For any tourist that has visited the East Africa region, you
well know that you require a visa to guarantee your entry into each East
African country. This means that if you plan on visiting Uganda and Rwanda, you
ought to get visas for those two countries. This is somehow inconveniencing for
those who want a fast service delivery. The solution to that is the East Africa
Tourist Visa. The East Africa tourist Visa is a multiple entry visa that shall
allow you to travel to Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda. This simply means if you get
this visa, you are free to travel to any of those countries without applying
for their specific country visa. This visa was agreed upon by the heads of
states of Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya as a way of promoting tourism within the
region.
How to apply.
The application for this visa shall be carried out at any
diplomatic representation of the republic of Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya. This
shall fully depend on where you are going to start your journey. Let’s say if
you want to visit Rwanda first, all you do is to go to the Rwandan diplomatic
offices and apply for the East Africa Tourist Visa. For those that shall
consider Uganda and Kenya as your first destination, you need to apply at their
immigration offices respectively. The visa is valid for 90 days. This means the
holder can enter multiple times through the Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda as long
as it is still valid however the holder first entry point should be the country
where he applied for the visa.
Work shall not be permitted and the East Africa Tourist Visa
shall not be extended. The application fee for the visa shall be 100 dollars.
Application Requirements.
One clear colored
passport size photo with a white background, and it should be recently taken.
A complete filled application form and a Visa application
letter addressed to the issuing authority of the concerned country.
East African residents of Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya don’t
need to apply for the visa. All they require is a valid national ID or student
ID to enjoy their travel across all the three countries.
How is this going to impact tourism in East Africa?
My major concern was how this was going to impact tourism in
East Africa so I sat down with a tourism expert Mr. Ronnie Mawejje -consultant
of gorilla tour booking safaris,www.gorillatourbooking.com and this is what he
told me.
He gave me scenarios of their clients
who are interested in gorilla trekking: they often want to trek gorillas in
Rwanda and Uganda in the same itinerary. Always they are required to pay visas
for Uganda and Rwanda. This is somehow disturbing for them because they often
have to go through almost the same process twice. Now with the East Africa
tourist visa, this problem is going to be solved. However what shall remain is
that these types of tourists shall still be required to pay for gorilla permits
of both countries. Tour operators like gorilla tour booking safaris hope that
this shall create a tourism virus among the East African residents something
that all tour operators want to see.
