Over the past few weeks, Kenyans applying for Dubai visas have been facing mass rejections. With Dubai being a popular tourist destination for Kenyans, these mass rejections were first noticed by local tours and travels firms which facilitate Dubai visa applications for Kenyans planning to tour Dubai.
“Please note that there is some rejection of Dubai visas over the last one week, especially for applicants below the age of 40 years,” Simon Kabu, the chief executive officer of Bonfire Adventures posted on June 23.
Since then, more Kenyan applicants, including tourism agents, have come out to share that their visas have been rejected.
What we have noticed is that solo applicants under the age of 40 are being rejected. Those above the age of 40 are being accepted. We applied for 5 visas for persons above the age of 40. Four were accepted and one was rejected,” Pinkelle Valentine of Pinkelle Adventures said.
“Visa applications among family applicants such as parents and children are being accepted, even though we are experiencing at least one rejection for every four approvals.”
According to what Valentine has observed, the rejections spiked towards the third week of June 2025. “Dubai started rejecting most Kenyan visa applications for the 30-day and 60-day stay from around June 19,” she said. By June 21, about 90 percent of visa applications were recording rejections.
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“Dubai immigration is independent and these visa restrictions only affect Dubai visas. Sharjah is still approving 60-day visas but this destination is not ideal for tourists. Sharjah may however work if you are a job seeker, planning to stay long-term or if you have already paid for your trip and do now want to lose,” said Valentine.
Previously, the Dubai visas have been hot cakes for tourism, with high approvals and fast processing. For instance, the Dubai 30-day tourist visa under the private quota typically took between 1 and 3 days to process.
