Kenya has raked in KES 158.7 million in the first week of its new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, which allows foreigners to apply and pay for entry online.
The Directorate of Immigration said it received 32,000 applications in the last seven days, of which 25,000 were approved, 110 rejected for security reasons, and the rest pending.
The system, which replaces visas for most visitors, is aimed at boosting tourism and security, as well as reducing bureaucracy and costs.
“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,” said Prof Julius Bitok, the Principal Secretary for Immigration and Citizen Services.
He said Kenya was following a global trend of adopting ETA, which is already in place in many Western countries.
“Many countries in Europe and America have already introduced ETA and in doing the same, Kenya is being a trail blazer in Africa as it has always been,” he said.
He added that the system was being reviewed and refined to further reduce the turnaround time for applications and approvals.
He also revealed that the requirement to attach personal bank statements as part of ETA application had been dropped, along with other non-essential details, to make the application form more user-friendly.
President William Ruto announced last year that Kenya would do away with visas as an entry requirement from this year to encourage more visitors.
Nationals of 51 mainly African countries, who were previously allowed to travel to Kenya visa-free, will continue to enjoy the same privilege, while citizens of the East African Community member states will be granted free ETA until further notice.
All other foreign travellers to Kenya will pay $30 per application, which is intended to harmonise the charges across the board.
The Director General of Immigration Evelyn Cheluget said the government was tapping into customer feedback 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 said.
She said the system had been customized to pick and prioritize the applications based on their travel dates.
