price than the visa it replaced.
Amended immigration rules set out the current exemption list, including East African partner states and airside transit passengers.