Visa-Free Launch: How Govt Made Ksh158 M In One Week Via ETA System

The Ministry of Interior and National Administration on Thursday, January 11 explained how it managed to collect more than Ksh158.8 million a week after the launch of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to complement the visa-free directive announced by President William Ruto.

The Ministry in a statement to newsrooms revealed that the amount was courtesy of the number of foreigners who have applied to visit Kenya using the newly introduced ETA which has hit 32,000 in the last one week.

Furthermore, data from the Directorate of Immigration indicated that out of the total applicants, at least 25,00 have already been cleared and 110 applications rejected for security reasons while the balance is at various stages of processing.

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary (PS) Julius Bitok announced that the total revenue obtained through ETA in the same period stands at around one million USD (Ksh158.8 million) with projections pointing to a potential rise in tandem with the expected growth in applications.

“We have been able to generate $1 million in the last one week. This is much-needed foreign exchange. The number of tourists coming has increased because we have made travelling to Kenya easy," he stated.

He added that the introduction of ETA as a travel procedure was a global trend informed by security concerns and the need to obtain important passenger profiles in advance. It is already in existence in many Western countries.

“Many countries in Europe and America have already introduced ETA and in doing the same, Kenya is being a trailblazer in Africa as it has always been," he went on.

New Changes To ETA

Furthermore, the PS divulged that the ETA which has replaced visa as a travel requirement for entry to Kenya is being reviewed and refined to further reduce the turnaround time for applications and approvals.

For instance, the requirement to attach personal bank statements as part of the ETA application has since been dropped alongside other non-essential details to make the application form more friendly.

This was seen as a response to complaints that the ETA system was being disadvantageous to travellers from countries that did not previously require visas to enter Kenya from within the African continent and beyond, through its restrictive nature despite the government's appraisal.

"Besides the nationals of 51 mainly African countries who were previously allowed to travel to Kenya visa-free, all other foreign travellers to Kenya were required to apply and pay for a visa at $50 (Ksh7,950).

"Citizens of the East African Community member states will be granted free ETA until further notice," announced the Immigration Department

At $30 (Ksh4,770) per application, ETA is intended to harmonise these charges across the board while granting automatic priority to nationals from the countries that were previously eligible for visa-free entry.

The Director General of Immigration Evelyn Cheluget on her part said that the government is tapping into customer experiences to enhance ETA efficiency.

“We have improved the system. We have been listening to feedback from our clients and we’ve gone ahead to reduce the number of questions in the form that were causing stress," she addressed, adding that the system has been customized to pick and prioritize their applications based on their travel dates.