• Kiwi.com implements full visa information for its international travelers including direct application of eVisas in cooperation with global travel rules and documentation provider Sherpa°
• Customers can now check visa information and apply for an eVisa directly from Kiwi.com’s Manage My Booking section

5 January 2022 – Kiwi.com partnered with the leading global provider of travel rules and documentation for the travel industry, Sherpa°. International travelers booking with Kiwi.com can now check visa requirements for their destinations and layovers and have the ability to directly apply for an eVisa through the Manage My Booking section of Kiwi.com.

With this cooperation, Kiwi.com also prepares for the ETIAS* Visa Waiver that the European Union plans to introduce in late 2023. Once in place, all nationalities who are granted a visa-free entry to the EU will need to submit the ETIAS form, allowing them 90 days stay across all 26 members that compose the Schengen Zone. 

Sherpa˚ was founded in 2015 with a vision to provide every traveler with the information they need and documentation they require to move confidently and securely across borders. The company enables Kiwi.com customers to fully understand international travel rules and visa requirements.

The additional service powered by Sherpa˚ brings Kiwi.com users more flexibility and insight into what documentation and visas will be required, providing a better travel experience, even before the travel has started. 

The eVisa offer and travel outlook throughout the pandemic

The most popular eVisa destinations on Sherpa° in pre-pandemic times in 2019 were the United States, followed by Canada, Egypt, Turkey, and Kenya. In 2021, one year after the pandemic started, US ESTA continued to be the number one eVisa application on Sherpa°, even when the US was closed to many international visitors almost the whole year. As of the beginning of cooperation in late November 2021, the top eVisa applications for Kiwi.com customers so far were Canada, USA, Turkey, Mexico, and Egypt.

Sherpa° currently offers eVisas and eTAs (Electronic Travel Authorisations) to 22 countries, including USA, Canada, New Zealand, Cambodia, Laos, and many others. The offer depends on the traveler’s nationality. Some applications are approved in minutes and some in a few days, but customers are kept informed by Sherpa° throughout the process.

Max Tremaine, co-founder and CEO at Sherpa° said, “The pandemic has had a major impact on global eVisa and eTA applications. Some governments, like Saudi Arabia for example, decided to suspend their eVisa programs entirely, while others like Kenya accelerated their programs since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Government-imposed travel restrictions limited the ability of people to move freely across borders, and so the demand for eVisas and eTAs fell substantially. Thankfully, we’re now seeing renewed growth in demand—particularly since the changes to restrictions on travel to the US took effect on 8 November 2021.”

VP of Business Development at Kiwi.com Luc Viguie added, “The pandemic has brought many changes in our lives. Temporarily travel has become more complicated. Passengers need to check travel restrictions before buying the ticket, keep checking travel requirements before the actual trip, secure eVisa if needed and fill out different passenger locator forms before and after the trip. We understood that is an issue for our customers and that’s why we partnered with Sherpa° to offer our customers more information and direct eVisa applications via Manage My Booking to make their lives a little bit easier.”

– Ends – 

Notes for Editors 

* ETIAS stands for European Travel Information and Authorization System. The European Union has created this visa waiver program to protect and strengthen its borders. The main goal of the ETIAS visa waiver for Europe is to identify possible threats or risks associated with visitors traveling to any of the Schengen Area countries. The ETIAS visa waiver program will be needed to enter a Schengen member country. By the end of 2023, all visitors that currently do not need a visa to enter Europe will be expected to apply for an ETIAS travel authorization.

About Sherpa˚

Founded in 2015 by Max Tremaine and Ivan Sharko, Sherpa˚ is the leading global provider of travel rules and documentation for the travel industry. Sherpa˚s vision is to provide every traveler with the information they need and documentation they require to move confidently and securely across borders. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, sherpa˚ partners with the world’s leading travel providers in over 50 countries and is trusted by brands such as American Airlines, Air Canada, British Airways, Air France KLM, Expedia, Kiwi.com, TripActions, and Flight Centre. Sherpa˚ is backed by True Ventures, Narrative Fund, Relay Ventures, Globalive Capital, N49P, TSVC, Golden Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Stuart MacDonald, and LP Maurice. To learn more, visit https://www.joinsherpa.com/

About Kiwi.com

Kiwi.com is a leading travel tech company headquartered in the Czech Republic, employing over 1,000 people worldwide. Kiwi.com’s innovative Virtual Interlining algorithm allows users to combine flights across legacy and low-cost airlines into one single itinerary. Kiwi.com performs 2 billion price checks per day across 95% of global flight content enabling customers to find better route options and prices other search engines can’t see. Fifty million searches are carried out every day on Kiwi.com’s website and over 40,000 seats are sold daily.

Media Contacts

Kiwi.com

Carol Barnes, Head of Global Communications, Kiwi.com

[email protected]