Kenya’s E-Visa To Take Effect September 1st: Counterterrorism Measures

Highlights:

Kenya Airways together with the country’s Department of Immigration Services announced the taking effect of the e-visa. The project with the sole purpose of improving service delivery to the public took effect on July 1^st 2015 but a grace period set to expire on 31^st august was issued to help smooth transition.

Kenya Airways issued a statement saying that no passenger will be allowed to board a flight or get into Kenya unless they have a printed copy of their e-visa as of September 1^st.

Summary:

Kenya in July introduced a mandatory visa system that requires foreigners to apply online for Kenyan Visas and at the same time pay for them using the same platform.

The new system took effect on July 1^st with a grace period ending 31^st August 2015 which the manual and online would run concurrently to allow the smooth transition from manual to the e-visa system.

To that effect, Kenya’s flag bearer airlines, Kenya Airways issued a statement that informed foreigners seeking to enter or leave Kenya should have with them a printed copy of their e-visa with them.

Kenya’s Department of Immigration Services has in place a system that will facilitate application, payment and issuance of Kenyan visas online. Upon successful application, applicants will receive the e-visa via email that they are expected to print out and produce at the airport after which authorities will endorse the hardcopy onto the passport.

The e-visa system is among the measures in place to monitor the foreigners that enter or leave Kenya in a bid to counter security challenges in Kenya by creating a better and accountable system.