State effects new increased charges for IDs, birth certificates and passports

The government has now effected new fees and levies for various services offered by the State Department of Immigration and Citizen Services after a public participation process.

In a memo dated February 29, 2024, Interior and National Coordination Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said the decision by the government to effect the new changes follows the completion of the public participation process which was conducted from November 14 to December 5, 2023.

The new fees and levies were reviewed on November 14, 2023, vide a gazette notice No. 241 issued by Kindiki.

Individuals applying for an ID card will now be required to pay Sh300, whereas previously, it was free of charge.

Those who need their IDs replaced will have to part with a fee of Sh1,000, as opposed to the previous charge of Sh500.

In the latest review, Kenyans seeking to be issued birth certificates will be charged Sh 200 from the 50 that was previously charged. This will also apply to those seeking death certificates for their deceased kin.

Late registration of birth certificates was increased from Sh150 to Sh500, the same as late registration of deaths.

The Ministry also increased fees for re-registration of birth certificates from Sh90 to Sh1,000 and fees for registration of births in foreign missions have been increased from $50 (Sh7,225) to $150 (Sh21,675).

The same amount applied to the registration of deaths at Kenyan foreign missions.

Charges for amendments to both birth and death certificates were increased from Sh130 to Sh1,000 while fees for a certificate for a person presumed dead were increased from Sh150 to Sh1,500.

New passport fees

The ordinary passport (34 pages) that costs Sh4,500 will now cost Sh7,500, the 50-page passport will cost Sh9,500 up from the current Sh6,000 and the 66-page passport will cost Sh12,500 up from the current Sh7,500.

Replacing a lost passport would cost Sh20,000, compared to Sh12,000 which is what the Immigration Department currently charges.

A 50-page diplomatic passport would have seen one spend Sh15,000, double the price of the previous fee.

At the same time, the ministry introduced new charges for the verification of certificates for government agencies and pegged it at Sh500 while it set the fees for the acquisition of vital statistical reports for private agencies at Sh2,000.

The State, however, pegged the fees for access to vital statistical reports for the government at Sh1,000.

A new charge of $100 (Sh14,450) was also introduced for verification of the certificate of private foreign agencies while the charges for the same service for private Kenyan agencies were set at $1,000 (Sh144,500).

"You may recall that the effective date for implementation of these charges was January 1, 2024. However, the said charges were to be subjected to public participation before taking effect," Kindiki said.

The memo was copied to all section heads, regional coordinators, national registry, county coordinators and sub-county registrars.

"The purpose of this circular is therefore to inform you that with effect from March 1, 2024, the revised fees, charges and levies take effect and all our services will be charged accordingly," the CS said.