Ethiopia has started the new month in a good way. The country has started issuing e-visas to all tourists and visitors from across the globe. The Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Fitsum Arega announced the news. According to Arega, the new move will establish the reputation of Ethiopia’s national carrier.

“A relaxed visa regime will enhance both #Ethiopia’s openness and will allow the country to harness the significant stopover transit traffic of @flyethiopian”.

Late last month, the Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed disclosed that Ethiopia would follow the example set by Rwanda President. While speaking at an event held for President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, PM Abiy said,

“The President (Kagame) invited Africans to travel to Rwanda without visas, we will follow you very soon.”

In June 2017, the Main Department for Immigration and Nationality Affairs in Ethiopia launched the tourist e-visa which was not open to all countries, just 37 countries. But now, the e-visa is open to all tourists from across the world. According to the information available on ethiopiaonlinevisa, once a tourist applies for the e-visa and it’s issued, the validity period will last for 30 to 90 days. This depends on the category of applicants.

Application for e-visa is one of the transformative service in the area of free movement between countries which only few African countries have embraced. It is essential for modern day visa management system to adopt online application for visas.

Source: allafrica.com

We love the new innovation and we can’t wait to take advantage of it. Maybe next year we’ll consider putting Ethiopia on the list of destinations to explore.