Kenya has confirmed that foreign visitors will need travel health insurance to enter the country, and has now explained how the rule will work in practice. In a clarification issued on Friday, August 7, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said every non-Kenyan entering for a stay of less than 12 months must hold a valid travel health insurance policy meeting minimum benefits of Sh6.4 million, about $50,000, prescribed in a gazette notice published at the end of July. Travellers who already hold compliant insurance from home will not need to buy a second policy, but they will have to upload proof of it through Kenya’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) system before travelling. Those arriving without cover can buy a compliant policy at the port of entry from a Kenyan-licensed insurer.
Background
The requirement has been sitting in Kenyan law since the Social Health Insurance Act of 2023, whose Section 26(6) says a non-Kenyan entering for under 12 months must possess travel health insurance designated by the Cabinet Secretary. What was missing until now was the detail. Gazette Notice No. 11492, dated July 30, 2026, filled that gap by prescribing the exact benefit limits, and Friday’s ministry statement answered the questions travellers and the tourism industry had been asking since: whether foreign policies count, and how compliance will be checked. Kenya already requires an eTA of virtually all foreign visitors, so the ministry is attaching the insurance check to a process every traveller goes through anyway.
What exactly is required
The gazette notice sets a minimum combined benefit of Sh6.4 million ($50,000) per traveller, broken into specific lines: $20,000 for medical expenses, $25,000 for emergency medical transportation, $5,000 for repatriation of remains, $1,000 for mental-health treatment and $300 for prescribed medicines. A home-country policy qualifies as long as it meets those levels, which many standard travel policies for long-haul trips already do, though the emergency-transport line is higher than some budget policies carry. Proof is uploaded during the eTA application and verified before travel. A traveller who lands without compliant cover may buy a policy at the point of entry, but only from an insurer licensed under Kenya’s Insurance Act and approved for this product, and immigration officers will verify it before granting entry.
The minimum cover, line by line
- Medical expenses: $20,000
- Emergency medical transportation: $25,000
- Repatriation of remains: $5,000
- Mental-health treatment: $1,000
- Prescribed medicines: $300
- Total minimum benefit: $50,000 (Sh6.4 million)
Who it affects
The rule reaches every non-Kenyan on a stay under 12 months: safari tourists, business visitors, digital nomads basing themselves in Nairobi for a few months, and volunteers or NGO staff on short contracts. Someone on a two-week holiday with a solid travel policy from home likely only needs to upload their certificate during the eTA application. A remote worker planning a six-month stay should check their policy’s emergency-evacuation ceiling against the $25,000 line, since that is where cheaper annual policies most often fall short. Foreigners staying beyond 12 months are outside this scheme and fall under Kenya’s resident social health insurance arrangements instead.
What this means in practice
If Kenya is on your itinerary, compare your existing travel policy against the six benefit lines before you apply for the eTA, and keep a certificate showing the coverage amounts, since that is the document the system will verify. Buying on arrival exists as a fallback, but the ministry has not published arrival-desk pricing, so arranging cover beforehand is the safer and probably cheaper path. The ministry has not yet said from what date the eTA portal will enforce the upload, so treat the requirement as live now and expect the technical check to follow. Our Kenya country guide (/country-guides/kenya) covers the eTA itself and the wider entry picture.
When it takes effect
The benefit limits were gazetted on July 30, 2026 (Gazette Notice No. 11492) and the Ministry of Health confirmed the mechanics on August 7, 2026. The Department of Immigration Services implements the check through the eTA system and at ports of entry; a date for full enforcement in the eTA portal has not been announced.
What is not yet confirmed
The ministry has not stated when the eTA portal will begin requiring the insurance upload, what the point-of-entry policies will cost, or whether any nationality or traveller category (for example, eTA-exempt East African Community citizens) is exempt. Check the official eTA portal for current requirements before you travel.
Key Takeaway
Every foreign visitor to Kenya staying under 12 months must hold travel health insurance with at least $50,000 in cover; a compliant home policy works, but proof goes through the eTA, and the $25,000 evacuation line is the one to check on your existing policy.