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Work permits issuance to foreigners increase 8.6pc
Collections from fees for permits to work in Kenya are expected to grow to Sh8.8 billion in the financial year between July 2023 and June 2024. FILE PHOTO | SHUTTERSTOCK
The number of work permits issued to foreigners increased by 8.6 percent last year after the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, which helped the job market recover.
Data from the Economic Survey Report 2023 shows that the Immigration Department issued 7,963 new work permits to foreigners in 2022, up from 7,332 in 2021.
The number of permits issued in 2020 had dropped to 5,851 compared to 8,967 in the previous year, limited by the Covid-19 prevention measures that curbed international travel and immigration in that period.
The easing of the Covid-19 pandemic has heralded a recovery of business activity in sectors such as transport, manufacturing, and tourism, among others.
The increase in 2022 also follows an expansion in jobs created in both the formal and informal sectors as the economy continues to adapt to the fallout of the pandemic.
The jump has also been linked to the country’s shift from a manual to an online visa system on January 1, 2021, in line with a policy to digitise service delivery and increase revenue collection by reducing waiting days for issuance.
The number of passports issued increased by 55.9 percent to 426,137 last year, pointing to both a jump in the number of Kenyans looking to travel abroad and upgrades to the new digital passports by existing holders.
However, work permit renewals dropped from 11,973 in 2021 to 11,667 in 2022. Registration of foreign nationals also dropped by 6.6 percent to 23,180 from 24,713 in 2021.
The government has also been looking to reduce the timelines set for approval of work permits for foreign investors to enable better planning for firms setting up shop locally.
The rise in work permit approvals came as the economy added 109,300 formal sector jobs, hitting 3.02 million and surpassing the 2.93 million jobs the economy sustained in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
