Kenya eTA for Indians in 2026 — Online Application Walkthrough
By Ananya Singh (Ananya Singh writes step-by-step first-international-trip guides for Indians — passport rules, visa cascade timing, immigration walkthroughs, and the unglamorous logistics that separate a smooth trip from a stranded one.) · Published · 12 min read
Kenya scrapped Visa-on-Arrival in 2024 — every Indian now needs an eTA from etakenya.go.ke. USD 32.50, 3-day processing, 90-day stay. Plus the USD 100 East African tourist visa that adds Uganda and Rwanda for safari trips.
What changed in 2024 — and why every Indian traveller needs an eTA now
For decades, Kenya offered Visa-on-Arrival to Indian passport holders. You landed at Nairobi (NBO) or Mombasa (MBA), paid USD 51 in cash, got a visa sticker, and walked out. That ended in January 2024.
Since 2024, Kenya has been a fully "visa-free" country in name but requires every visitor (with a handful of African Union nationality exceptions) to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) before boarding. The eTA is not a visa in the legal sense — it is an entry permit. For practical purposes for Indian travellers, it works exactly like an eVisa: you apply online, you pay, you get an emailed PDF, you show it at the airport.
The official portal is etakenya.go.ke. It is run by the Government of Kenya's Department of Immigration. Like every government visa portal, it is surrounded by lookalike scam sites that charge USD 80 to USD 150 for the same eTA. We come back to this below.
Key facts for Indian applicants in 2026:
- eTA fee — USD 32.50 (around INR 2,700) including service charges
- Processing time — officially 3 working days, realistic 3 to 5
- Validity — 90 days, single entry
- Must be applied before boarding — airlines will not board passengers without an approved eTA
Eligibility — who needs an eTA, who needs a different visa
You need a Kenya eTA if you are an Indian passport holder visiting Kenya for any of:
- Tourism — safari, beach, sightseeing
- Visiting friends and family
- Short business meetings and conferences
- Medical treatment (with hospital appointment confirmation)
- Transit longer than 24 hours (in-airport transit under 24 hours is exempt)
You need a different visa class (not the eTA) if you are visiting Kenya for:
- Paid employment — needs a work permit and special pass arranged by the Kenyan employer
- Long-term study (beyond 90 days) — needs a student permit applied through the educational institution
- Diplomatic, official, or service travel — separate diplomatic visa channel through the Kenyan High Commission in Delhi
- Journalism or research — special accreditation and press visa required
Children travelling on their own Indian passport need their own eTA, applied separately under the parent's account on the portal. The fee is the same USD 32.50 per child. Children on a parent's passport (rare in 2026) are listed as dependents on the parent's eTA application.
Indian OCI/PIO card holders use their underlying passport nationality, not the OCI, to determine eTA eligibility. A British OCI applies as British, a Canadian OCI as Canadian — both nationalities also require eTA for Kenya.
Step 1 — Open etakenya.go.ke and start the application
Go directly to etakenya.go.ke in your browser. Do not click Google ads — the top sponsored results in 2026 are still third-party agencies. Check the URL bar for the exact spelling and the .go.ke government extension.
Click "Apply for an eTA." The portal walks you through a sequence of screens:
- Acknowledgement of the eTA terms (purpose of travel, length of stay, single entry)
- Personal details — full name as on passport, nationality, date of birth, place of birth, gender, marital status
- Passport details — number, issue date, expiry date, place of issue
- Contact details — email, phone number, address in India
- Travel details — date of arrival in Kenya, date of departure, port of entry (Nairobi NBO, Mombasa MBA, Kisumu KIS, or land border), flight number, accommodation address in Kenya
- Document uploads (we cover in next section)
- Yellow Fever vaccination declaration — Kenya requires Yellow Fever certification for travellers arriving from or transiting through Yellow Fever risk countries. Indian travellers arriving directly from India are exempt, but transit through African or South American countries may trigger this requirement
- Declaration and signature
- Payment
Block 30 to 45 minutes for a first application. The portal allows you to save progress and resume — create an account with email + password to enable this. Have your passport, photo, and accommodation booking on your desktop before you start.
