Kenyans will now pay more for various key documents after the government through the State Department of Immigration and Citizen Services approved new service charges.
In a Gazette supplement issued a month before his ascent to the office of Deputy President, then Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki gazetted the new fees, which include an upward revision of the registration of birth and death certificates from Ksh50 to Ksh200.
In the new changes, late registration for birth and death certificates will attract a service fee of Ksh500, up from the previous Ksh150.
Additionally, in case of the loss of either document, individuals will have to pay Ksh1,000, up from the current Ksh90.
Meanwhile, Kenyans seeking to make amendments to the same documents in case of an error, such as a typo or a missing letter in a name will pay Ksh1,000, up from the previous Ksh130.
Kenyans living abroad will on the other hand pay Ksh19,000 (USD150) for the registration of birth certificate.
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Additionally, those in the diaspora will pay Ksh1,000 for registration of a birth or death that will occur outside Kenyan borders while the registration of a presumed death will cost Ksh1,500, up from Ksh150.
Meanwhile, authenticating the seal of the Principal Registrar will now cost Kenyans Ksh500, with the same service costing Ksh12,950(USD100) when provided by a foreign mission in Kenya.
These changes follow a gazette notice issued in November 2023 by the then-Interior Cabinet Secretary, Professor Kithure Kindiki.
In the notice, Kindiki announced an increase in fees for key documents in the immigration and civil registration services, including passport and visa fees, in the government’s efforts to raise its revenues.
The fees which took effect on January 1, 2024, will see Kenyans pay Ksh7,500 Â for an ordinary 34-page passport up from the previous Ksh4,500.
The government also announced a hike in the fee for an ordinary 50-page document from Ksh7,500 to Ksh9,500, while the fee for an ordinary 66-page passport was increased from Ksh7,500 to Ksh12,000.
The fee for a diplomatic 50-page document was also revised from Ksh7,500 to Ksh15,000 while the cost of replacing a lost passport was increased from Ksh12,000 to Ksh20,000
