Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda working on joint AFCON 2027 visa, EAC Council chair says

Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda are developing a joint visa arrangement for football fans travelling to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, chairperson of the East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers, announced on 13 October, Xinhua reported from Dar es Salaam.

Kadaga, who is also Uganda's first deputy prime minister and minister for EAC affairs, spoke during an inspection of the Arusha Pamoja AFCON Stadium by members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), according to Xinhua. Arusha, in northern Tanzania, is the EAC's headquarters. The arrangement could allow fans to attend matches in different countries and visit tourist attractions, which could benefit hotels, tour operators, transport firms and other service providers, Xinhua said.

EALA member Abdullah Makame said the impact would depend on the final visa rules and on how they are applied at border crossings, Xinhua reported. The stadium, designed for about 32,500 spectators, was 95 per cent complete at the time of the inspection, according to Xinhua.

The 36th AFCON will be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from 19 June to 17 July 2027, the first edition hosted by three countries, Xinhua said.

The PAMOJA Oversight Council met on 25 August to review tournament preparations, with Kenya's Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya, Ugandan and Tanzanian officials and Confederation of African Football (CAF) representatives present, Kenyan news website Kenyans.co.ke reported that day. In a statement after the meeting, Mvurya said the PAMOJA Visa Framework and cross-border mobility were among the key agenda items and that each host nation had assessed the requirements within its jurisdiction.

According to the same report, the framework is meant to simplify travel for fans, players, officials, accredited media, sponsors and suppliers, and to ease immigration and customs handling for tournament goods and equipment moving between the three countries. It follows a proposal the three countries considered in 2025 to introduce a special visa for players, officials and fans travelling during the African Nations Championship (CHAN).

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni backed the idea at a meeting with the AFCON Local Organising Committee at State House Entebbe on 1 July, according to a State House article dated 2 July. "This is common sense. I support it," he said, as quoted by State House. Uganda's Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja told the meeting that someone coming to Uganda "should also be able to access Kenya and Tanzania using the same visa for four months".

The existing East African Tourist Visa costs US$100 and is valid for 90 days, according to Uganda's immigration website. It covers Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda only, not Tanzania, can be used multiple times for tourism, and is not renewable. The issuing country should be the traveller's first point of entry.

Kenya requires most visitors to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) before travel. The official eTA site lists the standard single-entry eTA at US$30, a transit eTA at US$20 and a one-year multi-entry eTA at US$300. The site says citizens of Kenya are exempt, as are citizens of the East African Community partner states it lists: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Somalia, also an EAC member, is not among them. Kenya's Cabinet approved eTA exemptions for all African countries except Somalia and Libya on 21 January 2025, and the government then issued an update exempting Africans from the requirement, The EastAfrican reported on 7 June 2025. The Directorate of Immigration Services says eTA applications are processed within three working days. The eTA site also lists an "East African Tourist eTA" as "coming soon".