Addis Ababa, February 22, 2024(Addis Walta) Kenya has begun twitching its online visitor registration service that policymakers wanted to use to ease travel into the country, but which saw some countries complain of high charges.
And now, the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services says citizens from Ethiopia and five other countries will not be required to pay the $30 per traveler charged when visitors apply to come to Kenya.
The fee is often paid online via the portal www.etakenya.go.ke after the government launched the Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) in January. According to the department, citizens from the Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Eritrea, Mozambique, San Marino, and South Africa will also no longer be charged when filing for eTA applications.
The department said these are “countries which had concluded visa abolitions agreement or signed bilateral visa waiver agreements with the Republic of Kenya.”
The five had signed visa exemption deals in the last year. Their exemption from eTA began on February 15, Immigration said in response to a Business Daily inquiry on Wednesday.
Bacha Debele, the Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya had on Monday told Ethiopian nationals wishing to travel to Kenya to file free applications for ETA, which remains mandatory.