VISA – and application procedures

In Rwanda, there are three categories of visa depending on for how long time you wish to visit or stay in the country. There is 1) Working visa, if you wish to stay or work in Rwanda for a period longer than three months, 2) Single-entry visa if you wish to visit, stay or work in the country for a period between two weeks and three months, 3) Tourist visa, if you wish to visit the country for a period no longer than two weeks.

Naturally, the requirements and application processes for the different visa differ and become increasingly extensive with the length of the stay.


1). Working Visa
As an intern working with Educat in Rwanda from February to August, or equivalent, you will need to obtain a working visa. The application process for a working visa demands a fair amount of work and documentation. However, once you have obtained your working visa you will have a multi-entry permission for a full year, i.e. you can leave and enter the country multiple times without having to acquire a new visa.

The application process for a working visa starts before you leave for Rwanda. Two weeks before you leave, you must fill out an online application form which you find here: http://www.migration.gov.rw/singleform.php
You will receive a confirmation email from the Rwandan immigration office, no later than 5 days after you have submitted your online application (remember to check your spam-box). You will need the email as a receipt at the passport control in Kigali airport, so remember to bring a print-out!

The next step is upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, more specifically with customs control. At customs you will need:
- Your passport – valid for the full period of your stay.
- A print-out of the confirmation email from the Immigration Office
- An Invitation Letter from Educat, with Original signatures (i.e. the link) from Educat’s Executive Director – Andreas Nørlem – and yourself, and with Educat’s official stamp. The cardinal rule when applying for a visa in Rwanda is that copies are not accepted, and that all documents in general should have an official stamp.
- 60 US Dollars – which you must bring from home, as it is not possible to make a withdrawal from a bank or ATM at the airport.

At customs control you will also have to hand in the immigration card handed out to you while on board the airplane – they also hand these out by customs control. Most subjects – your name, nationality, etc. – are straight forward, but to clarify a few that might cause doubt:
- Current title? – write your job title with Educat; i.e. even though you are a student, you have an academic title or the like.
- Purpose of stay? – check off the box “Business”
- Address? – write the address of Educat/ YES-Rwanda’s office in Kigali and very important as well the office’s contact telephone no. Both can be found on the letterhead of the invitation letter.
- Length of stay? – write “1 year”. A working visa can be max. 1 year, which we will be applying for in all of your cases. As this is a multi-entry visa it will save you money – and the trouble – in case you wish to return to Rwanda after your internship.

At the airport you will be granted a 14 day visa, and before the end of this period you are required to apply for a full working visa at the Immigration Office.

Andreas or one of the Coordinators who have experience with the application process will accompany you to the immigration office. At the Immigration Office you will need the following documents – all original documents:
- Your passport + 1 copy of you passport (the page with your picture and information).
- Two passport-sized pictured in colour
- Your CV in English
- An English version of your criminal record – with original signature and official stamp. You can obtain this for free at your local police station.
- The original diploma of your highest achieved education (a grade transcript is not enough).
- The Invitation Letter from Educat, with original signatures and official stamp.

The staff at the Immigration Office can at periods be challenging to cooperate with, but if all documents are in place, they are very accommodating and things happen swiftly – so no worries.


2). Single-entry Visa
If a person is to stay with Educat in Rwanda for a period between two weeks and three months, a single-entry visa can be obtained for which the application process is easier but limited to the specific time period being applied for.

We recommend applying for this type of visa at the Rwandan embassy in London, from where we have good prior experience. You will avoid the strict procedures of the Immigration Office in Kigali, but the embassy will need your passport along with some documents. See here what you will need to send: http://www.ambarwanda.org.uk/visa.html
From you send the application you should calculate about two weeks for the visa to be processed, so you must be able to be without your passport for this period of time.


3). Tourist Visa
If e.g. a friend or relative wishes to visit as a tourist for a period under two weeks a tourist visa is still needed.
The application process of course depends on the nationality of the person – people from e.g. Sweden, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Switzerland do not need a Tourist Visa. For Danes a Tourist Visa can be obtained through the Rwandan embassy in Stockholm. This is applied for online – experience has shown that it may be a good idea to be impatient and call the embassy after a couple of days.


A final advice: Triple-check that you have the correct original documents before you send you applications, and ask if you have doubts about anything. This will save you for a lot of time and trouble – and it is actually a great feeling when the Immigration Officer says “Welcome to Rwanda”.