The Rwandan Directorate of Immigration and Emmigration is securing Visas upon entry into Rwanda, starting January 2018.
The Government of Rwanda made communications to comfirm that all tourists from all countires of the world would be eligible to get Rwandan visa upon arrival at Kigali International airport and the land border entry points which include Cyanika at the border with Uganda and Gisenyi at the border with DR Congo.
Prior to this global visa, Rwanda put a similar visa free entry system for all african countries and few non african countries. This is no suprise of a country which ranks 7th position as the world’s most efficient government on the open visa index rankings.
The Visa on arrival is single entry at a fee of $30USD and valid for 30 days. This does not apply to transit visas however you can still apply online or at any Rwandan foreign embassy for the same or multiple entry visa. In addition, citizens from United states of America, United kingdom, Isreal, Sweden and New Zealand are not required to apply in advance.
Note: The new Visa on arrival addressed areas of Visa riciporocity and Visa for diplomats or government agents to take immediate effect by january 2018. For instance, Rwanda grants a previlage of 90 visa validity for COMESA and East African Community member states. The other specific countries including Benin, Haiti, Central African Republic, Ghana, Indonesia, Sao Tome an principe, Mauritius, Senegal, Chad, Sychelles, Guinea Bissau, philipines and Singapole.
Under the rule provided by Rwanda directorate general of Immigration and Emmigration, all tourists must meet the following requirements:
You must have an authentic passport and should be valid for at least 6 months.
Your visit to Rwanda is strictly for tourism purposes such as gorilla tracking, canopy walks or chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe forest, recreation in kigali or lake kivu, cycling in Gisenyi, or meetings and incetives.
You are also required to present clear address of the place, lodge or hotel you’ll be staying in during your visit to Rwanda.
You’ll als be asked to show proof of enough funds to sustain you the days you want to spend in Rwanda.
The procedure to get your visa is simple. At Kigali airport, you arrive at the visa payment desk to get your arrival card then pay and lastly present that reciept to the immigration office for visa approval. At the land border entry points of Gisenyi and Cyanika, tourists are required first to go to the immigration office to get payment details, then to the payment window and back to immigration to have your visa.
There are many advanatges for tourists to cross border without applying for visa in advance. Tourists coming from southwestern Uganda can use the border at Cyanika to connect by 1-2 hours drive to Volcanoes National park for golden monkey and gorilla tracking, volcano climbing as well as visit the near by Musanze caves and Iby’Iwacu cultural village.
From Volcanoes national park, you can also access Lake Kivu, a fresh water best for weekend holiday relaxing on white sand beaches or doing water based activities like swimming, kayaking, sport fishing, boat riding, canoeing as well as cycling adventures betwen lakeside towns of Gisenyi, kibuye and cyangugu.