| |
Doing Business:
General Business Information
Currency
Office hours
Legal holidays
Visas
Customs
Residence permit
Foreign currency
Personal belongings and passenger car
Embassies and
general information
Forms for an
investor or immigrant
Currency
The Kenyan currency unit is the Shilling divided into
100cents. International credit cards are accepted.
Bills: KShs.5, KShs.10,KShs.20,
KShs.50,KShs.100,Kshs.200,KShs.500,Kshs.1000.
Coins: 5cents, 10cents,50 cents,KShs.1,KShs.5,
KShs.10,KShs.20.
(KShs.100 = USD 1.250 = EUR 1.25 = JPY ) 2002 average.
Office hours
Government offices operate on a five-day week while most
private businesses are run on a six-day week. The
official working hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays,
with a one-hour lunch break. Sunday is not a working
day.
Legal holidays
January 1st: New Year Day
May 1st: Labour Day
June 1st: Mandrake (Independence) Day
October 10th : Moi day
October 20th : Kenyatta Day
December 12th : Jamhuri (Republic) Day
December 25th : Christmas
December 26th : Boxing day
Undated legal holidays
Easter holiday
Idd -ul- fitr
To
top of page
Visas
Visas are requested from Kenyan diplomatic and consular
offices abroad.
Transit visa: 7 days.
Entry visa: valid for 3 months.
Residence permit: valid for 6 months
Citizens of the European Union, Japan, USA and Canada
can obtain visas at the point of entry.
More information
about Visa
Customs
Personal effects may be imported duty free. The
importation of firearms and game trophies is restricted,
and pornographic literature is prohibited. Domestic
animals and pets may be imported provided they have
valid veterinary certificates. Plants require a
phyto-sanitary certification.
Residence permit
For a stay in Kenya exceeding 6 months, one must obtain
a residence permit that can be delivered during the
first stay, valid for one year. It must be renewed each
time the work contract is renewed. The permit renewal
can be valid for five years , each time.
Foreign currency
Travelers are free to bring in, without limits to
amounts, the means or ways of payment in foreign
currency. To take out again a hard currency that has
been brought-in with an exchange value exceeding 1,000
Dinars, one must fill-out upon entering the Kenyan
territory, a hard currency import statement, stamped by
the Customs Service. This document is to be saved and
presented when leaving Kenya. The remaining unused hard
currency can be taken out again without supporting
evidence, for any amount less than a KShs.500,000. For
larger sums, one must present a supporting evidence that
this hard currency has been legally imported (customs
statement and/or foreign exchange slip).
Personal belongings and passenger car
Any foreign person residing in Kenya because of business
can import his personal belongings, his house furniture
and a passenger car for personal use.
When cleared through customs, these personal belongings,
house furniture and passenger car can be duty free or
liable to rights and duties by means of phased payments.
They may not be transferred neither in return for
payment, nor free-of-charge before they
are sorted out
with the Customs Authority and a foreign trade license
is provided, if the case arises.
The Kenyan tax law adapts advantages and procedures
according to the beneficiary’s status. |
