Kenya Remote Work Permit: Class N Costs US$1,000 a Year, and One Official Page Still Omits It

KENYA · VISAS

A Kenya remote work permit exists, it is called Class N, and it costs US$1,000 a year. Two government pages tell two different stories about it.

A Kenya remote work permit exists, and it is called Class N. It is for people who live there and work online for a company registered abroad.

Two government pages, two answers

Open the immigration directorate’s overview of work permits and count: A, B, C, D, F, G, I, K and M. Nine classes, and no N.

Open the government’s own application portal, eFNS, and Class N is there. It has its own page, its own conditions and its own price.

Both pages belong to the same directorate. One was written before the permit existed and has not been updated since.

That single gap explains the confusion in every commercial nomad guide about Kenya. Some report a digital nomad permit, others insist there is none, and each side can point at an official page.

What Class N actually is

Class N is for a person who lives in Kenya and works remotely for a company registered outside Kenya. The employer stays foreign; the desk moves to Nairobi or Mombasa.

It arrived through Legal Notice 198 of 2024, published in the Kenya Gazette on 16 December 2024. Applications opened in April 2025.

The processing fee is US$200 and is not refunded if the application fails. Issuance costs US$1,000 for each year of the permit.

That is well below the capital tests attached to Kenya’s business classes. It is also several times what most of the region charges a visitor who simply keeps working.

Applications go through the electronic Foreign Nationals Services portal at fns.immigration.go.ke. Payment is by card or mobile money, and immigration offices do not take cash.

Why the old list still matters

The nine-class list is not fiction. Those permits exist, they are still issued, and most foreigners in Kenya hold one of them.

Class D is employment by a Kenyan employer, and Class F is specific manufacturing. Class K is for residents living on a pension or an annuity.

Permits and passes sit under the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act of 2011. The directorate names sections 36, 40, 41 and 42 as the legal base.

Class N joined that structure rather than replacing it. The overview page simply never gained a tenth line.

Class G, and the wall in front of it

Before Class N existed, a freelancer with Kenyan clients had one formal route. That was Class G, for specific trade, business, consultancy or a profession.

The capital test is where most of those applications stopped. The directorate asks for documentary proof of at least US$100,000 to be invested.

A registered Kenyan company also has to stand behind the application. That means a certificate of incorporation, a tax PIN certificate and a shareholders certificate.

Processing costs 20,000 shillings (about US$155) and issuance 250,000 shillings (about US$1,930) a year. Currency conversions use the 13 September 2026 rate of 129.45 shillings to the US dollar, from open.er-api.com.

Citizens of East African Community states pay nothing for either step. That bloc includes Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Class G still fits someone building a business with Kenyan customers. Class N fits someone whose income never touches Kenya at all.

Six months, and a company stamp you may not have

The special pass remains the short-stay work document. It allows a foreigner to enter and remain for a period not exceeding six months.

Its stated purpose is temporarily conducting business, trade or a profession. For people from outside East Africa the fee is US$200 per month on approval.

The form has to be filled, signed and stamped by an organisation. A solo worker with nobody to hold that stamp is stuck before they start.

Six months is a visit rather than a life in Nairobi. The pass runs out before a lease does.

An eTA buys a visit, not a living

Most travellers arrive on an Electronic Travel Authorisation, or eTA, an online clearance held before the journey starts.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry made the point again this month. Arriving without a visa gives no right to work, trade or run a business.

We reported that clarification when the ministry issued it. The warning named employment, market trading, consultancy and managing a company.

Class N is the answer to exactly that warning. It is the document that turns a laptop in a Nairobi flat into something the state has seen and priced.

What a remote worker should do now

Start at the portal, not at the overview page. The Class N information pack on eFNS carries the current conditions and fees.

Budget US$1,200 for a first year, and treat the US$200 as spent whatever the outcome. Renewal is the annual US$1,000 again.

The directorate has not published processing times for Class N, and the older overview page has not been corrected. Neither silence changes the fact that the permit is issued.

A 90-day window opened in September for foreign business owners to fix permits and licences. Our guide to that 90-day window sets out what it covers.

None of this is legal advice. Fees and rules change, so read the directorate’s own pages before you pay anyone anything.

Correction, 16 September 2026: an earlier version of this article reported that no Kenya remote work permit existed. Class N has been in force since December 2024, and the article has been rewritten.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does Kenya have a digital nomad visa?

Yes. Class N covers people who live in Kenya and work remotely for a company registered abroad. It was created by a legal notice published on 16 December 2024.

How much does Kenya’s Class N permit cost?

US$200 to process the application, which is not refunded, plus US$1,000 for each year the permit runs.

Why do some guides say Kenya has no remote work permit?

The directorate’s overview page still lists only nine classes and omits Class N. The permit appears on the government’s application portal instead.

Can I work online in Kenya on a tourist eTA?

An eTA covers a visit, not work. Kenya’s trade ministry said this month that visa-free or eTA entry gives no right to work, trade or do business.

Sources: Directorate of Immigration Services, Kenya: the eFNS foreign nationals portal and its Class N information pack, the work permits and passes overview, and the pages for Class D, Class F, Class G, Class K and the special pass; Bowmans and CMS on Legal Notice No. 198 of 2024; the Kenya eTA service; and open.er-api.com exchange rates. See https://fns.immigration.go.ke/infopack/permits/classN/ and https://immigration.go.ke/work-permits-and-passes/ and https://immigration.go.ke/class-g-specific-trade-business-or-consultancy/ and https://fns.immigration.go.ke/

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