Visa confusion for Kenya-Tanzania

travelers Bob and Jean

We are taking the 10/4/2018 Kenya-Tanzania Tauck trip. With other Tauck trips, the visa was handled totally through Tauck. The information I downloaded from Tauck has me totally confused. Is there a simple way to get this accomplished. The Tauck community comments were equally confusing.

British

Yes, Tauck does handle getting visas for some destinations, but not K and T. If you open the link on the tour page, Preparing to go and then Travel Documents required you will see you have three options, 1 Use Visa Central, which is what we do, 2 use another visa service of your own choice, or 3 go to the embassies or deal with them directly. If you click on the link to Visa Central, it tells you how much it will cost you to use them. Much of the recent discussions are where people have been reluctant to use VisaCentral because it is the most expensive. But they have all the tour information you will need specifically for your Tauck tour. We have used them several times over the past couple of years. Tauck used another company originally which we had also used. I must admit that I dread having to mess about getting visas, it's the most annoying part of organizing these tours, I don't like being without a passport for any length of time. But the K and T tour is so worth the inconvenience and at least these are not the costliest visas compared to some destinations.

Sealord

travelers Bob and Jean wrote:

We are taking the 10/4/2018 Kenya-Tanzania Tauck trip. With other Tauck trips, the visa was handled totally through Tauck. The information I downloaded from Tauck has me totally confused. Is there a simple way to get this accomplished. The Tauck community comments were equally confusing.

You are too early for visas right now anyway, but it’s never too early to learn the process and the rquirements. I figure you need to apply in mid-July to be within the Kenya 90 day window. If the process outlined in these posts is confusing, I would definitely call visa central.

AlanS

Sealord wrote:

If the process outlined in these posts is confusing, I would definitely call visa central.

Amen!

You'll find just as many opinions as travelers about obtaining visas. As mentioned, Visa Central is expensive and requires you to collect and provide them with the same info you would need if you applied yourself. We can afford using Visa Central, but for us, it was a matter of principle- why pay someone to do something we could easily do ourselves? Some folks approach it differently. Some folks are on a tight budget so do it themselves. British doesn't want to be without her passport for too long. Others would rather put their faith in someone else who will hopefully ensure all information is provided, and the application is correct, submitted properly, and processed as quickly as possible (though you can do it just as as quickly by yourself). Again, it is still your responsibility to ensure your info is correct, your passport photos follow the guidance, and you provide all the info to the visa processing company. You might compare this process to using or not using a travel agent to book a Tauck tour or purchase airline reservations.

HuntNfun

I have been to Kenya twice to visit my daughter and son-in-law and our twin granddaughters when my daughter and her husband were serving as missionary doctors in Kijabe, Kenya, which is about a two hours drive from Nairobi. My husband went with me on the second trip and then we flew to Livingstone, Zambia to go on the Tauck tour of Botswana, Zambia, and South Africa ( a Tauck tour everybody should take-definitely a trip of a lifetime!) For each trip, I completed the process to obtain the visa for Kenya (the only one that was required), submitted the information, and received the visa online. One of the most confusing things was which website to use to complete the form; it's evisa.go.ke. I must admit it was a little stressful the first time, but I just refused to gather all the information and send it to an online agency who would then submit it for me. It seemed to me that I had done all the work for the agency so my feeling was why should I pay the agency to do the easy part of the process. I could have afforded to use an agency, but I regarded the process as a challenge for me! I had to make a few calls to the embassy in D.C. but they were very friendly and helpful. Once I had mastered it for the first trip to Kenya, it was easy to submit almost the same information again. The process for the required Tanzania visa would be very similar, I imagine. If you don't want to pay an agency or if you want to accept the challenge, go ahead and do it yourself. I'm proof that you can do it on your own!

British

So Bob and Jean, what do you think, will you use the Visa service or have a go yourselves?

AlanS

HuntNfun wrote:

I have been to Kenya twice . . . One of the most confusing things was which website to use to complete the form; it's evisa.go.ke.

Compounding the issue, there are a number of private visa services that look similar to and even mimic official government websites. It is not until you have already done most of the work that you realize you are on a non-governmental site! Not Kenya or Tanzania, but it is possible that some countries actually use a contractor to handle visas for the government.

Like HuntNfun, I take it as a challenge and consider it part of the fun of planning such a trip. My enjoyment of traveling starts years/months before we travel with planning airline flights, pre- and on-tour side excursions, restaurants, etc. then the trip, and finally photos- culling, sorting, some editing, printing, and researching/adding captions (Facebook). Sometimes I have an interesting photo, but remember or know nothing about it, so I use a combination of time stamp (my camera doesn't have GPS), places or buildings in photos taken before and after, Google searches and Google Maps (including street view), etc. It is amazing what I have learned about random castles I photographed from the window of a moving bus. I can get almost two years of enjoyment from a two week tour!