Danish Engineer living in USA wants to move to Kenya

6POSTS

8 years ago

Hi All

My name is Soren and I am from Denmark but I live here in the USA for now.I went to Kenya and I fell in love with the country. I started teaching myself Swahili and there are some Kenyans here that help me.

How should I go about this?. I do Electrical Engineering here in the US and I have been with the same company for 10 years. I would like to live my life in Kenya and hopefully fall in love with a beautiful Kenyan woman at the same time. However one step at a time.

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Sausofie New member

5POSTS

8 years ago

Hi Soren.its great to know that you fell inlove with Kenya.there are ao many opportunities in that line but maybe you need to come down herw and do a survey as that will give you a clear picture of how you will go about starting something here.

Othwrwise all the best and karibu Kenya.

bluesman70 New member

6POSTS

8 years ago

Hi Sausofie....

Thanks for your reply. Yes that might be the best thing to do,

Asante Sana

Soren

1 member reacted to this post

Longonot62 Kenya Advisor

1521POSTS

8 years ago

Hello Soren and welcome to the forum.

Living and working in Kenya can be quite tricky. There are a lot of threads on the subject of working in Kenya and on work (and other) permits required to live and work in the country.

This website may also help you:

http://www.immigration.go.ke/Information.html

carolkhisa New member

5POSTS

8 years ago

Living in Kenya is not a problem at all for foreigners. The problem is finding a suitable job in time that you can depend on. I dont know how it works but you can consider finding the job first before quiting your job in US. The salary range may also be lower but it is proportional to the cost of living i.e housing , meals e.t.c may be cheaper here

Longonot62 Kenya Advisor

1521POSTS

8 years ago

Carolkhisa; speaking as a foreigner, 'living' in Kenya using serial tourist visas (as many do) is not such a problem, but settling and working in Kenya, long term can be very difficult.

wanjiru New member

8POSTS

8 years ago

Kenyans cannot find jobs in the first place

coenraerds New member

8POSTS

8 years ago

dear soren ,
all opportunity's r open in kenya , even do ur own bussines for alot les money .
buh for all of that u need citizan first n ur workpermit .
there is lots of help around .
anyways find ur lady first n get married for residency.
buh whatever u do bro , make sure for whatever u do r build or ur futureplans , put all in your name only

best regards

carolkhisa New member

5POSTS

8 years ago

Coenraerd: That is quite inappropriate advice, you are portraying a bad image of Kenyan women which is betrayal especially after the country has accepted you. The advice here should be, to find a girlfriend at the right place. The mistake that foreigners make is meet prostitutes in the bar or at the beach whose intention is to make money from men and I think this is what happened to you. Why dont you maybe find a girl in church or other better places, then have a marriage that is built on mutual trust other than start a marriage with doubt. Such marriages are never successful.

coenraerds New member

8POSTS

8 years ago

#10

plz , this a good message to soren , for him to find a good lady n not just step up like that and move to kenya .
me am married with a good church lady , even that am not religious , dosnt even matter
he should always take good advize , specially never to trust anyone , even as ur married .
anyways thats not the point
it is about him n not you Carol , so plz keep ur comments to ur self
this betray i know u think it about u
this guy is asking for advize n good info , n to be carefull always
moving to kenya is not easy afterall , specially immigration laws entc...........

soren , always lissen your heart bro , n u wil get there

best regards

carolkhisa New member

5POSTS

8 years ago

#11

Yes, it is about him, but you can not mis advice him. I am Kenyan, marrying my long term German boyfriend this year and we own everything together and I would never betray him. He only offered capital to my business idea long time ago and everything else I built on my own. Now we can live a good life only from this business which still I have to be in charge for it to continue being successful, This has created much trust among us and made us stronger. You can not imagine what financial division can do to a marriage. He can protect what he comes with into the marriage but after they start investing together and he trusts this lady,they should own their investments together. Grow up bro and start understanding these things

coenraerds New member

8POSTS

8 years ago

#12

well , u supose to be lucky then rightt ,
not every one is to trust , it take time n patience
not all marriges r succesfull , that reality ok
dont think i dont understand ok i do .
dont wanne continue in this topic again ,
pitty u u feel attacked

Longonot62 Kenya Advisor

1521POSTS

8 years ago

#13

Coenraerds: I also don't think that you are giving good advice. If this your messages were to Soren only, then you should have sent a private message. By posting on the forum, we have every right to comment.

"anyways find ur lady first n get married for residency.
buh whatever u do bro , make sure for whatever u do r build or ur futureplans , put all in your name only"

Why would you use a Kenyan woman to get married for residency, then have the lack of trust to share. I don't think that this is appropriate advice at all.

Example: I have been married to a Kenyan lady for 20 years. Everything is in joint names; property, bank accounts included. I am still here and surviving.............very well in fact!

Longonot62 Kenya Advisor

1521POSTS

8 years ago

#14

"all opportunity's r open in kenya , even do ur own bussines for alot les money .
buh for all of that u need citizan first n ur workpermit."

Unless you are in a position where you can apply for residency, or dual citizenship, you need a MINIMUM capital of $100,000 to apply for the Class G Permit, so doing your own business is not a cheap option!

coenraerds New member

8POSTS

8 years ago

#15

thx longonot,
i wil figure it out , no need for 100.000 as i live in kenya
all depend on what busines i want to do , start smalll or big makes alot of divrence right .
so r u refering to the ngo project or a taverne club ??
i wil get citizan as whe marry in kenya ,
whe already married 7 years so , no need to worry bout that
buh as u live in belgium , u wil know what i talk about

best regards

Longonot62 Kenya Advisor

1521POSTS

8 years ago

#16

Coenraerds: As you have been married for 7 years, I believe that you are eligible for dual citizenship (if this is permitted in Belgium), certainly Permanent Residence. Both would allow you to work legally in Kenya without a work permit. The application process for PR takes around a year to a year and a half. This is arguably the best route for you.

In the meantime, if you want to operate a business (the taverne club, I assume), then you will need a Class G Permit, one of the requirements for this is that you have $100,000 in capital, either invested, or in the bank. Alternatively, the business is set up using your wife's details!

For an NGO, I understand that a different procedure applies........but first you have to apply and register your NGO...............I don't think that one permit will be valid for both operations - they usually aren't. The system isn't flexible. The NGO couple who I know in Nyeri told me that renewing their permits was quite difficult this time around.

1 member reacted to this post

coenraerds New member

8POSTS

8 years ago

#17

Longonot : well our plan is build house first on our land whe bought , n later as whe live there n get married again n get my kenyan id .
then i apply for permit in kenya
so i hope , all goos well
for the ngo , i have changed mind , buh not sure yet