Visas in kenya and Tanzania

hellokelly

Hello!

Has anyone waited to get their visa on arrival to the airport in Kenya and Tanzania? I went through VISACENTRAL for India and I thought the process was time consuming, expensive and tedious. I heard that it is possible to just get a visa on arrival. Has anyone done this before and was there any problems or delays?


Kelly

joycesw

We did both ourselves, and it was pretty easy and a whole lot cheaper! However, we did enter Tanzania through Kenya (a long story I wrote about far back on the forum), so our experience was a bit different from the usual Tauck client who probably enters Tanzania on a KLM flight through Amsterdam. However, I would caution you about entering Kenya (for the first time). You do it as a group, exiting your safari vehicle to leave Tanzania, getting back in to drive a block and then walking to the entry site, again as a group. Frankly, I suspect if you are doing a VOA at this point, you might be holding up the entire group while you go through the process. I assume others will weigh in on this topic as this is such a popular tour. When you are entering another country, while on tour, it has been our experience that everyone has the required visa and then can move through the entry process quickly as a group. If there are no other replies, call Tauck.

British

I don't think the tour director or your group will be happy if you do this on arrival at the Kenya border. You could possibly hold up the group for a long time. I remember when we got to the border on our tour, it was chaotic, we were asked to stay in the vehicles with windows firmly closed while the tour director went inside to show our visas and passports. There are peddlers and pan handlers everywhere. They came up to our vehicle and some idiot opened the window to take photos and a hand quickly came through the window and grabbed someone's bag, only our quick movement prevented them from successfully getting it through the window. Lesson learned, always listen to your tour guide. AND get visas before you arrive. The line for visas on arrival in Tanzania was very long. After a long plane ride and late at night, do you really want that hassle to save a few bucks. As Joyce said, you can do it from the US on your own if you are an organized person.

mazalea

HI! We're going on this safari later this summer and because things can be so chaotic, we wouldn't dream of waiting till the last minute. Plus, those comments from British are and Joycesw are on the money - risk of holding up everyone is likely substantial.

joycesw

I can't exactly remember the timeline for Kenya and Tanzania, but a number of countries have limitations on how early you can apply for a visa. For instance, last year one could not apply for a VOA for India earlier than 30 days prior to departure. You can check on the consulate web sites for each country's requirements.

mel0849

Who will pay so much money to go on this tour and risk not being able to enter the country for lack of visa ... just to save a few cents ... do not see the logic, also if you go in a group as of respect for them make sure not to waste their time waiting for the visa, it's not fair.