Travel warning is still in place.

A quick visit to the Kenya travel guide page on Wikitravel will make a traveler postpone or cancel his/her trip, no thanks (or thanks) to that red warning box which greets site visitors hello. Now you may have landed here because you’re one of them unalarmed by the recent attack in Garissa (or because you have not heard of it at all?). You know darn well that danger is present in every country anyway, so you don’t mind the risk. You know the wildebeest migration is worth it.

Citizens of most countries can obtain visa on arrival. Check list of countries that don’t require/require visas here: Republic of Kenya Directorate of Immigration. I and our daughter Luna, Philippine passport holders and the hubby, an Australian passport holder applied for ours at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport upon arrival (VOA is also issued at Moi International Airport in Mombasa and Moi International Airport in Eldoret and at land borders).

How To Apply For Kenya Tourist Visa On Arrival

Application was painless. We simply filled out the Visa Application Form and the Entry/Departure Declaration form provided in the airport and queued up at the immigration counter. Passport must be valid for 6 months and should have a blank page for the visa sticker. No passport-size photo needed.

Regardless of age, tourist visa is $50 each person. Only single entry visa is issued upon arrival. If for some reason you’re not able to bring enough cash, there’s an ATM machine in the area where visa application forms are given out. Machine only dispenses shillings, and oddly, immigration doesn’t accept local currency. The officer will let you change your money at the currency exchange counter just beyond the baggage carousel while he/she holds on to your passport. A few officers might accept your shillings but expect to discreetly leave a “tip”.

The queue wait might take ages, but the actual issuance of visa at the counter doesn’t. No questions asked, except maybe “Is it your first time in Kenya?”, which is more like a dead air filler than a significant inquiry. Remember to check your visa sticker and entry stamp before walking further away from the immigration counter.

And… That’s just about it. Easy-peasy. Jambo Kenya!