Heading to Uganda in a couple of weeks and am confused on best path re:Visa. My travel agent is telling me I can just get when I arrive at the airport for $50, but outfitter sent a link to do electronically. Getting all details for my group consolidated and managing electronically will be a massive pain.

Has anyone been to Uganda this year and dealt with this - would appreciate any perspective.

Thanks

Not Uganda, but Kenya earlier this year. I got the visa way in advance from the Embassy. When I got to Nairobi, my greeting staff asked me if I had a visa or if I needed to get one on arrival. I said I had one and they sent me to the diplomat line to expedite my trip. The line for visa on arrival was 200 people, diplomats, 8.

Point is, next time I go, I’ll do anything to get one ahead of time. Since I had the time, I went through the embassy, electronic would have been my next stop.

I was there this spring.

I worked with Gracy and UWS (the outfitter) and had the visa done electronically beforehand. It makes things that much quicker.

If I had not been traveling past month for work would have dealt with the electronic visa, guess my more specific question is whether just waiting in the airport for another hour or two vs trying to coordinate a bunch of folks and paying $1500 in next week.

ALWAYS get a visa in advance!
ALWAYS!

If you plan on bringing your own weapons, I would absolutely get the visa in advance.

I’m not sure how it is costing you that much money.

For me, it was getting a bunch of documents together, scanned them in, sent them to both the travel folks and the outfitter. They wanted this done a month in advance, but it took very little time for me to do it, aside from locating a color scanner. I ended up sending photos of some stuff.

You will need a yellow card that is properly filled out. I’d get that done- if I recall right, you need yellow fever vaccination.... and that can take a while. Having the visa in advance makes sure you have all the requirements done correctly. If you don’t, don’t be surprised if someone in your party doesn’t have it done and gets denied admission.

Your outfitter should have this worked out with you.

The process was not efficient or fast when I went.

We got in relatively late- and it was a matter of 3 or so hours even with expediters and having everything in duplicate copies on arrival. If the right folks aren’t there, you could be sitting in the airport for a long while.

Yellow fever vax can be tricky to find due to the shortage and the fact it needs to be done at lest 10 days before you travel. I think YFVAX is coming back online (as opposed to Stamaril), but worth checking...

CDC states Uganda is a mandatory yellow vax country, Kenya was only if coming FROM another yellow fever country.

On the recommendAtion of my niece who lives in Uganda, I did this online before we went to visit her last year. It was relatively fast and easy.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
ALWAYS get a visa in advance!
ALWAYS!

What Saeed said. Also, if your travel agent cannot set this up or tell you how to do it, get another travel agent.

I got mine in advance.

That said, three of us deplaned in Uganda. Two had Visas in advance and one did not. We all cleared at the same time, more or less. That we were in biz class and the first people to the checkpoint certainly helped the fellow that didn't have his in advance. I'm sure a line formed quickly as the plane emptied.

Will,

Which airlines did you fly for Uganda?

Brad

Delta and KLM

HSV-ATL-AMS-Uganda (Whatever the code is)

I just got back last week. The online Visa app wouldn't take credit cards and I tried for 3 weeks. Took me about 3 minutes to get a Visa in Entebbe.

ATL to AMS to EBB on Delta KLM

Not Uganda, but I always get mine in advance. Can remember the lines in Arusha while people filled out their visa applications in the airport and walking past them with visas all in order. And what if you didn't get one?