Today the 19th of December 2014, one day after the National Assembly passed the Security amendments bill, the  president has signed it into law: It is now The Security Amendments Act 2014! Its implementation is underway and I think once this starts, it is when we can tell if it works for or against various issues it was  anticipated to address:

Those with interest in Kenya Immigration practice should watch out for how it will affect their operations or stay in Kenya but at this point we know that the era of changing Immigration status from a visitor to a work permit will be a thing of the past among other operational changes envisaged in the amendments. Work permits will have to be applied for, processed and approved before one can travel to Kenya.

Lets keep watching this space.

The much awaited bill has today the 18th of December 2014,  been passed by the Kenya National Assembly in a very acrimonious special session. As I had promised before, the passage of this Bill that now awaits presidential assent within fourteen days to become law. I know this has affected many other laws but my concern at this point in this forum is the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act 2011.  The Most outstanding  issues of Immigration concern are: 1. The fact that now the Permits Determination Committee will be appointed by the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Immigration. 2.  Now applications for Work Permits will be applied when the applicant is out of the country….this means it will not be possible to apply for a work permit while the person is in country. ( In many other jurisdictions this is the famous change of status) 3. The grounds for invalidation of both permanent residence and work permits have been expanded. 4. Foreigners residing in Kenya for a period exceeding 90 days must now register with an Immigration officer and should they change their residence or travel they must report the same to an Immigration officer. 5. The  Investment Promotion Act 2004 has also been amended to provide for the Minister to make regulations prescribing the categories of employees  to be issued with work permits. In my  view these are some of the provisions that may have an immediate effect on Foreigners seeking for permits or passes from Kenya Immigration services and I am eager to see how the passage of these new laws and appointment of a brand new Cabinet Secretary for Interior who is also in charge of Immigration will change Immigration practice….and before I forget, these new laws also puts a lot of liability on Immigration officers perceived to facilitate the entry of  criminals into the country…the punishment is at least 10 years! I wish them well… Keep watching this space for more updates as they come by.

Today, the 18th of December 2014, the National Assembly of Kenya has approved the appointment of the Hon. Major General (retired) Nkaissery,  as the new cabinet Secretary for Interior. The president will now formally appoint him and he will be sworn to serve.

He is the man in charge of many security agencies like: Kenya Police, National intelligence service, Prisons and Immigration services among others. My interest at this time is how this appointment will affect Immigration Practice because, Immigration has been in the news for all the wrong things since the 2013 West gate terror alert…this is the man that will decide who sits in the Permits Determination Committee as well as confer citizenship to those wishing to regain or acquire Kenyan citizenship….I am very ambivalent on what this means.

Lets keep watching this space for more updates on this issue.

As the reorganization of processes and systems at Kenya Immigration Services continue under the leadership of the new Director, there are a few changes in the manner and processes of applying for various services. In addition to the new checklist form to accompany all applications for work permits, a few forms have also  been re-designed to align with the respective requirements for applicants details. The form for work permit and special pass have been edited a bit and all applications are now to be submitted in these new forms.

To avoid delays and inconveniences, it is advisable to make your application as directed by Immigration officials. Form 25 is available  http://immigration.go.ke

Form 32 ( special pass application) and Form 27 ( report on employments) are yet to be uploaded into the online platform…

Keep watching this space for any updates on the availability of the forms.

Due to the recent changes at the Kenya Immigration  Services after the appointment of the new Director, there is renewed enforcement of all the laws and policies on all matters Immigration. Consequently, all applications for work permits or any other immigration related services, are required to be 100% compliant with the laws and regulations. To this end, applications for Class D work permit MUST have a Kenyan understudy for them to be received or processed. Failure to do this will not only delay the process but also reduce the chances of approval by nearly 50%! One could correctly say this requirement is cast in stones now!

In my view, this is not new but due to weak enforcement of the same in the past, permits were being processed   without complying with this provision….this now has changed and people need to comply. The main reason for this is to ensure skills/jobs are  transferred from the expatriates to Kenyans in the specified  time frame because the government of Kenya position is that Kenyans are well qualified to run the economy.