Step 2 — Documents to upload (passport, photo, accommodation, return ticket)
Kenya's eTA portal asks for more uploads than most eVisas. Have these files ready as PDF or JPG, each under 1 MB to 2 MB:
- Passport bio-page scan — colour, all four corners visible, no glare, name and machine-readable zone readable
- Recent passport-size photo — white background, taken in the last 6 months, no glasses, neutral expression, 4x6 cm
- Return or onward flight ticket — confirmed booking with PNR, dates within 90 days of arrival
- Hotel booking confirmation — covering the full stay, or at least the first 7 nights with explanation of further itinerary
- Yellow Fever vaccination certificate — only if arriving from or transiting through risk countries; not required for direct India-to-Kenya travel
Optional but helpful uploads that speed up approval for clean applications:
- Bank statement showing balance of at least INR 50,000 or equivalent USD 600+
- Employment letter (for self-employed: GST registration certificate plus 3 years ITR)
- Travel insurance policy covering Kenya
Common upload failure — Indian phone cameras shoot 4-6 MB photos that exceed the 2 MB cap. Use an online JPG compressor or your phone's built-in editor to bring files under 2 MB before uploading. Also use clean JPG file names (passport.jpg, photo.jpg, ticket.pdf) — non-English characters in file names sometimes cause silent failures.
Step 3 — Pay USD 32.50, wait 3 to 5 working days, download
The portal accepts international credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard) and selected mobile payment options. UPI, Indian net banking, and RuPay are not accepted. Use an international-enabled HDFC, ICICI, Axis, or SBI Visa/Mastercard. The transaction appears as a Kenyan government merchant code on your statement.
After payment, you receive an application reference number by email. Save this — it is your only way to track and download the eTA. The portal sends two further emails:
- An acknowledgement within 1 hour confirming the application is under review
- The approval (or rejection) within 3 working days, with the eTA PDF attached
Realistic 2026 processing is 3 to 5 working days. Applications submitted on Fridays or before Kenyan public holidays (Madaraka Day on 1 June, Mashujaa Day on 20 October, Jamhuri Day on 12 December) can take 7 days or longer. Apply at least 2 weeks before travel for safety.
Print two copies of the eTA PDF — one in hand luggage, one in checked baggage. Some Kenyan airline check-in staff at Mumbai or Delhi still ask to see the printed eTA in addition to the email confirmation, so do not rely solely on phone screenshots.
Step 4 — At Nairobi or Mombasa airport — arrival, biometrics, entry stamp
On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (Nairobi NBO) or Moi International Airport (Mombasa MBA):
- Follow signs to arrivals and immigration
- Queue at the standard immigration desk (not VOA — that line no longer exists)
- Hand over passport plus printed eTA PDF
- Officer scans the QR code on the eTA, verifies in the system, asks 2-3 standard questions
- Officer captures your biometrics — fingerprints (all 10) and a facial photo at the desk
- Officer stamps your passport with the entry date, valid for 90 days from entry
Standard questions at immigration:
- Purpose of visit? Answer: tourism / safari / visiting family / business meeting
- Length of stay? Answer: matches your eTA application and return ticket
- Where are you staying? Answer: hotel name and city, or host's name and address
- Have you been to Kenya before? Answer: truthfully
The biometric capture at immigration is mandatory and adds 2 to 3 minutes per traveller. Families with children should expect 10 to 20 minutes at the desk. The whole arrival process, including baggage claim, typically takes 45 to 90 minutes during peak times.
Yellow Fever certificate is checked at the health desk at NBO and MBA if you are arriving from a risk country. Direct flights from India do not trigger this check, but a layover in Addis Ababa, Doha, or Dubai sometimes does (depending on the airline routing). Carry your Yellow Fever certificate if you have one, even if not asked.
Bonus — the East African Tourist Visa (USD 100, covers Kenya + Uganda + Rwanda)
If your trip extends beyond Kenya — typically a Maasai Mara safari followed by gorilla trekking in Uganda or Rwanda — you may want the East African Tourist Visa (EATV) instead of three separate visas.
EATV facts: USD 100 (around INR 8,300) total fee, 90-day validity with multiple entries between Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, applied through any of the three countries' portals (Kenya's eTA portal or Uganda's eVisa portal at visas.immigration.go.ug), 3 to 10 working days processing, must enter through the country you applied via.
The math: separate Kenya eTA (USD 32.50), Uganda eVisa (USD 50), and Rwanda eVisa (USD 50) totals USD 132.50. EATV at USD 100 saves USD 32.50 and gives free movement across all three.
When EATV is NOT the right choice: visiting Kenya only (eTA alone at USD 32.50 is cheaper), visiting only one of the three countries (single eVisa is cheaper), or visiting Tanzania (NOT in EATV — needs a separate Tanzania eVisa or VOA).
Apply for EATV at least 3 weeks before travel, especially during peak season (June-October for safari, December-February for Christmas).
