Kenya · Business & founder
Class G Permit (Specific Trade, Business or Consultancy)
Open
Last verified July 2026
Open. The USD 100,000 threshold is verified on the Department of Immigration's own page — 'documentary proof of capital to be invested of at least USD 100,000'. Note it is an administrative and policy threshold, not a statutory one, and can be changed without legislation.
The standard Kenyan investor route and a reasonable one for an operator — but for a family that does not need to run a Kenyan business, Class K reaches the same permanent residence clock on USD 24,000 of passive income instead of USD 100,000 of capital at risk.
Qualifying routes
$100k
Trade, business or consultancy
documentary proof of capital to be invested
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $100k
- Total landed cost
- USD 100,000 of capital plus KES 20,000 processing and KES 250,000 a year, with dependants at KES 10,000 each — roughly KES 300,000 of government cost in year one for a family of four
- Timeline
- 3–12 months — no official service standard published
- Physical presence
- No explicit published day-count
- Family
- spouse and dependent children at KES 10,000 each
- Permanent residency
- Permanent residence after 7 years on permits plus 3 years' continuous residence — there is no PR-by-investment shortcut
- Citizenship
- Registration after 7 years with a Kiswahili or local-dialect speaking test
- Language test
- Kiswahili or a local dialect
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- documentary proof of at least USD 100,000 capitalbusiness registrationclean criminal recordKES 250,000 annual fee
What can go wrong
- The USD 100,000 is administrative policy, not statute. It can be raised by circular, without a Finance Bill.
- Class K is cheaper and easier for anyone who does not need work rights — same fee, same clock, USD 24k of income instead of USD 100k of capital.
- Kenya's territoriality is uncodified and rests on KRA practice against a broadly worded charging section.
- The registered-citizen dual nationality question is unresolved — resolve it with Kenyan counsel before starting the 7-year clock.
- NIFC's 15% rate requires at least KES 3bn invested within 3 years — far beyond a family office. ENS notes NIFC incentives 'remain subject to future fiscal review by Parliament'.
- The Finance Bill 2024 episode showed Kenyan tax policy can be reversed by street protest within weeks.