It will  therefore be very important to ensure that suitable Kenyans are identified to understudy respective expatriates holding  work permits…I am not sure if there are exemptions but if that is to happen, then there must be very clear justifications for it.

Keep watching this space for anything new about Kenya Immigration issues…especially on what the passing of the The Security Amendments Bill 2014 will mean to seekers of  Immigration services not forgetting the crackdown on NGO operating  in Kenya and the order by government for them to report to the NGO coordination board to account for all expatriates holding work permits under their sponsorship!..we are living in very interesting times as the government of Kenya moves to strengthen all security related operations including Immigration.

If you have been following the news now trending in Kenya, you know that the government of Kenya through the SECURITY LAWS AMENDMENT BILL 2014, seeks to amend over 20 legislations to tighten counter terrorism. I have gone through the bill and established that the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act of 2012 is being amended. Please check section 86-95 of the bill from this link:  http://www.hapakenya.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/THE-SECURITY-LAWS-AMENDMENT-BILL-2014.pdf to see the sections being amended.
In brief, this bill if passed today in Parliament, the following are a few issues that will affect our operations:

1. The Permits Determination Committee will now be solely appointed by the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Immigration.
2. Work permits Must be applied for, processed and approved before a  foreign national enters the country
3. The conditions for invalidation of Work Permits and Permanent residence have now been expanded.
4. The conditions for Foreign national registration: any one residing for more than three months must register with an Immigration officer and always report his/her change of residence/address or travel.

These are  just a few of the issues and I encourage you to read the proposed changes from the  bill and with reference to the Act itself. Important to note is that this bill is being debated today in the National Assembly and from the mood now in the country, after the massacre in Mandera, this bill is likely to pass and be implemented. Hotels and places of accommodation have now a bigger role is submitting the list of guests on a weekly basis to the Director of Immigration service… I hope Immigration officers will be empowered to enforce these laws because in my view, even as at now the laws are pretty tough but the enforcement is weak. Companies employing foreigners now need to emphasize on compliance with all laws because there are new sheriffs in town and they are very military in Nature: I mean The new Cabinet Secretary, Hon Major Retired Nkaissery, The Director General of National Intelligence Services Major General Kameru and the Director of Immigration Service Major General Retired Gordon O. Kihalangwa….and probably the new IGP may as well come from there and the team will be full, ready and rearing to go.

Lets wait and see how the national Assembly will debate the bill….. keep watching this space for more stuff.

