Kenya has protested the treatment of Kenyans seeking visas to Nigeria, escalating the dispute to diplomatic and political levels..
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei onTuesday said the treatment of Kenyan visa applicants was unacceptable, over what Nairobi says is a lack of reciprocity in travel arrangements between the two African nations.
Sing’Oei argued that Kenya allows Nigerian citizens to enter without visas, while Kenyans continue to face restrictions when travelling to the West African country.
“The inconvenience suffered by Kenyans is unwarranted,” Sing’Oei said in a statement posted on X, adding that the government was pursuing a remedy “with vigour at diplomatic and political levels”.
The complaint followed an X post by a social media user @W_Asherah, who lamented that applying for a Nigerian visa needed more documents than you need for the UK, the US, Schengen.
“And the process is longer. You even need the passport of the inviter. A colleague is applying because someone decided to host a conference in Nigeria that he has to attend,” the user said.
CNN international correspondent Larry Madowo has also repeatedly questioned Nigeria’s visa fees and application procedures for Kenyan travellers.
In March 2026, for instance, Madowo said he was required to pay about $80 (approximately Sh10,000) for a single-entry Nigerian visa despite Nigerians enjoying visa-free access to Kenya.
He questioned why Kenyan passport holders had to pay substantial fees for permission to enter a country whose citizens face no equivalent visa requirement when travelling to Kenya.
In April 2024, Madowo said he had paid $215 for a one-month, single-entry visa on each of three visits to Nigeria that year, bringing his total expenditure to $645. He questioned a $170 biometric charge imposed on each application, despite having recently visited the country and already provided his fingerprints.
Madowo also challenged the broader implications for African integration, arguing that expensive travel procedures undermine efforts to make cross-border trade and movement easier under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
In March 2026, he renewed his criticism over the $80 visa cost. He broke it down as $25 for the visa, $50 in online processing charges and $5 for the payment service. He also questioned why some applicants received single-entry visas despite applying for multiple-entry permits.
In a separate complaint that month, Madowo highlighted a Kenyan applicant who had reportedly been denied a visa despite paying the fees and submitting documents including flight and hotel bookings and invitation letters. The case raised concerns over the financial cost of unsuccessful applications, with reports indicating that the fees were non-refundable.
The Nigerian High Commission in Kenya publishes separate requirements for tourist and business visas. Its guidance says multiple-entry business visas are not guaranteed and that applicants should have visited Nigeria previously.
This comes as African governments face pressure to remove barriers to trade, tourism and movement of people across the continent.
Kenya expanded visa-free entry for African nationals in July 2025, while Nigeria continues to require visas for most African travellers outside the Economic Community of West African States and countries covered by specific visa-waiver arrangements.
