More pain for Kenyans as gov't raises ID, passport application costs by over Ksh.3,000

The government, through the State Department of Immigration and Citizen Services, has revised the charges of some of its services including passport, ID, work permit, birth and death certificate applications.

In a special gazette notice dated November 7, 2023, Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Prof. Kithure Kindiki announced that the fee for the standard 34-page passport application has surged to Ksh.7,500 up from the current Ksh.4,500.

A 50-page ordinary passport will now cost applicants Ksh.9,500 from the existing Ksh.6,000 while the application fee for a 66-page ordinary passport has shot up by Ksh.5,000 to Ksh.12,500.

The fee for a 50-page diplomatic passport has doubled to Ksh.15,000 from Ksh.7,500 whereas the price for a 32-page service passport remains unchanged at Ksh.3,000.

Replacing a lost passport will cost Ksh.20,000, an increase of Ksh.8,000 from the previous fee while replacing a valid mutilated passport will cost Ksh.20,000 from Ksh.10,000.

Notably, Kenyans will no longer be obliged to pay Ksh.3,000 for a temporary passport; this service will be provided free of charge. An express passport will however come at a cost of Ksh.30,000.

The price for temporary permits, certificates of identity and emergency travel documents will remain the same at Ksh.300, Ksh.3,000 and USD 20 (approx. Ksh.3031 as per the current exchange rate) respectively. Furthermore, refugee travel documents will be issued at no cost.

First-time ID applicants will pay Ksh.1,000 to acquire the documents that were formerly issued at no cost. The replacement of lost IDs will require a payment of Ksh.1,000, marking a tenfold increase from the current Ksh.100.

The charges for identification reports have shot up to Ksh.1,000 from Ksh.300 while civil servants' cards will now cost Ksh.1,000 from Ksh.100. Civil servants will similarly be expected to pay Ksh.1,000 for their staff badges, an increase from the previous Ksh.350.

The cost of Work Permit Investors (Class G) has similarly surged to Ksh.250,000 from Ksh.100,000. Work Permit Investors (Class D) will now be charged Ksh.500,000 instead of Ksh.200,000.

Express work permits, special pass processing, dependant pass processing, student internship processing fees will now cost USD 10,000, USD 200, USD 200 and USD 100. The services were all previously free of charge.

Work permit processing fees have tripled to Ksh.30,000 while internship pass issuance fees have quadrupled to Ksh.20,000 from the previous Ksh.5,000. Dependant pass issuance fees will remain the same at Ksh.0.

Dependant pass issuance fees for spouses of Kenyans will be Ksh.30,000 while reprocessing fees for rejected permits will cost Ksh.20,000.

Validation of work permits will be charged USD 100. Cancellation of work permits and confirmation of residence documents will each cost Ksh.50,000 according to Kindiki.

Querying the status of work permits will be subject to a fee of Ksh.1,000.

New birth certificate applications will cost Ksh.200 from Ksh.50. Application fees for death certificates have also quadrupled to Ksh.200 while amendment fees for both birth and death certificates have increased by Ksh.870 to Ksh.1,000.  

The notice also highlighted that fees for the processing of Permanent residences for children of Kenyan citizens born outside Kenya had doubled to Ksh.200,000 while the fees for the issuance of permanent residences for the same children had increased to Ksh.1,000,000 from Ksh.500,000.