Lost Your Kenya eTA Reference Number? Here’s How to Find It.

The Panic Is Real: You Applied for a Kenya eTA, Paid, but Have No Confirmation Email.

It’s a situation that causes instant panic. You’ve submitted your application on the official etakenya.go.ke website, paid the fee, but the confirmation email (like the one pictured above) is nowhere to be found.

Without that email, you don’t have your Application Reference Number.

Without the reference number, you’re locked out. You can’t use the “Check Status” button, and you have no idea if your application is pending, approved, or has an error. You are completely in the dark.

Don’t panic. This guide will walk you through your options, from simple tricks to a guaranteed recovery solution.

Step 1: The First 5 Minutes (The Obvious Checks)

Before you assume the worst, do this:

• Check Your Spam/Junk Folder: This is the most common culprit. The official email comes from donot_reply@ecitizen.go.ke. Search for this address in your entire inbox.
• Wait 15 Minutes: Sometimes, the government’s email system is simply delayed. Give it a few minutes before moving on.

The confirmation email you’re looking for should look something like this:

“Hello, [Your Name]
Your payment for application [REQWEX48EP] has been successfully received. Kindly find a copy of your e-receipt attached. We have commenced processing your application. Welcome to Kenya.”

If you’ve checked spam and waited, and there’s still nothing, it’s time for Step 2.

Step 2: The “Browser Cookie” Trick

The official eTA website sometimes saves your application status in your browser’s cookies. This only works if you use the exact same device and browser you used to apply.

• Action: Go to https.etakenya.go.ke
• Or Try This Direct Link: https.etakenya.go.ke/submitted

If you’re lucky, the page will load and automatically display your application. You will not see your reference number, but you will see your status, like this:

If this trick fails, you will just see a blurred version of the homepage, like the image below. This means your browser’s cookies have been cleared, it’s been too long, or you’re on a different device.

Step 3: The “Official” Support Channel (The Hard Way)

The official eTA website provides public support contacts in its header:

• Email: etakenya@ecitizen.go.ke
• Phone: +254 717 436 070
• WhatsApp: +254 110 922 064

You should try these channels. However, be prepared to wait. Due to the massive volume of travelers facing these exact issues, getting a timely response is extremely difficult. It is very common for these messages to go unanswered, leaving you in the same state of panic.

Step 4: The Guaranteed Solution: eTA Rush Retrieval Service

This is where eTA Rush comes in. We are an advocacy service with direct immigration connections and private channels to the official eTA team. When the public channels fail, we are your solution.

We offer a dedicated Application Reference Number Retrieval Service.

Here is our process:

1. You Contact Us: You start our free diagnosis process. In the form, you explain that you lost your reference number.
2. We Need One Thing: We only need your Passport Number (document number). We do not need scans or other sensitive data.
3. We Prove Our Access: Our direct immigration connections will locate your file. As part of our Proof-of-Connection Guarantee, we will email you back confirming the Full Name associated with that passport before you pay anything.
4. You Pay: Once you are confident we have found your file, you pay our service fee.
5. We Deliver: We send you your lost Application Reference Number.

You can then use that number on the official etakenya.go.ke “Check Status” button, receive the OTP to your email, and finally see your application status.

If you have questions about this retrieval service before you begin, you can Contact Us or email our team directly at support@etarush.com.

Why We Charge a $30 Fee for This

We charge $30 USD for this retrieval service.

This is priced similarly to our “Approved Document Retrieval” service ($30) because it requires the same amount of manual work by our contacts to find your file in the internal system.

This fee is almost the cost of a new application, but it saves your original application. The alternative is to apply again, pay the full government fee again, and risk the exact same “lost email” problem happening a second time. Our $30 fee provides a guaranteed, certain solution.

What’s Next? If Your Application is ‘Pending’…

After we retrieve your number, you might find your application is still “Pending.”

If your flight is soon, we can help with that, too. Our Expedited Resolution service ($50) can push your pending application for immediate review and approval. Because we have connections in immigration, we can get this done fast. Just like our other services, the final approval is delivered directly from the official government email address.

Do You Have the Opposite Problem?

Status “Approved” but No Document Received?
If you can see your status is ‘Approved’ but the final PDF never arrived, you have a different (but common) problem.

Read Our Guide: How to Fix “Approved But No Document”