Dependant passes

Hi Webdever and welcome to Expat.com!

Hope that you'll soon be enlightened.

Harmonie.

Thanks Harmonie. This is a great blog, i'm already finding lots of info even the cost of milk in Nairobi...wow!

Hi,

Dependant passes are generally not issued to male spouses, as the Kenyan view is that the male should be the provider, not the dependant.  If you were to move to Nairobi on the strength of your wife getting work, then I understand that the minister responsible can give special dispensation, but it is also highly unlikely.

I did look into this, several years ago (my wife is Kenyan).  It just wasn't going to happen though.  So, I currently work for several months in the UK and spend several months in Kenya, on a visitors visa, despite being married for almost 15 years.  Its not great.

The good news (for those married to a Kenyan for over 7 years) is that it should shortly be possible to apply for dual citizenship.

This changed with the new Kenyan constitution in 2010 and it took a little while for the changes to trickle down to become administrative procedures for the Department of Immigration.  The comments of the other poster were indeed out of date, as they mentioned, they tried it a few years ago, before the new constitution.

In the present act, the dependent categories include "spouse".  Note that it now does not say "wife".  To discriminate based on your gender would be a serious violation of the new constitution, and would be trivial to challenge.  I am sure that is why the word "spouse" is used, instead of "husband" or "wife".  As far as I can tell, the only legal way to be in the country with a Kenyan whom you just married, is to apply for the dependent pass.  Once in the country, if you intend to work, apply for the Class D Permit [KES 50,000 per year].

Thanks Longonot and Kipkoech. Its nice to know that the constitution now allows husbands to get a pass. My wife is Nigerian and not Kenyan. She got a business permit class H so its slightly different for us but surely the same constitution should apply to the spouse of anyone with a permit to work/conduct business in Kenya!

Kipkoech, Even under the new constitution, I don't appear to have any more right to a dependents pass than under the old one.  You forget one thing - this isn't the west, where these things would be as straight forward as you state. I meet all the criteria to claim dual citizenship, but it's not going to be made easy, despite the fact that on face value it would appear to be so..

I really don't know how you stand if your spouse is not Kenyan. However in the case of one partner being granted a work permit, I believe that the immediate family are permitted to live in Kenya too. I imagine with a Class H some evidence of sufficient income may be asked for.