It will be issued upon application at any of the diplomatic representations of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, at the Immigration offices of the respective countries or online, where applicable.
Will it be different from the other visas Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda issue?
The visas for
specific countries cost $50 but allow the tourist entry into only that country.
The EAC single tourist visa, working like the schengen visa for European Union
countries, will allow tourists to enter any of the three countries and move
freely within the other two without having to pay for another visa. It will be
a multiple-entry visa, and tourists will pay $100 for it. The length of stay
for which it is issued cannot be extended, neither is the visitor permitted to
work.
What prevents me from using a visa issued by the Rwanda embassy in Washington for a business meeting in Kigali to travel with it to Kenya?
Visa issued for a
specific country are only used to travel to that country and not into any other
EAC county.
How will it work without stamping them?
You will still be
required to fill immigration forms where your length of stay in the neighboring
country will be indicated and it will be logged in the system.
Are they all now machine readable?
Yes. it is machine
readable. Rwanda will provide the software for personalisation of the visa
stickers to Kenya and Uganda. The software will enable the three countries to
share the fees, tourist information and tourism data.
How will member states ensure it works?
Rwanda has been
tasked with the duty of setting up the visa and implementing it for the first
one year. This will be on rotational basis each year. Rwanda will provide the
information and communication Technology
software for personalisaton of the visa stickers to Kenya and Uganda. The
software will enable the three countries to share information on fees and
tourist data. So far
60,000 visa stickers have been produce and distributed, in equal numbers, to
the respective high commissions and immigration offices of three countries.
Visa fee collected will be shared among member states, with the issuing country
taking $10 and the remaining $90 shared equally among members states.
How will the Single tourist visa benefit the three countries?
They will be able to
market themselves as a single tourist destination like for the coming up March
2014 trade fair in Berlin, the International Tourismus-Bors, the world’s
largest tourism trade fair. The partner states will use the common logo and
respective stands be designed to appear similar, they will have a joint
promoting committee. A web portal has therefore been formed as www.visiteastafrica.org that will be
hosted by Rwanda and pay for hosting and domain name for the first year.
Thereafter payment shall be on rotational basis.
What issues should the partner states address to ensure that the tourist visa is success?
They should focus on
other issues like reducing the airfares within the region. For example it is
more expensive for a tourist to fly within the three countries than to fly into
them from say Britain. A tourist flying from Britain to Kenya will pay $800,
then $400 from Kenya to Uganda, and $300 to Rwanda which is very expensive
considering the distances between the East African countries. To market itself
as a single tourist destination, hotel rates needs to be such that a five star
hotel in Kampala is no different from one in Nairobi or Kigali. East African
countries need to implement the standardization of their hostel to meet the agreed
EAC criteria. Security concerns are a major obstacle to tourist visa within the
region and should be addressed as an emergency by the partner states