COVID-19 Financial Assistance

Financial support for vulnerable Australian citizens trying to return home from our countries of accreditation (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia) is available. If you’re eligible you can apply for an interest-free loan to help with the cost of a return flight where one can be arranged, or to assist with emergency living costs until a flight home to Australia becomes available.

Only those in genuine need will be provided loans. They are only available as a last-resort and you will have to meet strict eligibility criteria. All loans must be repaid. For more information, eligibility criteria and to apply, see: https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/covid-19/covid-19-overseas-financial-assistance

If you need consular assistance overseas and you haven’t already done so, please register with us at https://covid19.dfat.gov.au. Registering does not guarantee we can facilitate your return to Australia. It will allow us to easily communicate with you about flights, if and when they become available.

Jobs and Visa Solicitation Fraud

We would like to inform the general public to be cautious of fraudulent job offers at 'Coca-Cola Australia' currently being circulated. Please also be aware that documents promising to facilitate Temporary Skill Shortage visas are fake and do not originate from any Department or Agency of the Australian Government.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The health and safety of Australians overseas is our highest priority. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are taking limited public appointments at this time. Our ability to provide some services may be limited. We will continue to prioritise consular services to those in genuine need. If you require urgent assistance, please contact our Consular Emergency Centre, Canberra (Australia): +61 2 6261 3305.

Be sure to share your details with us so that we can keep you updated by email via [email protected]

If you aren’t already please follow us on twitter and facebook

***Due to caps on international passenger numbers in some states, flights home to Australia may be diverted to another city or cancelled. You may also have to pay for quarantine. Check your travel plans with your airline or travel agent and follow state governments for updates.

Advertised Flights

Given the recent cap on weekly passenger arrivals into Australia, Australians booking flights out of our countries of accreditation, with the hope of returning home, are advised to consider their options carefully and to understand the consequences of onwards flight being cancelled or delayed.

Passengers with upcoming flights to Australia are advised to contact their airline or travel agent in the first instance for information on any changes to their flight. The availability of flights, cost, and to whom seats are offered, remain matters for airlines to decide.

The uncertainty of securing onwards flights to Australia has made returning home more difficult. In the current circumstances, the Australian High Commission in Nairobi will be alerting Australian citizens to flights departing our countries of accreditation only via our High Commission website: https://kenya.embassy.gov.au/ .

We will not be posting information on other social media sites or sending emails on flights from the region at this time. For information on entering Australia and each state’s requirements go to:

Australian Government Information

Please click on the below links to get Australian Government information relating to COVID-19.

Australia in East Africa

Welcome! Karibu! Kaze! Tukusanyukidde! Soo Dhahwow! Murakaza neza!

This is the official website of the Australian High Commission to Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, the Australian Embassy to Burundi and Somalia, and the Australian delegations to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat). The Australian High Commission in Nairobi also engages with the East African Community (EAC)and International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

Follow us on Facebook @AusHCKenya and Twitter @AusHCKenya for the latest news and activities of the Australian Governmment in East Africa, as well as Australia's many cultural, development, humanitarian, business and sporting links with the region.

^{Appointment Booking Notice}

As of 17 March 2020, the Australian High Commission in Nairobi will not accept visa and/or routine consular appointments if you have recently arrived in Kenya and have not self-quarantined for at least 14 days as per the directive of the Government of Kenya regarding Covid-19. Please note that we have also enhanced security screening and entry arrangements at the Chancery to ensure the safety of our staff, clients and visitors.

All travellers are advised to carefully consider the information contained in the below websites before finalising travel arrangements to Australia.

Department of Home Affairs - COVID-19 information

Department of Health

Smartraveller

There's nothing like Australia!

The Department of Home Affairs no longer maintains a telephone enquiry line in Nairobi. All Visa and Immigration enquiries, including the booking of appointments, should only be made through the Online Enquiry Form.

Any visa enquiries coming through the below emails will not be responded to – these e-mails are strictly for passport or consular clients only:- [email protected] and [email protected].

For Australians in East Africa:

The Australian Government provides consular, passport, travel advisory and notarial support to Australians in East Africa. We also share information on national and state elections.

Help!

24-hour Consular Support

Need emergency consular assistance? Please call:

+61 2 6261 3305 from overseas
1300 555 135 from within Australia
+61 421 269 080 for SMS

You can also call the Australia High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya, on

+254 20 4277 100
+254 722 509 448
+254 722 509 449
+254 733 600 656
+254 733 600 657

or via email on [email protected] during local business hours.

To learn more about what we can and cannot do, please refer to the Consular Services Charter.

Passport Service

Is your passport lost or stolen in East Africa?

Report the loss or theft online
Contact the Australia High Commission in Nairobi via email at [email protected] or on the numbers listed above, during local business hours.
Call the Australian Passport Information Service on 131 232 from within Australia.
Seek more information on the Australian Passports Office website.

Travel Advice

Important changes to Smartraveller are coming.

Our new Smartraveller website will be launched in November. It will include a simpler system for getting travel advice updates and a new approach to registration.

Travellers have told us what they want most from Smartraveller is timely travel advice. We’ve listened, and we’re working on a subscription service that will deliver the latest updates to your inbox and SMS critical alerts in a crisis.

As part of the update we no longer ask Australians to register their travel before departure.

From November, Smartraveller’s registration system will activate only when there’s a crisis overseas.
The service we provide to Australians in difficulty overseas is not changing.

You’re still welcome to register your travel with Smartraveller until November.

As always, we encourage Australians overseas to stay in touch with friends and family and let them know you’re safe.

If you need immediate assistance, you can call the Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 from overseas or 1300 555 135 from within Australia.

For more information on the changes, visit Smartraveller.gov.au/changes

Need information on visiting or living East Africa? Read the Australian Government’s:

Travel advice for Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda
Smartraveller bulletins on special issues and events
Tips for travellers

We encourage all Australian travellers and expatriates in East Africa to:

REGISTER your travel or residency plans
SUBSCRIBE to travel advice updates – stay notified!
INSURE yourself and all your belongings

Registering with the Australian High Commission in Kenya is very important. This information will help us to contact or find you in an emergency - whether it is a natural disaster, civil disturbance or family emergency. It may also be used to pass other information to you such as important travel advice updates, notice of elections and information on other matters relevant to travellers and expatriates.

Notarial service

The Australian High Commission in Kenya may be able to provide notarial services and document legalisation, including the issuing of Certificates of No Impediment to Marriage (CNI) and the legalisation of signatures and seals that appear on Australian public documents (authentications and apostilles). We can also certify copies of Australian documents or documents intended for use in Australia, witness signatures on Australian forms, witness the signing of Australian Statutory Declarations, and witness the making of an Australian Affidavit. Fees apply.