Permits to kenya

The immigration officer who advised you on such, sadly is still very much ill informed. The constitutional law does not discriminate as to who marries who to get a permit. Michael Joseph (ex CEO of Safaricom) was married to a Kenyan Lady and he has Kenyan Citizenship, Bob Collymore is married to a Kenyan lady and have dual citizenship. Get a  legal advise (at a cost - you know Kenya) and seek a redress on the matter. Go on Twitter @immigrationDept (Immigration Kenya) and engage the personnel on there. The responses are prompt and reliable. On Tuesdays there are open forum discussions.

The information from the immigration officer is partly misleading. Dependent passes are only issued to dependents of persons lawfully resident in Kenya (say under a Work Permit). Proof of Relation e.g marriage certs/ birth certs must be availed.

To avoid the constant hustle of visas your husband has the following options

1. Class G Work Permit - For investors/consultants and directors. You will be required to prove USD 100,000 for investment. These are the most straight forward visas as the Government tries to boost foreign direct investment.

2. Class K - For "retirees". Your husband must prove that he can avail USD 24,000 annually for his maintenance. The funds must be sourced from abroad. Your husband MUST never engage in any economic activity in Kenya while under this type of Work Permit

Your husband also has the option of applying for;

1. Permanent Residence (PR) through marriage to a Kenyan
2. Citizenship through marriage to a Kenyan

It is however mandatory that the applicant (Your husband) have a valid Work Permit of any class before applying for either PR or citizenship. It is also a prerequisite that your marriage has subsisted for a minimum of three (3) years

I believe that you would need to return home before your husband and start working, earning enough to support you both, before you'd be able to apply for a Dependents Pass.  The fact you are a woman supporting a man used to matter, but now should not affect the application, but while you are based outside Kenya......forget it.  Of course he would not be permitted to work on this type of pass.

Class K:  I have had one of these and I understand that the $24000 per annum must be from sources other than employment.  Unless something has changed, this does not have to be from sources outside Kenya, although the government prefer this, as it adds to the GDP.   My Class K Permit said 'no paid employment' which is different from no economic activity.

Class G; you also have to register a business in Kenya for this.  Straightforward?  No when I applied it wasn't.  The government threw up all sorts of barriers.

As for the hustle of regular visa applications; the Class G and Class H are renewable on a two yearly cycle - so you do still have this hanging over you.

For PR and citizenship, you need a Police Certificate of Good Conduct and you cannot obtain this on a regular Single Entry Visa, hence the need for another type of permit in the meantime.

On a personal level; how would your husband respond to not working?  As an expat husband to a Kenyan and used to working, I lived for two years on a Class K and was really bored a lot of the time!

Thanks for your responses Longonot and the others.
I want clarification on this matter,
The fact that i mentioned i live with my husband here in europe, i meant that i live here for sometime and i also visit my country.because im on a temporary permit here in his place,& also needs time to get a permanent residence.

Can that one hinder me to apply for a depandant pass for him in kenya?
Or someone needs to be residing in kenya throughout to be elligible to apply for that?

About sufficient funds to sustain yourself and the dependant, its not well explained on the site the minimum funds you should have!
And its not stated whether this funds should be sourced from kenya or not.

Because on my case, i work online on data entry, but the company i work for is not based in kenya, and it pays me, through their foreign banks.
My  worry is,  will this be a problem , If they ask me to prove my sufficient funds ?
That is if i give a bank statement of a bank which is not based in kenya, is there any problem?

Please someone with information can enlighten me on this.
I will appreciate.
Thanks.