One of the most persistent myths in East Africa travel planning is that a single “East Africa Tourist Visa” lets you roam the whole region — Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania — on one document. It does not. The East Africa Tourist Visa (EATV) is a genuine, very useful joint visa, but it covers exactly three countries: Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Tanzania is not a member of the scheme and never joined it. We verified this on 2026-06-20 against the issuing governments, and we have removed a page from this site that previously implied Tanzania was covered — because a visa that wrongly tells you that you can cross a border is the worst kind of wrong.
What the East Africa Tourist Visa actually is
The EATV is a joint initiative of three East African Community partner states. On one application and one fee it lets a tourist move between all three:
- Covers Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda only.
- Costs USD 100, valid for 90 days, multiple-entry as long as you stay within the three member countries.
- For tourism only — not work or study.
- You apply through the country you will enter first, and that country issues the visa for all three.
It is an excellent deal for a gorilla-trekking-plus-safari itinerary: see the Uganda East Africa Tourist Visa page or the Rwanda entry options for how it works from each entry point, and Kenya’s requirements for the third member.
Why Tanzania is different
Tanzania runs its own immigration system and its own electronic visa. It is not part of the EATV, so the joint visa gives you no right to enter Tanzania, and a Tanzanian visa gives you no right to enter Kenya, Uganda or Rwanda. If your trip includes the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, Mount Kilimanjaro or Zanzibar, you need a Tanzania eVisa in addition to — or instead of — the EATV.
- Tanzania ordinary tourist eVisa: single-entry, applied for online before travel.
- It is wholly separate from the EATV — holding one does not waive the other.
- See the verified Tanzania tourist eVisa and entry rules for your nationality.
Planning a Kenya/Uganda/Rwanda + Tanzania trip
A combined northern-circuit-and-gorillas trip is completely doable — you just carry two visas. Buy the EATV for the Kenya–Uganda–Rwanda legs and a separate Tanzania eVisa for the Tanzania leg. Apply for the EATV through whichever of the three you land in first, and apply for the Tanzania eVisa independently before you cross. Do not assume a land border between, say, Kenya and Tanzania will honour your EATV — it will not, and you can be turned back.
How we keep this honest
This post accompanies a correction: we found a destination page on this site that described a Tanzania-issued East Africa Tourist Visa covering Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and we deactivated it on 2026-06-20 because it was factually wrong. The EATV membership (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda) was re-verified against the Embassy of the Republic of Kenya’s official guidance and Rwanda’s Directorate General of Immigration & Emigration, and cross-checked against current 2026 East-Africa visa guides confirming Tanzania requires its own eVisa. Our full method is in the Editorial & Data Standards.