02:19, 08-Dec-2020
Mogadishu- Warsan
Somalia on Monday suspended visa-on-arrival for Kenya nationals, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the reasons for the directive.
The new directive will take effect effective on 13th Dec 2020 and will see ordinary passport holders apply for the travel permit before departing Nairobi while diplomatic passport holders will have to seek approval from Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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“In line with the federal government’s policy of ensuring security, improving migration management and reducing the risks of COVID-19 infections, all Kenyan passport holders travelling to Somalia are obliged to obtain visas from Somali embassies,” Somalia’s immigration authority said in a statement Monday.
“Any traveler with a Kenyan passport that does not adhere to the above policy will be denied entry.”
The latest move comes weeks after Somalia reopened its Nairobi embassy premises, 10 years after Mogadishu won a court case against a private Kenyan businessman who had bought it during the civil war.
