VisaKenya asks business permit holders for audited accounts at renewal
Class G renewals require evidence of the operating business. Applicants should prepare audited financial reports and current tax compliance records rather than assuming the initial capital evidence is the whole application.
Official source date: 2026-11-02
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
A renewal is different from the initial capital test
Kenya’s official eFNS questions-and-answers page directly addresses whether a Class G renewal needs another bank statement showing USD100,000. Its answer directs the applicant to current audited financial reports instead. A renewal file should therefore demonstrate the operating business’s finances, rather than simply reproduce the bank evidence prepared before the original permit was granted.
Class G covers specified trade, business or consultancy activities, with necessary licences and sufficient resources, where the activity benefits Kenya. This is a current guide to renewal preparation, not an announcement that the category has just changed. It concerns foreign business operators under that permit, rather than employees applying under Class D.
Prepare the company records and the right financial evidence
The immigration department’s permit checklist identifies incorporation evidence, the CR12 shareholding certificate, constitutional company documents, organisational tax compliance and previous permits for a Class G renewal. It also requests signed current audited accounts for the last year. Assemble a coherent set showing the same business and permit holder rather than relying on one financial document in isolation.
For an initial application, the checklist requires proof of at least USD100,000 of capital to be invested. The Class G information pack additionally lists bank-verification forms and offshore transaction evidence for new cases. That distinction helps applicants separate the first application’s investment evidence from a renewal’s trading records. The information pack also asks for details of Kenyans already employed for renewal cases. Use the checklist and the category-specific pack together to identify any outstanding evidence.
Check the company and individual tax position early
The Class G information pack asks for a valid organisational Tax Compliance Certificate for new cases and both organisational and individual certificates at renewal. A company certificate should therefore not automatically be treated as covering the permit holder personally.
Kenya Revenue Authority’s compliance resource explains that a certificate confirms tax filing and payment compliance and is valid for twelve months. Apply through iTax, where the certificate is issued to the applicant’s email, and use the authority’s certificate-checking facility to verify validity. KRA identifies timely returns, timely payment and settlement of outstanding tax debt as relevant conditions. A PIN certificate and a Tax Compliance Certificate have different functions: possessing a tax identifier does not establish that all compliance requirements are satisfied.
Business income can require electronic-invoicing compliance
KRA’s enhanced-certificate guidance adds an important practical check for business operators. Taxpayers with income other than employment income must meet the applicable TIMS/eTIMS registration requirement before a compliance certificate can be issued. The guidance distinguishes people whose only income is employment; that exclusion should not be assumed to cover someone actively carrying on a business.
The enhanced requirements also include applicable VAT compliance and clearing liabilities or having an approved payment arrangement. Where a person or business is exempt from eTIMS, KRA directs the applicant to a Tax Service Office for assistance with the certificate application. Its guidance provides help-desk and contact-centre support. Resolve a tax-system obstacle before leaving the immigration application until the last moment. An accounting report can describe the business’s finances while a missing tax-compliance certificate remains a separate document problem.
Budget for two charges and await the immigration decision
The immigration checklist lists a non-refundable KES20,000 processing fee and a Class G issuance fee of KES250,000 per year, payable on approval. The processing payment is therefore not the full annual cost and does not itself grant permission. The checklist also identifies permit-fee exemptions for specified East African Community nationals; establish the applicable nationality treatment with immigration rather than assuming every foreign applicant pays identically.
The category information pack explains the eFNS application, generated invoice and account or email notifications. It warns that engaging in business or employment without the required permit or pass is an offence. The verified resources do not give a universal renewal approval deadline. Prepare the current evidence, follow the generated payment instructions and confirm the decision instead of treating an uploaded application as permission to continue indefinitely.
