From the words of the Kenyan Minister of Home Affairs, Kithure Kindiki, it seems official that as of this month, the increases in the services of the Kenyan immigration office contained in the revision that appeared in the Official Gazette on 6 November 2023, are effective.
According to Kindiki's announcement to the media, the new fees, with substantial increases of up to 200%, especially affect and impact Kenyan citizens, given the poor economic conditions of many. These increases concern the issuance and replacement of identity documents, passports, birth, marriage and death certificates.

The national judiciary had blocked the reform, a few days after its publication, citing primarily the lack of a mandatory public participation process before approving it. Kindiki reassured citizens that public participation had been carried out, and gave the go-ahead for the new service charges.
In fact, according to a petition filed with the Nairobi Court, the unconstitutionality of such high increases was also cited, and some fees were revised.

To give an example, for those applying for an identity card, until last month, there were no fees, while now the applicant will have to pay Kes. 300.
Similarly, its replacement with the new microchip document will incur double the fee, Kes. 1,000, compared to the previous fee of 500.
To obtain a birth or death certificate, applicants will have to pay Kes. 200, an increase of four times the previous fee (Kes. 50). So for the registration of births or deaths, which will entail a fee of Kes 500, up from the previous fee of Kes 150.
From 50 to 75 per cent are the increases that affect the issuing of passports: they range from Kes. 7,500 for an ordinary 34-page booklet, while the 50-page booklet will cost Kes. 9,500. To have an 'express' passport will cost Kes. 30.000.

But let us come to foreign residents. If, as the minister said, the increases contained in the reform that appeared in the Official Gazette are effective, work permits will be subject to unprecedented increases that have already provoked criticism from the representations of foreign countries in the country.
According to the new rates, an entrepreneur's work permit, from Kes. 200 thousand for two years, will rise to 500 thousand (150% increase) and that of an employee from Kes. 400 thousand even to 1 million, with the application fees tripled, from 10 thousand to 30 thousand shillings.
Considerable increases are also planned for Special Passes, for the Dependant Pass application, which was free, will now have to be paid 200 dollars. In the same revision, the new fee for extending tourist visas after 3 months, which goes from zero to 100 dollars, and the introduction of the extension after 6 months, which was previously not possible and which is now expected to cost 200 dollars, were also reported. Conditional because there is no official communication yet.

We are therefore waiting for the Immigration Service to confirm what the Home Affairs Minister has said and to see whether the Kenyan judiciary will be in a position to oppose this move again, which, in the government's plans, should restore part of the state budget, increasing revenue collection to 2.6 trillion in the current financial year.