Kenyans to pay Sh2,100 less for S.A visa, says Gordon Kihalangwa

Kenyans wishing to travel to South Africa will now pay less following an agreement between the two governments.

On Friday, Immigration Director Gordon Kihalangwa said Kenya had reached a deal with South Africa to reduce application fees from the usual Sh6,800 to Sh4,700.

“South Africa relaxes Visa rules for Kenyan businessmen, students and patients, cutting processing costs after talks with Kenyan counterparts,” Maj-Gen (Rtd) Kihalangwa tweeted on Friday.

The agreement, signed by Dr Kihalangwa for Kenya and South Africa’s Deputy Director of South African Immigration Services Jackie McKay, tackled transit visas, single entry visas, business, medical and student visas, change of immigration status for Kenyans in South Africa, visa application fees and travel arrangements for government officials.

“South Africa informed the meeting that student visas are issued for the full duration of the study and confirmed that renewals for the study will be done in South Africa,” read the agreement seen by the Nation.

Kenyans on transit or who travel there as tourists or on medical grounds will not be allowed to adjust their visa conditions while in South Africa.

However, business people, academics or regular travellers can do so “as long as one meets the criteria.”

NO DELAYS

Although the agreement shows that Kenya complained about the high application fees charged, the agreement only shows that the two sides will reduce the fee by Sh2,100.

In fact, Kenyans will still have to apply for visas the same way: they must meet all the other financial conditions, apply through the third party firm VFS Global, and wait for a visa within five working days.

In addition, Dr Kihalangwa did not specify when the new rules will take effect. A South African High Commission spokesperson told the Nation an official update will be made next week.

Kenya's Immigration Department says the five days will be the maximum waiting time for applicants and there won’t be any further delays.

Further information also indicated that Kenyans travelling through South Africa to its neighbours will not require a transit visa, as has been the case.

However, this condition will be pegged on the number of hours Kenyans will spend in South Africa awaiting transit.

According to the agreement, South Africa and Kenya will discuss ways of waiving visa requirements for government officials.

In turn, Kenya will allow South Africa to place an airline official at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport “to monitor possible illegal migration from third country nationals.” It wasn’t clear when this monitoring will begin, though.

OBJECTIONS

The agreement was reached after a two-day meeting with a delegation of South African officials in Nairobi that was also attended by South African High Commissioner in Nairobi Anita Kholeka Mqulwana.

The meeting followed a series of complaints from Kenyans on South Africa’s tough visa regime.

While Kenya has been granting South Africans visas on arrival, South Africa does not. Last year, South Africa imposed tough rules for Kenyans seeking to visit that country, besides imposing a service charge of about Sh6,000 for applications.

Kenya had initially retaliated with similar sanctions but suspended them in August after South African authorities asked for talks. Those talks, however, never materialised until early June when a Joint Commission of Cooperation (JCC) was reached between Kenya and South Africa to deal with the imbalance in immigration rules, trade regulations and science and cultural cooperation.

Kenya is still demanding that its nationals living in countries neighbouring South Africa be eligible for multiple-entry visas.

Currently, Kenyans living in, say, Botswana but who wish to go to South Africa get a single-entry visa and must reapply on the next visit even though Botswana nationals require no such conditions.

PARLIAMENT AFFECTED

Currently, South Africans coming to Kenya do not require a visa if they are in transit or plan to stay less than 30 days. Kenyans visiting South Africa for this period do not pay visa fees either, but must part with the service charge, an arrangement Kenyans have been protesting.

Besides a service charge on a "free" visa, South Africans also charge visa fees of about Sh6,000 to Kenyans wishing to stay longer than 30 days, meaning a single application to stay more than 30 days will cost about Sh12,000.

It has been worse for Kenyans, because the new tough rules do not allow them to apply for visa renewals from within South Africa, meaning they have to return to Kenya to apply new visas. The Immigration Department did not clarify whether this was sorted out.

On Wednesday, the National Assembly committee charged with foreign relations said the stringent visa restrictions imposed by South Africa had also affected the work of Parliament.

The influential Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations says the conditions have made it difficult for Parliament staff to travel to South Africa, even on official duty.

“We are asking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration to give Kenyans an explanation, urgently. Many of our Parliament staff cannot travel to South Africa on short notice to perform official duties,” Mr Barre Shill, the committee’s vice-chairman told the Nation on Friday.

“We are putting a lot of pressure on the ministry because diplomacy is about reciprocation. They have imposed these conditions on us yet we don’t do it to them.”

A number of employees of both Houses had voiced complaints after they faced difficulties recently in obtaining visas to travel to South Africa for the AU summit as well as for the Pan-African Parliament session.

Mr Shill would not explain whether the employees were denied or eventually given visas, but he argued that the conditions negate the bilateral relations between the two countries.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to add more details.