no more ethiopian visas in harare
 

Hi
got into Zim about 2 weeks ago and phoned the ethiopian embasy in Harare
to ask about visas,we got them there last year no problems,but now they have also stoped issuing them,and told us they shouldnt have been issuing them for the last year but no one told them the new rules.
So we have had to DHL all our passports (24 of them)back to our home country to get them.

NZ and AUS go to Melbourne and are very quick,received them,issued them and DHLed back all in the same day.

UK and Ireland, we used Travcour in london to get them,took a few days to issue but all good.

USA also very good and issued in one day.

Took 12 days in total from when we sent them till the day they got back (all came back on exactly the same day from all aver the world) so not to much of a hassle,

Also while in Harare we got Egypt visas,very good,24 hours to issue 24 visas so worth getting here too

hope this helps out
Cheers Grant

We got them a week ago in Pretoria - no hassle - same day issued.
Lucky???

I've posted it on the HUBB before

see u on the road ;-)

Cheers Grant - we will have to try Pretoria or go down the DHL route. Still in SA though & not moving very quickly!! Hope all is well with you guys. Love to Andi x

No visa in Pretoriaeither
 

Hi,
tried to apply for visa in Pretoria a week ago. They let you apply, pay the fees, get hotel bookings etc. and next they they deny them with explanation that you are not a resident of SA. So the same situation as anywhere else (in Harrare they at least tell you upfront that you can't get them...). Guess thet the person who get them in Pretoria was really lucky...
Martin

Any update on the visa situation for Ethiopia would be very much appreciated. We're planning to head up the east coast but currently in Durban trying to decide whether to head to Pretoria or make a detour to Harare. All the numbers we can find for the Ethiopian Embassy in Pretoria, Harare and UK embassy in Addis are constantly ringing out. The Ethiopian embassy in the UK advised us we could get them no problem in Pretoria.

We'll probably try Pretoria first but will post an update on here whatever we end up doing.

Thanks in advance.

Exactly how much does the DHL (or differing couriers) from Nairobi cost?

Seems some people may make big detours when the costs of the courier is perhaps not that bad?

Exact costs anyone so that people can judge if the hassle of a detour is worth the effort?

Starting to firm up plans for next year's big trip, any info on this would be much appreciated

Sam

DHL Passport Nairobi to London (Travcour)
 

This week I paid just under Ksh 4000 to send via DHL (about £26.50) - I also won a DHL laser pen in their promotional raffle!

It arrived with Travcour next day, trackable of course. It will cost Travcour's standard fee of £42.50 to return. They charge £30 per visa for their running around. I am applying for Ethiopean and Egyptian at the same time (the latter because I'm hoping to get a Sudan transit visa in Addis)

Estimate a couple of weeks to turn this around. Nairobi (and Kenya) is a good place to be 'stuck' after all.

Thanks very much, that's really good to know & a fair bit less than I'd thought.
If you could let us know how it all works out, that would be great.

Safe & happy travels
Sam

I think it's really not that big a deal. It's not ideal to have to send your passport away but it doesn't cost a fortune and Travcour provide a good service. I used them in January after recommendations from other travellers so they've been doing this a while now and they obviously know what they're doing with the Ethiopian Embassy in London.

And as Harris has said, Nairobi isn't a bad place to be stuck for a week or 2. Nice shops, restaurants or cinemas if you want or just hang out at JJs with other travellers, sort out any maintenance on your vehicle ready for the road north, get your Sudan visa (cheaper in Nairobi than Addis when I was there), etc, etc...

Just a quick update. We went to Pretoria and didn't get our visas. Firstly they said no but then let us in to speak to the boss. After waiting for him for 4 hours he referred us directly back to the first office and were told absolutely we could get the visa and go and deposit the payment in the bank. He then came running after us as we were about to drive off and said he had just realised we didn't have long enough on our South African visas - you need at least 3 months and as we'd already been in the country for a few weeks we didn't have long enough left. He advised we should apply for our SA visas to be extended and then we would be able to get the Ethiopian one no problem. I don't really understand why having 3 months on a SA visa counts and it doesn't say this on the application form (Non - RSA applicants must have a 6 month temporary permit for SA).

So we gave up there and are going down the DHL route...