My application for an East Africa Tourist Visa was going to be handled by the Rwandan Embassy in London, as the local embassy in the UK. One drizzly and grey day mid-September, I set off for London, having booked my appointment for a visa documentation drop-off. The appointment was just under 2 months before my trip day, so no matter what, I would have plenty of time to react in case there were any issues. 

At 9:30 I set off on for the appointment with the consular in Edgware Road. The documentation I had prepared for the visa application were: 

1. My passport, with expiry date in 2034 (at least 6 months required)
2. Photocopies of my passport, at least 2-3
3. My Yellow Fever Certificate (not needed in the end, but just in case)
4. Photocopies of my Yellow Fever Certificate (also not needed but the embassy kept them)
5. Email confirmation of my flight from London to Kigali
6. Email confirmation of my hostel accommodation confirmation in Kigali
7. Email confirmation of my coach reservation, Riverside Shuttle Bus from Nairobi to Moshi (to show ‘proof of onward travel’ of exit from the East Africa bloc)
8. 2 No. Passport style photos (they didn’t have a preference of which countries the dimensions were, mine happened to be UK ones)
9. Signed letter (by myself) explaining my purpose of travelling
10. Hand-written (but can be also typed) East Africa Tourist Visa application (which looks like it has been issued for Kenya, but is actually correct for all three countries).

I had it all organised in an A4 plastic folder, with a small number numbering each supporting document and a post-it note on each of them showing which document is meant to be. 

The appointment in the consular lasted for about 10-15 minutes (including the generic, really nice chat I had with the women in the embassy about life in Africa compared to Europe).

I said goodbye to them and I started walking back to the tube station. Having walked just 5 minutes or so, I get a call from the Rwandan Embassy. First thought was ‘oh damn, what have I forgotten?!’. Second thought, oh well, at least they have my number correctly and can contact me in case they need anything from me! 

The woman said that we had forgotten the flight details (note: flight details were mentioned nowhere in the official list in the Rwandan Consular website, so I hadn’t included them). I said to her I can forward her the email of my booking reservation for my outgoing flight, which I did straight away, but that I don’t have any return tickets (which I had a feeling this might be the sticky point). I said to her that the only requirement was to show ‘Proof of onward travel’, which I had shown by including the bus ticket reservation from Nairobi to Tanzania (Tanzania is not part of the East Africa Tourist Visa). So I said to her that I am not planning on coming back to the UK from the bloc, I am planning on entering a third country, Tanzania (though looking back I could have probably removed Tanzania as a name, and just focus on the fact that I am entering a third country outside of Rwanda/Uganda/Kenya, and therefore, I will be leaving). 

I hung up feeling slightly nervous, but knowing that, worst case scenario I would have to resubmit the visa application and pay (argh yes) again. But I had plenty of time and the opportunity to do it again before leaving, which left me feeling better and calmer about it. The woman from the Embassy also told me that if there was something missing they would not just reject the application; rather they would get in touch with me to provide the remaining information.

A week later, I got notified that my Visa had been approved! Interestingly enough, the Visa is a sticker glued on one of the passport Visa pages, something to know if you will be submitting your passport for anything else later on. The appointment to pick it up was just booked for a few weeks later.

Have you applied for the East Africa Tourist Visa? If so, how was your experience?