Kenya eTA guide for Indian applicants: documents, ₹5,914 all-in fee, day-by-day timeline (1–5 working days), refusal patterns and official sources.
Kenya replaced visas with the eTA: every Indian traveller applies online at etakenya.go.ke (USD 30 plus a small processing charge) and must hold the approval before boarding. It covers tourism and short business visits; a student pass is a separate immigration permit, not an eTA.
Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Nigerian and most African and Middle Eastern passport holders need a Kenya eTA before travelling for tourism, business meetings or study; for Indian passport holders the route is the Kenya electronic travel authorisation (eTA). Kenya replaced visas with the eTA: every Indian traveller applies online at etakenya.go.ke (USD 30 plus a small processing charge) and must hold the approval before boarding. It covers tourism and short business visits; a student pass is a separate immigration permit, not an eTA.
This guide follows one applicant from first check to departure, using the published Kenya rules and the fee, funds and processing figures shown on the vistolane Kenya page, which are re-checked against the official sources listed at the end.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Visa type | Kenya electronic travel authorisation (eTA) |
| Kenya government fee | ₹2,839 |
| Vistolane filing fee | ₹3,075 |
| All-in per traveller | ₹5,914 |
| Service levels (optional) | Economy, Premium or Business, shown before payment |
| Airport transfers (optional) | Estimated on the page, billed later |
Pay when you are ready: your account, details and document uploads are open before payment, and our specialists start verifying the file once the payment is in. If Kenya is filed after the guaranteed filing date for a reason on our side, the filing fee is refunded. Fees verified 2026-10-26 against etakenya.go.ke.
Based on the published window of 1–3 working days (Vistolane quotes 1–5 working days including its safety buffer) and the online-only process. Your own dates appear on the price card once you pick a travel date.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Day 0 | Profile created, eligibility scored, guaranteed filing date quoted. |
| Day 1 | Documents uploaded; automatic checks flag two items (statement date, photo background); fixed the same evening. |
| Day 2 | Application filed on the Kenya portal, government fee paid. |
| Day 9 | Approval email arrives; e-visa printed. |
| Day 16 | Earliest sensible departure with a week of buffer for courier or airline checks. |
Indicative minimums. Officers read three to six months of statements and compare the closing balance with your itinerary, tuition or salary; the number matters less than the story the statements tell.
| Category | Indicative funds |
|---|---|
| Tourist / visitor | ₹94,620 |
| Student | ₹6.62 lakh |
| Work / sponsored | ₹66,234 |
| Family / partner | ₹1.23 lakh |
| Business / investor | ₹94.62 lakh |
| Permanent residence | ₹99,351 |
Student applicants add the offer letter, tuition receipt and, where required, an English test; sponsored workers add the employer's certificate or contract. Every upload is checked by vistolane against the Kenya checklist before filing.
A traveller uploaded a phone photo of the passport with the bottom corner cut off. Kenya rejected the application and the fee was not refunded.
The fix. vistolane's passport OCR reads the MRZ before filing and refuses blurred or cropped scans, so the file only goes in once it will pass.
The form said a 12-day trip but the hotel booking covered 6 nights and the return flight was 20 days out. The officer treated the itinerary as unreliable and refused.
The fix. The itinerary, flights and accommodation are cross-checked against the form; any mismatch blocks submission until it is fixed.
A previous refusal by another country was left off the form. Kenya shares refusal data and treated the omission as misrepresentation.
The fix. Declare every refusal. vistolane asks for the letter, adds a short explanation and the case is judged on today's evidence.
Refusal patterns are anonymised from cases handled on the platform and the reasons Kenya publishes. A refusal is not a ban: fix the stated reason, add the missing evidence and reapply with a short cover note.
Student applicants show about ₹6.62 lakh covering first-year tuition and living costs, held for the seasoning period the institution or authority specifies, plus an unconditional offer from a licensed sponsor. vistolane files student routes directly with a guaranteed filing date; study-abroad consultants run whole intakes on the same board.
Routes such as Business eTA, Student pass, Work permit are employer- or sponsor-led and are filed by a licence-checked immigration partner. Compare partners for Kenya by success rate, verified reviews, fee and reply time on the partner directory; the same guarantee and one login apply.
Fees and windows are re-checked when the authority publishes changes; the date of the last check appears on the destination page.
Bank statements that do not match the trip, weak evidence of ties or purpose, inconsistent bookings and form errors that contradict the passport. Each document is checked against the Kenya list before Vistolane files it, and a refusal letter is decoded within 24 hours if you were refused before.
Yes. The checklist on this page is the one Vistolane uses. Most applicants let Vistolane file the tourist and student routes because the guaranteed filing date and document checks remove the two main causes of refusal; other routes are matched with a licensed specialist.
Apply as soon as your dates are fixed and at least 14 days before departure; earlier for peak seasons. Validity is 90 days from issue, so applying early does not shorten your trip.
You receive the reason in writing. Fix that reason, add the evidence and reapply; there is no waiting period. The portal keeps your earlier documents so a re-application starts from the approved set.
Vistolane quotes the filing date before you pay, from your document deadline and etakenya.go.ke's published window of 1–3 working days. If the file is lodged late for a reason on our side the filing fee is refunded; the decision stays the authority's.