Gov't Suspends Issuance of Work Permits to Foreigners within the Country

The government has suspended the issuance of work permits to foreigners while they are in the country.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i said the directive takes effect on Friday night and is part of a three-month process aimed at streamlining operations at the Immigration department.

“The first change in that process is that no one will be allowed to apply for a work permit while in Kenya."

“If you have a job, or you have applied for a job to come to Kenya and work in a regional branch of an international company, you apply for a work permit from where you are,” Interior CS Fred Matiang’i said.

The Cabinet Secretary said only expatriates whose applications for work licenses have been accepted will be allowed to enter the country for work.

Matiang'i was speaking during a meeting with county and regional commissioners at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi on Friday.

“Arrest those who say they have applied for work permits and are waiting to get their documents. Ask them to go back to their countries and wait for their work permits. When they get them then they will come back,” Matiang’i added.

In May, the government launched a crackdown targeting more than 4000 illegal immigrants with CS Matiang’i vowing to deport those found without required documents.