Thanks to the ETA, or Electronic Travel Authorization, travel to Kenya has been greatly simplified for a large number of travelers around the world. This document, which takes the place of the visa (no longer issued since January 1, 2024), covers all travel (including tourism and business) of up to 90 days. Less time-consuming than a conventional visa application, the ETA application is entirely paperless, in line with the needs of busy and regular travelers.

There are a number of reasons why the Kenyan authorities may refuse your ETA application.

What documents do I need to obtain an ETA?

Everything is done online. However, a number of documents must be submitted to the local authorities before your application can be accepted. The ETA is no exception, since it depends on the conformity of a number of documents.

All travellers wishing to visit Kenya for private or business purposes are therefore required to provide the following documents:

a copy of your passport, valid for at least 6 months after arrival in Kenya
a recent color passport photo
a hotel reservation or a letter of invitation signed by your company.

Without these documents, you will not be able to proceed with your ETA application for Kenya. Make sure you follow these instructions to prepare for your trip with peace of mind. Without an ETA, you are effectively subject to denied boarding, which is why it's so important to know the reasons for a refusal.

How to avoid an ETA refusal?

Submitting the above-mentioned documents is essential to obtain your travel document. However, your request may be refused if these documents do not comply requirements of the Kenyan authorities.

In particular, providing a copy of your valid passport is not enough to guarantee that your ETA application will be approved: with a damaged biometric passport, you'll almost always be refused. Similarly, your passport photo must be sent in the required size, otherwise it will be rejected and your application invalidated. In addition to conforming to passport photo standards and ideally being supplied in high resolution, it must be over 350 pixels (px) in width and height.

Even an ETA does not guarantee you entry into Kenya. The airline or immigration officials on arrival may refuse you entry on their own grounds.

To avoid rejection in the best possible way, we recommend that you entrust your application to an agency such as Visamundi, which specializes in travel documents for individuals and businesses. Our mission is to facilitate your international mobility, which means, for example, rigorously checking the conformity of the documents submitted and the data entered during your application. You can rely on our professionalism to plan all your trips abroad.

Complete an ETA Kenya application