Kenyans can now travel visa-free to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), following the lifting of visa restrictions from the country. The DR Congo Authorities confirmed this on Wednesday.
DR Congo’s Ministry of Interior, Security and Customary Affairs in a circular signed by Head of the Directorate General of Migration (DGM) Roland Kashwantale Chihoza and addressed to airline managers in the country, Kenyan Nationals seeking to travel into the country will no longer be required to will no longer be required to provide entry visas.
“The Directorate General of Migration informs you that from September 1, 2023, nationals of the Republic of Kenya are exempt from entry visas to the Democratic Republic of Congo,” the note read.
This comes less than a week after Kenya declared that citizens of the DRC are free to travel into the country without visas. Kenya had lifted visa restrictions for all citizens of the DRC with effect from September 1, 2023, the Immigration and Citizen Services Director General Evelyn Cheluget said.
What this means is that moving forward, citizens will only need their national passports to travel within the two countries.
According to the Immigration and Citizen Services Director General Evelyn Cheluge, the ban lift is in compliance with “the East Africa Community (EAC) regulations on free movement of persons within the member states.”
DR Congo officially became a member of the East Africa Community (EAC) in April 2022, becoming its seventh member. The signing of the Treaty of Accession was at State House in Nairobi, with the then EAC Chairperson and former President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta.
This new policy, according to Kenya and the DR Congo, is to “fascilitate the movement of people for better integration into the East African community to which both countries belong.”