Guess who just got his ethiopian visa in Nairobi...

[saliadarunavuelta]

Hi there. Spaniard here, year two of my motorcycle RTW trip. Yesterday I went to the Ethiopian embassy to get instructions on what to do to get my transit visa back in Spain (I was ready to DHL my passport to Madrid, since all forums informed that it's not possible to get a visa in Nairobi unless you are Kenyan). One thing led to another, and I got clear instructions on how to properly apply for it here.

I was informed right away that they were not issuing TOURIST visas, but I replied that I wanted a TRANSIT one and that my situation was unusual. I queued for about 20 minutes and met someone with authority. The woman in charge analyzed my defunct passports with all the visas of the countries visited, listened to my story, handed me a visa application form, and asked for a photocopy of my passport, a photo, and a letter stating my intentions (se said "an official letter").

Since my strategy with complex or unpredictable bureaucracies is thinking ahead of them and drowning them with far more documents than they ask for, I rushed to a cybercafe and a couple of hours later I handed her a photocopy of:

- My passport.
- My carnet de passages.
- A few visas of remote countries, stating that I have been travelling for a very long time.
- A letter from the bank stating that I am financially independent.
- Yellow fever vaccines.
- International insurance.
- My route so far printed from Google Maps.
- My intended route in Ethiopia.
- The letter telling my story.

She analyzed the documents, asked me to make a deposit of 20 USD in a bank and to come back with the proof of payment. I left my passport by 2 PM in the embassy and picked up my visa next day at 9 AM.

BINGO.

I hope this helps.

[itchyfeet38]

That's interesting. How long did you get?

[chris.perjalanan]

Currently in DRC i just thought abouot this problem yesterday, going back through Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia to Soudan. Problem is, two Visa agencies tell me that without flight booking I cannot get a visa in Berlin, which is pretty stupid vor overland travellers. Could you go there and ask if they are willing to do this again for somebody who left germany over a year ago and travelled 19 countrys by road ? Would save me a big headache. Thanks !

greetings from Kinshasa

Chris

[ta-rider]

Hi,

Wow not bad...sometimes it realy helps to be friendly and talk to people

Travel save, Tobi
Transafrika - Motorbike travel tour through africa part 1

[saliadarunavuelta]

The visa is 1 month long, counting from the day issued. Wich shouldn't be a problem, since I will be departuring next week -if Sudan issues its visa, they seem to be a bit more picky than Ethiopia now-.

chris.perjalanan: I will do my best, but I don't promise anything, since I am facing my own personal battle with the heat and Sudan's embassy. I have to say though, that I saw several passports being stamped from different nations, including Eire. I will keep you posted if I can show up there.

[itchyfeet38]

Thanks for the info. We (from the UK) got our Sudanese visas in Nairobi and they were issued the same day - no hassles. We were first in at 9am and collected them at 3pm. This was last July.

[saliadarunavuelta]

They are asking for some stupid letter from my embassy, a support letter, whatever that is. And my embassy will open on tuesday. Grrrr, frustration, frustration.

[roamingyak]

Some people managed to get a Kenyan residency stamp and had the visa within 24 hours. Probably only works if you are planning to leave via Lake Turkana etc.

[saliadarunavuelta]

OK, I got my sudanese visa today. Pretty simple, and it's a one day procedure. However, be aware of the fact that you need a cover letter from your embassy. I think it can be a poem or whatever, but it has to have a stamp from your embassy.
Mine wrote "this letter is to state that mister blabla wishes to travel to Sudan". That's it. Some other embassies have a letter that says that they don't issue letters. Whatever. I strongly recommend you to go first to YOUR embassy and get a stamped paper of any kind saying that you wanna go to Sudan. It will save your precious time.

chris.perjalanan: Another couple of overlanders just got a Ethiopian transit visa in Kenya yesterday.

[thomhard]

That sounds promising.

Lets just hope it works this Friday again.

Can you put a list of the papers together we need for the Sudanese Visa?

Thanks and have a safe journey
thomhard

[thomhard]

BINGO

we can confirm that one can get a visa for Ethiopia in Nairobi.

However it seems not usual, as we got sent away a few times and were told about DHL untill with presistent politness I mentioned again that we are since three years on the way and did not have a chance to get the Visa back home. Only as I mentioned the time away the lady started to look at out documents and wanted to see that we really only visited the last countries for a 'short' time.

There is nothing to add about the documents.

Good luck and always safe travels
thomhard

[saliadarunavuelta]

Was this the tattooed lady? What a character

As for the Sudanese visa, at first they only were interested in the letter from your embassy. That is a MUST, simply put, don't go there without it. However, when I was about to leave, they started to ask for additional documents, to be more specific the Carnet and a finantial statement -or a valid credit card-. I had copies of all with me, epic win.

Cheers from Ethiopia, WHAT a country!