On 14^th 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 1^st January 2024.

BELOW IS A HIGHLIGHT OF THE REVISIONS:

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 11^th 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