KENYA CITIZENSHIP REGAINING: IT IS AS SIMPLE AS ABC!

/ George Mati Mucee (BA, MA, LLB- MPRSK)

In the last few days, Kenyans have been treated to a lot of discourse around the loss of Kenya citizenship by birth. Without delving into a lot of legal jargon around this, I wish to demystify the process of regaining ‘lost ‘Kenyan citizenship. But before then, allow me to say this…when all is said and done, it boils down to this: The architecture of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 is such that it DOES NOT envisage a situation where a Kenyan by birth can be denied of their birth right when they are willing to have it. However, one can not be forced to retain or reclaim it… it is all up to such would be Kenyan to apply to regain as per article 14(5) of the constitution, Section 10 of the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act 2011 and Section 5 of the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration regulations of 2012.

How then is the process?

  1. Confirm that at the time of your birth, one of your parent was Kenyan( either by birth, registration or naturalization)
  2. Confirm that if you acquired citizenship of another country it was before August 27th 2010 and that by then you were above 21 years.
  3. If 1 & 2 above is tick, then ensure that you have the following documents: Evidence of your Kenyanness by birth e.g.: National ID or passport previously held, evidence that one of your parent was Kenyan at the point of Birth if you never had Kenyan documents.
  4. Ensure you get certified copy of the following: Citizenship certificate and copy of passport of your acquired citizenship.
  5. Log into Kenya foreign nationals management portal (https://fns.immigration.go.ke) and create an account.
  6. Then go to the dash board and under citizenship you will see regaining citizenship. Please proceed and make the application by providing relevant information as per the guidelines provided thereof.
  7. Once done, you will save the application, print it, sign and ensure it is submitted to Nyayo House ground floor alongside the relevant documents as per the check list provided. Please note you do not need to do this in person, you can send it to someone to submit on your behalf. I think you can submit through various Kenyan Embassies/consulates near you and this will be relayed to Nairobi for processing.
  8. Once that is done, you then await communication from the Citizenship section through your email or notifications on the eFNS portal. Please note this may take a while so keep following up and be patient.
  9. Once this is processed, you will receive a notification in your email or eFNS portal. Log into your account and make payment of government fees of Kshs. 5,000, print the receipt alongside the invoice and submit to Immigration and await processing and issuance of your regaining certificate.
  10. As you collect your regaining certificate you will be required to declare dual Nationality ( Will write about this at a later date)
  11. Your are now back to your default Kenyan citizen by birth and can proceed to apply for your ID as well as a Kenyan passport….Karibu nyumbani.

NB: Failure to declare dual nationality is an offense punishable by a fine not exceeding Kshs. 5 Million, 3 years in prison or both! This declaration has to be done within 3 months of becoming dual National.

An immigration consultant/lawyer can also take up such applications on your behalf at a fee as per your agreement.

16 thoughts on “KENYA CITIZENSHIP REGAINING: IT IS AS SIMPLE AS ABC!”

  1. Dual citizenship was declared in 2012 abd well received by Imm Dept.

    Question : Since platform now is digital, is it necessary to declare again on onlune platform ?? We hear failure to register leads to hefty fines etc ….want to be asdured having registered in 2012, suffices from reapplying digitally . To be sure.

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  2. My wife applied to regain her Kenyan citizenship in July 2014. She had a Kenyan passport till 2000 when she became a UK citizen.
    She handed in the relevant forms and documents to the Kenyan High Commission in London and was told that the process would take 6 weeks. It’s now nearly 5 years and there has been no progress. We have called Nyayo House and the High Commission regularly but getting any info from either has been hopeless. However, ‘agents’ have approached us (via Facebook). They confirm the file is there but there’s ‘hold up’ which can be sorted out within a month (for $1000-1200).
    Do you advise re-starting the process via the eFNS portal? Is this likely to work better than our previous application?
    Any advice will be much appreciated
    Thanks

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  3. That is a lie, since 2017 I’ve visited the embassy and Kenya spent two months in the country in order to regain citizenship but all failed. Last year I did the same and when I visited early this year I made fresh application with my wife but have never heard any feedback from either 7th Floor Foreign or Ground Floor where I submitted our applications. This is absurd and I fill were being robbed our rights as citizens despite applications. We’ve invested heavily and have parents and nearly all our relatives there. We are fed up of paying visa to visit our own country of birth. We are never foreign and we shall never be foreigners.
    I think Dr Fred Matiang’i should investigate this racket going on in embassies and at Nyayo Hse. We seek for his intervention in this matter.

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  4. I saw the Headline of your article “..as easy as ABC” and found it hilarious.. it is anything but that! I have applied and been waiting over 2 years. When I ring the embassy, they tell me there is a backlog but cannot give any indication of how long the backlog is. Reading the post about the person above waiting 5 years makes me think I will never hear from them! I know of people who have given a lot of “kitu kidogo” in Nairobi and that it the only way it got sorted. I guess Kenya never changes.

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  5. It’s comforting to hear things are much better now. I applied to regain my citizenship to the Kenyan High commission in London in the first week of August. I have not had any acknowledgement of receipt of application nor anything else. What would you suggest as next steps?

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  6. I applied way back in 2013 here in UK via the Kenya high commission & waited for 2 years until I reapplied again in 2015 when I went back home to Nairobi at Nyayo hse 7th floor. I go back home every year & always go personally to Nyayo Hse to see the staff there on 7th floor. Despite many phone calls & visits to 7th floor Nyayo hse as well as here in London, no such luck for regaining my Kenya citizenship. Its now been nearly over 7 yrs altogether. Still waiting – giving up now

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  7. If all the documents have been submitted correctly, why should it take so long to process the application. It should not take more than 6 – 8 weeks even if you have a backlog

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