When the West gate terror attack happened in September 2013, it was a nightmare being an immigration officer, like I was then,because wherever you turned to, Kenyans saw you as the one that allowed the terrorists into the country! I even remember officers fearing to wear their uniforms for fear of attacks and ridicule: reason? the media and many other agencies blamed the attack on loopholes at Immigration! I was not convinced that the total blame was correctly apportioned to Immigration…and I still believe that it was just a scapegoat! someone had to take it any way. Then came the poisonous alcoholic drinks that killed many Kenyans: some chiefs, Dos and police officers had to go…another blame game. I never quite understood how can you take the blame off a full grown man or woman,  who out of his/her volitions goes out and take some poison in the name of beer and once it has killed that person you blame it on another one that was nowhere when it all happened! I could be wrong but we saw in Tana River some people chasing away a chief who went to stop them from taking illicit alcohol…they said ‘ achana na pombe yetu bwana’ ( leave our liquor alone sir) Thirdly the numerous terror attacks, with the most recent ones being in Mandera where over 50 innocent persons lost their lives: people were baying for Ole Lenku’s and Kimaiyo’s blood! reasons? They had failed to tame he runaway insecurity! well, granted, someone had to rake the hammer for it! That is why both had to be edged out…. There are numerous  such examples in every sector of our economy, where we are always looking for people to blame. It was not a surprise to me at all when the lynch mob on social media went for H.E Uhuru Kenyatta for telling us that security begins with us! All manner of insults were hurled at him for daring to tell us such a thing: They were in their usual Kenyan style of apportioning blames! My contention is that, yes,  Lenku and Kimaiyo are gone but can anyone prove to me that we are now safer than we were two weeks ago? I can bet my nose that the answer is NO.  This could be just a lull….My view from the onset, were and still are that for as long as we continue to put our trust in persons heading institutions instead of building stronger institutions that can with stand change of guard as they do in developed countries, we will keep coming back to square one: blame game. Citizenry needs to invest in creating and operationalizing strong institutions that are run properly and over time such institutions will be so strong to an extent that it will not matter who heads them….they will have a life of their own. I don’t believe that the USA or UK or Germany has superior people than Kenya or Nigeria! The truth is that they have stronger institutions that can withstand vagaries of change of guard while in Kenya or Nigeria we put too much trust in individuals. In my nine years of Immigration service, I saw at least three Directors come and go and each one of them came up with their own style of administration…with varying levels of success of course! I believe whatever they did, they did in good faith but unfortunately, the same problems that have affected services delivery seems to persist and the current Director is trying so hard to sanitize and stream line operations at Immigration. I admire his zeal and wish him well. I believe in order to consolidate all these gains that have been accumulated in reforming institutions over time, we need to put enough resources and focus on strengthening all our institutions, be they Immigration, Police,Education, health or Military, to mention just but a few. If we do not do this, then my view is that we will keep looking for people to blame every time things do not work…as they say, it is madness to do the same thing over and over and expect different results. My dream is that one day, Kenya will have systems that run seamlessly without baby sitting them….I long to see that day when green at traffic lights means go and red means stop without a policeman standing there to mid wife the process…..but above all that day when Kenyans will fall in love with the order brought about by good systems and respect for simple rules and regulations without looking over their shoulders to see if there is a policeman checking on them because only then shall we have become a civilized society of men and women!

If you are in the process of applying or planning to apply for a dependent pass for your spouse, children or any other person in Kenya, here are a few simple facts that you must know:

You can apply for a dependent pass for the following:

1. Legally Married spouse of opposite sex ( Marriage certificate a must).

2. Your children below the age of 18 years ( Birth certificates showing your relationship to them required)

3. Any other person that absolutely depends on you eg parents, brother or sister among others( You Must qualify this using documentary evidence such as medical documents etc)

NB: The following people SHALL NOT be given a dependent pass in Kenya:

1. Gay couples.

2. Un-married partners.

3. Fiances/boyfriends or girlfriends.

4. people who are a security threat to Kenya to mention just but a few.

Although spouses of Kenyans are entitled to a dependent pass on application in the prescribed manner, the Department of Immigration vets all such applications and considers them on case by case and may at any time request for additional documents to support the application….such application can also be rejected!

( please watch this space for step by step process of applying for a dependent pass)

When west gate happened, Kenyans were inconsolable….when Mandera massacre happened people were and are still shocked! Unlike the west gate attack that was blamed to a large scale on Immigration department, this one the blame is being apportioned to the police and military among other persons. Police because it is internal and the military because the killers came from Somalia. I am tempted to heap blame on someone but I choose not! However me thinks that the man now at the helm of Kenya Immigration department Mj. Gen (Retired)Dr. Gordon O. Kihalangwa should probably be transferred to Jogoo house to head the police! I mean I like the zeal with which he is running immigration! I think as the IG he will do much more in service of this country!
I could be very wrong but at this point, until convinced otherwise, I feel he is the Man for IG!
RIP to all those whose lives were brutally cut short by the messengers of death!

His death shocked the entire nation. Many things have been said. The Hon Kajwang had a very illustrious reign as the Immigration Minister. I did interract with him then  and can say this about him: he was human like all of us and never pretended to be anything he was not….he is gone but has left us at least two things never to be forgotten:

1. He added a word to Kenyan english dictionary: Passionometre

2. As an artist he left us the hit single: bado mapambano!

Fare thee well waziri!