Kenya Scraps Manual Visa Application to Ease Travel

Visitors coming to Kenya will no longer be expected to get their Visa upon arrival in Nairobi, as the new visa rules takes effect.

According to the a notice by the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, the new rules require visitors to have already acquired an electronic visa by the time they get into the country.

Under the new rules visa charges will be paid through a credit or debit card and not at point of entry as was before.

"No more manual Visa applications from July 1 2015, all application will be made via www.ecitizen.go.ke," reads a notice on the ministry's website.

Previously visitors coming into the country were expected to acquire visas at the airport.

This will see many destinations now reprint their brochures to adopt the new requirements as well as the changes.FASTER PROCESSING

The new rules will now see the visitors present their printed eVisa to immigrations office at the port of entry.

According to the Kenya Association of Hotel keepers and Caterers Coast branch Executive Officer Sam Ikwaye this is a good move that will now ensure faster processing of visas without inconveniencing visitors.

"Kenya is beginning to join other countries that have adopted e-business. This is will also play a very important role in monitoring who comes into the country. We just hope that the system will be flexible enough to handle the traffic," Mr Ikwaye said.

Mr Ikwaye says that the hoteliers will use this as a new tool for marketing Kenya as a destination in the country's source markets.

Kenya's main source markets include Germany, China, France, and the US among others. The country is also wooing tourists from the Middle East, Russia, Italy and parts of Africa to increase international arrivals and boost the industry's growth.

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