Kenya and South Africa to review bilateral visa rules that could pave the way for issuance of free passes at major airports from September.
Last year, South Africa imposed tough rules on Kenyans seeking to visit the country, besides a service charge of about Sh5,850 for applications.
Presently, foreigners, including South Africans, get their visas upon arrival in the country.
South Africa’s top immigration officials are expected in Nairobi in the next three weeks to review bilateral visa rules that could pave the way for issuance of free passes at major airports from September.
Foreign Affairs secretary Amina Mohamed said the South African team would be in Kenya between August 3 and 5.
Last year, South Africa imposed tough rules on Kenyans seeking to visit the country, besides a service charge of about Sh5,850 for applications.
Visa processing now takes at least seven working days with those making visits of more than 30 days being asked to pay additional Sh4,800 as visa fee.
If the two countries fail to agree on the pact, Kenya’s Immigration Department will from September 1 levy visa fees and ask South Africans to apply online and wait for two days to get their travel documents.
Presently, foreigners, including South Africans, get their visas upon arrival in the country.
“We are going to discuss whether they (South Africans) will be affected by the regulations or we have a special regime with them,” Ms Mohamed told the Business Daily in an interview on Wednesday.
“But this must be on reciprocity basis. We have already made our position known to them. There is no way we are going to pay for visa and wait for a week,” she said.
Previous talks to scrap the charges on Kenyans have been unsuccessful and officials now seem emboldened by the new visa requirement that could be a potent bargaining chip.
Kenyans have continually complained of getting a raw deal in visa relations with South Africa after the country imposed strict visa rules in June last year, pushing the two nations to the brink of a diplomatic fallout.
Kenya and South Africa already have a pact which requires them to issue visas to the nationals of the other country free of charge based on the principle of reciprocity.
This principle requires a nation to return in kind favours, benefits or penalties granted to its nationals by the other country.
In this context, South Africa will have to issue Kenyans with free visas upon arrival in Johannesburg in order for its nationals to continue getting the same treatment on arrival in Nairobi, said Ms Mohamed.
“We are supposed to issue visa free of any encumbrances, free of any visa processing or visa fees. Really what they are doing is a violation of provisions in our arrangement,” she said.
Official data shows that 134,105 passengers landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi from Johannesburg last year, compared to 129,454 who flew from Kenya’s main airport to South Africa.
South African visa applications are done at the offices of a contracted global visa-processing firm, VFS, in Parklands, Nairobi.
Ms Mohamed said the tough South African immigration rules have made it difficult for Kenyans to travel to the continent’s second largest economy, posing a threat to bilateral trade and relations.
South African officials claimed that the new immigration rules were meant to tame the influx of illegal migrants who were accused of taking away menial jobs from locals.
Kenya initially retaliated with similar sanctions, including imposing a service charge on its visa, but suspended the measures in August to pave the way for talks.
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