Why Kenya eTAs get refused — and the patterns to avoid
Kenya eTA refusal rates are relatively low (under 5% for Indian applicants with clean documents) but the refusals that do happen cluster around a few clear causes:
- Passport validity under 6 months from planned entry date — instant refusal, the portal sometimes does not let you even submit
- Photo quality — selfies, photos with glasses, non-white backgrounds, tightly cropped faces. Use a professional passport-photo app or get a studio photo before applying
- Mismatch between passport name and application name — including middle names, initials, and surname spelling. Type it exactly as on the passport
- No return ticket uploaded or one-way ticket without strong onward proof
- Hotel booking that does not match dates on the application — for example, eTA arrival date 10 March but hotel booking starts 15 March
- Prior Kenyan overstay or refusal record — flagged in the immigration system, almost automatic refusal
- Insufficient funds proof when bank statements are uploaded — particularly for self-employed travellers without ITR support
If refused, the portal sends an email with a reason code. The USD 32.50 fee is non-refundable. You can re-apply with corrected information after 7 days (sometimes immediately) — submit fresh photos, fresh documents, fresh dates that match.
Re-apply playbook and avoiding the scam-site trap
If your eTA is refused:
- Read the rejection email carefully — the reason code tells you exactly what failed
- Fix the specific issue — bad photo, mismatched name, dates, missing document
- Wait 7 days (some applicants report being able to re-apply immediately)
- Re-apply on the official portal at etakenya.go.ke with corrected information
- Do not re-apply through a third-party agency — they cannot fix substantive refusals
If you get refused twice for the same reason, or if the rejection is for a substantive issue (prior overstay, security flag), the next step is the Kenyan High Commission in Delhi (+91-11-2614-6537) for a sticker visa with full documentation. Sticker visa processing is 15 to 30 working days at INR 5,500 to INR 9,000.
Scam-site warning: search Google for "Kenya eTA" and the top 5 to 10 results in 2026 are still paid ads from third-party sites with names like "kenya-eta.org", "evisakenya.com", "applykenya-eta.com". These sites charge USD 80 to USD 150 for an eTA that costs USD 32.50 on the official portal.
How to spot the real one:
- URL is exactly etakenya.go.ke — note the .go.ke government extension
- Government fee is USD 32.50, never USD 70+ or INR 9,000+
- Official portal has no live chat, no WhatsApp support, no urgent processing options for extra fees
- Official site asks for at most 3 to 5 uploads. Sites asking for additional financial declarations, sponsor forms, or notarised affidavits are scams
If you have already paid a scam site, you may still get a valid eTA (because they then apply on your behalf through the official portal) but you have overpaid. If you have not paid yet, close the tab and go to the official URL directly.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Kenya eTA the same as a visa for Indians?
Legally it is called an Electronic Travel Authorisation, not a visa, but practically it works exactly like an eVisa for Indian travellers. Apply online at etakenya.go.ke, pay USD 32.50, receive a PDF in 3 to 5 working days, print and show at the airport. Without an approved eTA, airlines will not board you to Kenya.
What is the Kenya eTA fee for Indians in 2026?
USD 32.50 (around INR 2,700) including all service charges, paid online by international credit/debit card at etakenya.go.ke. The eTA is valid for 90 days, single entry. Third-party sites charge USD 80 to USD 150 for the same eTA — always use the official portal.
How long does the Kenya eTA take to process?
Officially 3 working days, realistic 3 to 5 working days. Applications submitted on Fridays or before Kenyan public holidays (Madaraka Day 1 June, Mashujaa Day 20 October, Jamhuri Day 12 December) can take 7 days or longer. Apply at least 2 weeks before travel for safety.
What is the East African Tourist Visa and is it worth it?
EATV is a USD 100 multi-entry 90-day visa covering Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. Worth it for safari trips that combine Maasai Mara with gorilla trekking in Uganda or Rwanda — saves USD 32.50 versus three separate eVisas. Not worth it for Kenya-only trips (eTA alone is cheaper) or trips that include Tanzania (Tanzania is not in EATV).
Do I need a Yellow Fever certificate to enter Kenya from India?
No — direct flights from India to Kenya do not require Yellow Fever certification because India is not a Yellow Fever risk country. However, if you transit through Yellow Fever risk countries (parts of Africa or South America), the certificate is mandatory. Always carry the certificate if you have one, even when not technically required.
What happens if my Kenya eTA is refused?
The portal emails you a reason code. The USD 32.50 fee is non-refundable. You can re-apply with corrected information after 7 days (sometimes immediately). Most refusals are caused by bad photos, name mismatches, missing return tickets, or passport validity under 6 months. For substantive refusals (prior overstay, security flag), apply for a sticker visa at the Kenyan High Commission in Delhi.