Getting a Rwanda visa is one of the most important things one will need to look into and research more about as they plan their visit to Rwanda. There are a number of Rwanda visas that arrivals in Rwanda can apply for now that the travel into the country post Covid-19 pandemic has resumed. The Kigali International airport is the largest serving airport for the country for the international flights and the Government of Rwanda along with the Civil Aviation Authority of Rwanda set up some guidelines for arrivals and departures from the country.
To be able to access Rwanda as a foreign traveler, you will need to check three major things off your list and these are your valid passport, yellow fever vaccination and the other very important item is the visa. The visa is applied and issued according to your purpose of visit into the country. You may opt to apply for the Rwanda visa online or even come and get it on arrival. Yes, getting a Rwanda visa on arrival is possible for most destinations.
If you opt to apply for the Rwanda visa online, you can look at using a trusted agency or directly apply from the online portal and wait for about 7 days or so until you can receive your visa. Some of the visas that you can apply for and these are the tourist visa, the tourist e-visa, the business visa, the East Africa visa, the missionary visa, the conference visa, the transit e-visa and the conference e-visa to mention but a few.
For guests heading out to Rwanda for a chance to take on a Rwanda safari or Rwanda tour, you are advised to look at applying a tourist visa or a tourist e-visa and this goes for 70 USD per visa. This is a single-entry visa and is valid for 30 days so if you will be transiting to any of the neighboring countries, Uganda or the DR Congo, it will be wise to look at the transit visa or the East African visa.
A Rwanda visa once applied for online takes about 7 to 14 working days until it is approved and issued to the applicant. If you prefer to get the visa on arrival at the Kigali International airport, that is possible and an immediate process though it may make your time at the airport longer.
Online application
The online visa application platform www.irembo.gov.rw and go straight to the Immigration and Emigration section and choose visa application and follow through the steps. If you are already in the country and looking at extending your stay beyond 30 days, you can choose renew visa not apply. Fill in the personal details, demographic stats, attach the required documents and don’t forget to fill in your contact details and submit the application.
After this application has been successful, you will receive a status update notification after paying from the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration. The Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration (DGIE) is the governing body that offers this service of visas of Rwanda within 7 days all depending on the type of visa being applied for.
Documents needed/ Prerequisites
Once you have filled in your visa application form, there are a few documents that you will need to attach this application with. A few of these are mentioned below;
- Passport (Original); You will need to have a passport that is in your names and identity and this passport should be still valid for more than 6 months to the travel date from home of origin.
This passport should also still have at least 2 blank pages for the visa stamps.
- Passport photo; You will need a passport style photo with a plain white background recently taken.
- Proof of residency; You will need to attach a national ID, worker’s permit or a driver license.
- Itinerary; An itinerary indicating when you will be arriving, the activities you are booked for, the hotels you will be staying in and the itinerary will need to be in the applicant’s names.
- Cover letter; You will also need to write a letter to the Director General of Immigration with more detailed information on reason for application.
Once you are set and have attached these documents, ensure to have your vaccination cards ready such as the yellow fever vaccination card and the Covid vaccination if you have as these will be needed to be presented on arrival. Get in touch with us if you need more guidance on your Rwanda visa.
