I crossed the Rwanda-Burundi border at Kanyaru. I only got a 3-day visa, so I needed to go to the immigration office and extend it (2023)
They are now encouraging visitors to apply for all visas online before you travel.
Here is my step-by-step guide for getting a Burundi Visa Extension in Bujumbura:
At the border, they only gave me 3 days for 40 USD. If I wanted to stay longer, I would need to visit the immigration office in Bujumbura, the capital, and have my Burundi Visa extended.
The Entry Requirements for Burundi on Gov UK Travel is a little misleading.
If you arrive by plane, you can get a 30-day visa on arrival at the airport.
If you arrive by land, they will give you only 3 days.
At the hotel, I conferred.
A local man with a Belgian national for a son told me that at the border, they are only giving 3 days, despite what official Western websites say.
He also told me that passport applications and visa extensions are done online, where you make an appointment. Not true.
I couldn’t find the visa extension part on the Burundi Immigration website.
I was not feeling very positive.
I was gonna just stay a day and get the hell out of Dodge.
The heat makes life hard. The arduous bus journeys exhaust me.
Accommodation in Bujumbura
I changed hotels. I found a super cheap hotel on Google Maps: Camel Africa Hotel.
After breakfast, I headed over there to have a look. For just 10 USD or 35,000 BF, I secured a room, then went back to the Urban Lodge to check out, before heading back to the Camel Africa Hotel.
In a city where hotels mostly cater for NGOs, this place is a real find and makes a great option for budget travellers. Yup, it doesn’t look much from the outside, but I assure you that inside is much, much better.
Dumping my stuff in the room, I headed to the Immigration Office Burundi. On the main street, I rode a local bus up the street to the roundabout. Just 500 BF. Then walked the last part.
Requirements for a Burundi visa extension:
- Passport photo.
- Copy of passport
- Copy of arrival stamp
- Original receipt for the 40 USD
You need to enter off the side street, not on the main boulevard:
The police guards aren’t much help. But, there is always someone who knows the ropes. A lady is familiar with the office.
“Go here, find office 121”.
Africa is pretty chaotic in general. Government offices are mental beyond belief. Just be prepared, stay calm. Remind yourself, this is Africa.
I find the office marked 121. It’s the visa office for foreigners.
I get myself an application form. Fill it all in, help myself to the glue, affix my 10-year-old passport photo to the form and give it to the guy.
I hang around. My details are entered in a ledger. I’m told to get the form signed, in another office, just across the hallway.
Back to Office 121.
I’m then told, to go to some place and pay 20 USD. I am familiar with this system.
He writes BRA or similar on my form. Back at the security gates, another helpful being points me in the right direction.
I head to the Emmaus Building – Visa Payment Office:
I’m directed to the guichet.
They have helpers to show you the procedure.
The guy fills in a form. I told him 20 USD was what I needed to pay.
Am given a receipt. Then to another desk where a lady enters all the details into another computer and am given a printout.
Back to the immigration office, 121.
By this time, it’s 12:30.
I suggested a petit cadeau can speed things along.
But it was useless. The guy who signs the visa stamp has gone to lunch. There is nothing to do but wait.
I go and get food with an American guy. He was born in the DRC and was in the same boat as me. Crossing from Tanzania, he had also gotten just 3 days.
At 2 pm, we headed back. Hoping the lunch break would be over by then.
Never get your hopes up here. You will be disappointed.
At 4 pm, the guy from Office 121 takes 20 passports to another office cos he believes the guy who does the signing won’t arrive.
The guy turns up eventually, at 4:20 pm, but we don’t need him now.
At 4:30 pm, I got my passport back.
I get 10 more days, expiring on August 21.
So the initial 3 days cost me 40 USD, and the 10-day visa extension cost me another 20 USD. 60 USD in total for 13 days. Better than paying 95 USD for a 30-day visa and only staying for 2 weeks!
Am good to go. Fist bumps with the others who were there for the visa extension, and a bus back to the hotel.
Quite a day. But I am relieved to have got it sorted. And that I didn’t give up the fight.