Every year, hundreds of thousands of Kenyans look for ways to migrate abroad. The choicest countries that many Kenyans target are the United States and the United Kingdom. Migrating to Canada has also emerged as a choice destination for many Kenyans. These three countries have unlimited opportunities. However, migrating, finding jobs, and earning adequately is not a walk in the park. This is why you must know your way around their immigration systems opportunities if you are looking to migrate.
United States Immigration
US DV Lottery
Popularly known as the Green Card, the DV Lottery program is the most popular way of legally migrating to the United States. This program is essentially a lottery program where applicants make their applications from around the month of October. The results of the lottery are usually available for checking from the month of May the following year. According to Ralph Kilondu, a Kenyan living in the US, the Green Card is the safest way to ensure you can live and work freely in the US, and enjoy benefits accessible to US citizens. In addition, this program will allow you to migrate with your immediate relatives such as spouse and children. You must, however, list them when making your application.
US Fiancé(e) K-1
This is a nonimmigrant visa program for the foreign fiancé or fiancée of a citizen of the US. This program allows the foreign-citizen fiancé or fiancée to travel to the US and marry their US citizen partner within a period of 90 days. After marriage, the foreign citizen is allowed to apply to have their status adjusted to a permanent resident. To qualify, the two partners are required to have met in person within the last two years, of which evidence may be required.
Investment Green Card
This is a program that is mainly used by migrating investors. The program is little-known and includes the EB-5 route. For example, in 2018, an American firm known as Atlantic American Partners invited Kenyans with capital of up to Sh. 50 million to invest in the US and gain citizenship. The process to citizenship takes about two years. Interested Kenyans were also required to pay an additional Sh. 2 million in legal fees, and an extra Sh. 4.8 million in investment management fees. The fees would be paid to the Private Equity firm which would manage the investment on behalf of the applicant.
Canada Immigration
Canada Express Entry merit-based program
The Express Entry route is the most popular program for immigrating to Canada. The program manages skilled workers applications for permanent residence under federal and provincial economic programs. According to Canadian immigration website, this program is made up of four categories which include Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, Canada Experience Class, and Select Provincial Nominee Programs. In this program, you are required to submit your profile which is then scored based on factors such as age, education, work experience and language proficiency. The scores for Express Entry could be as high as 400. If you are successful, you will receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence. Normally, you will get 3 months to submit your application under the express entry 4 categories. If you submit your application within time, its processing will take about six months.
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There are agents that can help you relocate to Canada. Most of these agents in Kenya charge between Sh. 500,000 and Sh. 800,000. Find out what is included in the package of the agent you choose, and whether the agent is licensed. Some agents might be capable of organizing job offers and offering you settlement assistance for a month or two. It is important to know that you will be required to prove you have adequate funds to settle. This amounts to between Sh. 1.5 million and Sh. 2 million. The funds must have stayed in your account for at least 6 months, or be proven to be from the sale of one of your assets.
United Kingdom Immigration
UK merit-based system:
The UK migration system is similar in some aspects to the Canadian system. The United Kingdom is now using a merit-based application system. To qualify for a UK work Visa, you will need to achieve 70 points as follows:
- 40 points if you have a job offer from an approved employer
- 10 points if you can prove ability to speak English
- 20 points if you will be paid at least Sh. 3.79 million per year (316,000 per month).
- 20 points if you get a job offer in a category the UK has a shortage in. This category will qualify you even if it pays lower than required.
You will need to register and sit for an IELTS examination which will gauge your ability to communicate in the English language. If you are moving to the UK as a student, you’ll need to do the IELTS for UKVI at the British Council in Nairobi. This test will cost you Sh. 29,800. In the application for the family of a settled person, or someone who is applying for citizenship, the test will cost you some Sh. 23,000. You will also need to get tested for tuberculosis for your Visa application.
If you’re a spouse or family member of a person who has British citizenship or settled in the UK, you will need to apply for the family visa to join them. During application, the family member may be asked to prove that they can financially support you.
The jobs, cost of living, and homes
United States
Jobs such as home caregiver, foster parents, and truck driving pay very well in the United States. However, according to Betty Az, a Kenyan who lives and works in Arizona, Phoenix, US, you must be prepared to do at least two to three jobs in order to earn enough for your bills, savings, and investments. “The bills in the US can on average be as high as USD 3,000 (Sh. 324,000). This means that one job will only be adequate to care for your bills including rent, food, insurance, fuel, phone, and electricity,” she said. Houses are also quite expensive. For example, a simple two bedroom house in Arizona will currently cost you up to USD 400,000 (Sh. 43 million). If you are a nurse, for example, you can take a double shift and work for 16 hours instead of 8.
Canada
There are certain jobs and skills that are in demand and others that aren’t. This means that if you are planning to move to Canada, you must be aware that the job you hold in Kenya may not be the same job you’ll do in Canada. Also, some jobs will require you to get a practicing license after arriving and staying in Canada for a while. For example, if you are a nurse in Kenya, you cannot practice in Canada as a nurse without a license. To migrate, you can start with something like a waitress and later revert to nursing after you acquire your practicing license.
According to Loise Githiga, a licensed immigration expert in Canada, the type of jobs people do abroad will not necessarily tell you how much money they make. “I have worked with ladies in the office who work as waitresses after office work. They make an equivalent of the money they earn at the office from their waitress jobs. If the office pays 60,000 Canadian dollars a year (Sh. 420,000 per month), they end up making an additional equal amount from their side waitress jobs,” said Ms. Githiga in a Canadian immigration vlog.
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She adds that residential cleaners who clean up to 4 houses can easily make 500 Canadian dollars (Sh. 42,000) per day. Before you select a provincial program, you should know the minimum wage allowed as it is different across the Canadian provinces. Minimum wage also indicates the cost of living in each province. It ranges between CAD 11.45 per hour (Sh. 1,000) in the Saskatchewan province to CAD 16 per hour (Sh. 1,400) in the Nunavut territory. Prices of homes in Canada range from lows of $183,000 (Sh. 16 million) in New Brunswick, to highs of $1,036,000 (Sh. 91 million) in Vancouver, British Columbia.
United Kingdom
The cost of living in the United Kingdom is quite high. According to UK Immigration, an online platform that tracks cost of living in the United Kingdom, the average cost of living is around £2000 (Sh. 302,000). This is inclusive of rent of about £870 (Sh. 131,370), bills of £900 (135,900), and groceries of about £275 (41,525). The UK House Price Index estimates the average cost of buying a house in Manchester to be £234204 (sh. 35.3 million) and in London £496,066 (Sh. 74.9 million).
This feature on migrating to Canada, the US and the UK was first published in the Saturday Magazine. The Saturday Magazine is a publication of the Nation Media Group.