President William Ruto has announced that Kenya will revise visa and electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) requirements for passengers arriving at the Port of Mombasa. The changes will align with recent adjustments made for international arrivals at the country’s major airports, ensuring a uniform entry process for all travelers.
Speaking during the welcoming ceremony of the Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship at Mombasa Port on Sunday, Ruto announced that the decision will be aimed at ensuring that the process of clearing visitors and tourists arriving at the port of Mombasa is paperless and seamless.
The Head of State confirmed that he had engaged with the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) management led by Captain William Ruto on how the revision will be done.
''I want to confirm to you and other cruise ships that we will be changing our visa and our eta so that we can make it easier and seamless for those of you who are visiting. This will ensure that there is no paperwork and issues,'' Ruto announced.
''We have agreed with the management of the port that it will be made simple and easy so that visitors can visit our country, cities, and parks with much more ease,'' he added.
Speaking at the same event, Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sheriff Nassir elaborated that the new decision would allow visitors to travel freely across the country after a one-time clearance at the port.
He emphasised that passengers would not be required to undergo additional paperwork once they had been processed in Mombasa.
''This is going to be a seamless approach on the visa where the shipping line will simply be providing a manifest of all the passengers to the ports authorities who will in turn process as a one-off,'' Nassir stated.
The announcement came just a month after the Cabinet announced that it was considering making it free for Africans to travel to Kenya after complaints emerged over the use of the eTA system.
''As part of efforts to support open skies policies and tourism growth, a key proposal is to grant eTA exemptions to all African countries—except Somalia and Libya—due to security concerns,'' read part of the Cabinet dispatch.
The eTA system was introduced on January 1, last year, and mandates all travellers, including infants and children, to obtain an approved eTA before commencing their journey to Kenya.
The announcement indicated that Kenya would be exempting Africans from 52 countries from the Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) system introduced last year, except for Somalia and Libya.
Furthermore, the Cabinet gave the go-ahead for Kenya to introduce an expedited eTA processing option, allowing travellers to receive approval instantly, with processing time capped at 72 hours based on operational capacity.
