On 14th November 2023 and vide Gazette Notice 14592, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration revoked an earlier notice that introduced new immigration fees to allow for public participation. The new fees are now in place noting they were to be effective as of 1st January 2024.
BELOW IS A HIGHLIGHT OF THE REVISIONS:
| No. | Item | Current charges | New charges |
| A: Visa fees | |||
| 1 | Single Entry Visa | USD 50 | USD 100 |
| 2 | Multiple Entry Visa | USD 100 | USD 500 |
| 3 | 5 Year Multiple Entry Visa | USD 160 | USD 160 |
| 4 | Extension of Visa after 6 months | 0 | USD 200 |
| 5 | Sanction Fee for overstaying | 0 | USD 100 |
| 6 | Referral/Multiple Entry Visa Processing Fees | USD 10 | USD 100 |
| 7 | Transit Visa | USD 20 | USD 50 |
| B: Work permit fees | |||
| 1 | Work permit processing fees for all classes save for Class I | KES 10,000 | KES 20,000 |
| 2 | Work permit processing fees for Class I – Religious activity | KES 1,000 | KES 5,000 |
| 3 | Work Permit Class A – Mining (issuance fees per year) | KES 250,000 | KES 500,000 |
| 4 | Work Permit Class B – Agriculture (issuance fees per year) | KES 100,000 | KES 250,000 |
| 5 | Work Permit Class C – Professional (issuance fees per year) | KES 100,000 | KES 250,000 |
| 6 | Work Permit Class D – Employment (issuance fees per year) | KES 200,000 | KES 500,000 |
| 7 | Work Permit Class F – Manufacturing (issuance fees per year) | KES 100,000 | KES 250,000 |
| 8 | Work Permit Class G – Investor (issuance fees per year) | KES 100,000 | KES 250,000 |
| 9 | Work Permit Class I – Religious activity (issuance fees per year) | KES 5,000 | KES 50,000 |
| 10 | Work Permit Class K – Retiree (issuance fees per year) | KES 100,000 | KES 250,000 |
| 11 | Express Work Permits | 0 | USD 10,000 |
| 12 | Reprocessing fees for Work Permit Appeals | 0 | KES 20,000 |
| 13 | Special Pass (issuance fees) | KES 15,000 per month | USD 200 |
| 14 | Dependent Pass for spouses and children of a Kenyan citizen (issuance fees) | KES 5,000 | KES 20,000 |
| 15 | Dependent Pass for a work permit and permanent resident holder (issuance fees) | KES 5,000 | KES 10,000 |
| 16 | Student Pass (Issuance fees per year) | KES 5,000 | USD 100 |
| C: Citizenship fees | |||
| 1 | Citizenship Processing fee | 0 | KES 20,000 |
| 2 | Regaining Kenyan Citizenship | KES 5,000 | KES 50,000 |
| 3 | Declaration of Dual Citizenship | 0 | KES 10,000 |
| 4 | Endorsement on Non-Kenyan Passports | KES 500 | KES 10,000 |
| 5 | Renunciation | KES 20,000 | KES 50,000 |
| 6 | Citizenship by Marriage | KES 30,000 EAC KES 5,000 | KES 100,000 KES 50,000 |
| 7 | Citizenship by Registration for Widows and Widowers of Kenyan Citizens | KES 20,000 EAC KES 5,000 | KES 50,000 KES 50,000 |
| 8 | Citizenship by Registration for Lawful Residence | KES 200,000 | KES 1,000,000 |
| 9 | Registration of Citizenship for Children and Dependents of Kenyan Citizens | KES 20,000 | KES 100,000 |
| D: Permanent residence fees | |||
| 1 | Ex-Citizens of Kenya (processing fees) | KES 10,000 | KES 50,000 |
| 2 | Ex-Citizens of Kenya (issuance fees) | KES 15,000 | KES 100,000 |
| 3 | Lawful Residents with Spouses and Children (processing fees) | KES 10,000 | KES 50,000 |
| 4 | Lawful Residence with Spouses and Children (issuance fees) | KES 500,000 | KES 750,000 |
| 5 | Spouses to Kenyan Citizens (processing fees) | KES 5,000 | KES 50,000 |
| 6 | Spouses to Kenyan Citizens (issuance fees) | KES 50,000 | KES 150,000 |
| 7 | Children to Kenya Citizens (processing fees) | KES 10,000 | KES 20,000 |
| 8 | Children to Kenya Citizens (processing fees) | KES 500,000 | KES 750,000 |
| E: Foreign national management fees | |||
| 1 | Registration for foreigner national certificate (Alien card) | KES 1,000 per year | KES 5,000 per year |
| 2 | Penalty for failure to register | KES 1,000 per year | KES 10,000 per year |
| 3 | Replacement of a lost foreigner national certificate | 0 | KES 2,000 |
| 4 | Processing of re-entry passes | KES 1,000 | KES 5,000 |
[2] Caroline Kimani is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and an Associate at Abdullahi, Gitari & Odhiambo Advocates
[3] Silas Gitari is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and the Managing Partner at Abdullahi, Gitari & Odhiambo Advocates.
IMPLICATION OF THE CURRENT IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP FEES
In a country where people often mistrust the government, it would be important to cast through the veil and examine whether this decision is suitable for the economy. Kenya’s GDP as of 2023 was at 5.4% which is an improvement from the 4.8% in 2022.[1] In light of this, the economy seems to be doing quite well. In any case, emerging economies, such as Kenya’s, have consistently grown faster than advanced economies since 2000.[2] Consequently, it then begs the question of why the government would opt for a revision of the fees noting that immigration generally increases the GDP of the destination country.[3]
The increase in GDP is often because migrants are often motivated to move in search of better economic opportunities. They will work and thereafter spend in the destination country which then boosts the economy. It would then ideally be in the country’s interest to make favorable migration policies. To note though, immigration leads to high economic growth in advanced countries. However, this impact is not felt in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. [4] That, however, does not mean that Kenya cannot explore this area to aid in bettering the economy.
IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP FEES IN OTHER COUNTRIES: UNITED KINDOM (UK)CASE STUDY
To avoid the government’s move looking like one isolated case intended to increase revenue to the coffers with not much development to the country, let us look at the United Kingdom(UK). In the UK, immigration application fees change almost every year. [5]
The UK Courts in the case of Williams, R (on the application of) versus The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 1268, while dealing with the question of high immigration and citizenship fees held,
“The Home Office Impact Assessment for the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2014 (“the 2014-15 Impact Assessment”) sets out the current overarching fiscal policy objective: “The Home Office must ensure that there are sufficient resources to control migration for the benefit of the UK in a way that achieves value for money for the taxpayer. Government intervention is necessary to ensure a balanced budget… The specific policy objective of this legislation is to generate sufficient income to ensure the Home Office has a balanced budget for the financial year 2014-15. This will enable the Home Office to run a sustainable immigration system – making timely, correct decisions on who may visit and stay and deterring, stopping or removing those who have no right to be here – in a way that achieves value for money for the taxpayer. Policy objectives on immigration and nationality fees are: (1) that those who benefit directly from our immigration system (migrants, employers and educational institutions) contribute towards meeting its costs, reducing the contribution from the taxpayer …” (emphasis ours)
The Home Office is the entity in charge of immigration in the UK. In the above case, the courts were basically stating that high fees are essential to have the Home Office running and reduce the taxpayer’s burden.
This case was in regard to citizenship fees which had (approximately) doubled since 2011, while immigration fees had increased to ten times in the UK. In this case, the Applicant had applied for judicial review of the decision regarding his immigration application fee which he could not afford to pay. He argued that the British application fees were unsustainable. The Court ruled against him.
CONCLUSION
The Government of Kenya may need revenue and to borrow from the highlighted case above, if an increment in immigration and citizenship fees would reduce the tax burden, then by all means, this should be a welcome move. However, fee revisions should not discourage potential immigrants from Kenya.
HOW WE CAN HELP
Our Immigration team is always available to provide more insight on the implication of the fee revisions or any other immigration matter. Should you have any queries or need clarifications on the contents of this alert, please contact Mr. Elias Ahmed the Associate or Mr. Silas Gitari, the Managing Partner.
[1] The World Bank in Kenya <Kenya Overview: Development news, research, data | World Bank > accessed 11th October 2024
[2] *Perspectives on Global Development 2017: International Migration in a Shifting World (oecd-ilibrary.org) https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/persp_glob_dev-2017 en.pdf?expires=1728898606&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=3F17816867AFEA07606CDDF23FA440EB page 29
[3]The Economics of Migration – Jonathan Portes, 2019 (sagepub.com)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1536504219854712
[4]Migration to Advanced Economies Can Raise Growth (imf.org) https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2020/06/19/blog-weo-chapter4-migration-to-advanced-economies-can-raise-growth
[5] York, Sheona (2018) The ‘hostile environment’: How Home Office immigration policies and practices create and perpetuate illegality. Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, 32 (4). ISSN 1746-7632
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