Working in Kenya as a French National: Work Permit, Minimum Wage, Income Tax, Contributions and the Economy

A visitor holding an electronic travel authorisation (eTA) does not work: professional activity requires a permit issued by the Directorate of Immigration Services under the 2011 Citizenship and Immigration Act. Applications are filed online on the eFNS portal, and the printed file is then presented at an immigration office for validation. The classes of interest to a French national are as follows.

• Class D (employment): for a person engaged in a specific job by a given employer, who has skills or qualifications that cannot be found in Kenya and whose employment benefits the country. The employer’s file includes in particular the details of a Kenyan successor (understudy), certified diplomas and a KRA tax compliance certificate.
• Class G (specific activity): for a person who intends to carry on, alone or in partnership, a business, a consultancy or a specific profession; the class information sheet requires proof of invested capital of at least USD 100,000 (about €88,800), a company registration certificate and tax certificates.
• Other classes: the service charter also mentions classes C, F, K and R; Class K, reserved for residents with a guaranteed income, prohibits any activity (see retirement in Kenya).

According to the service charter of the Directorate of Immigration Services, the processing fee is KES 20,000 for the usual classes (about €137), then annual issuance fees are KES 500,000 for classes A and D (about €3,420) and KES 250,000 for classes B, C, F, G and K (about €1,710). The announced processing time is 21 working days for a first issue and 10 days for a renewal. Alien registration costs KES 5,000 a year and the Dependant’s Pass KES 10,000. These amounts change: the charter remains the reference before any filing. The conversions on this page use the Central Bank of Kenya rate of 5 October 2026: KES 146.20 to €1 and KES 129.76 to USD 1.

The Class N is for a person who works remotely from Kenya for a company registered abroad. It covers the employee under contract with a foreign company, the shareholder or representative of an international business and the self-employed person whose clients are abroad; it is issued for one or two years, renewable. The service charter sets the issuance fee at USD 1,000 a year (about €890), to which is added a non-refundable processing fee of USD 200 according to the class information sheet (the charter indicates KES 20,000 for the usual classes).

The file includes the online form, a cover letter from the employer, three months of bank statements or payslips, proof of accommodation and a letter of non-objection from the embassy of the country of origin, that of France for a French national. This permit gives the right to reside and work remotely, without opening any right to local health cover: see the guide to digital nomad visas and the page on digital nomad insurance.

The statutory minimum wage is not national: it depends on the occupation and the area, according to the schedule to the Regulation of Wages (General) Order, in its consolidated version of 1 May 2026. For an unskilled employee (domestic worker, nanny, gardener, day guard, messenger), the monthly minimum is KES 18,047.40 (about €123) in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret, KES 16,650.95 (about €114) in the former municipalities of Mavoko, Ruiru and Limuru and KES 9,268.07 (about €63) elsewhere.

The scale rises with qualification, in the five major cities: KES 24,358.73 (about €167) for a car or van driver, KES 27,796.51 (about €190) for a general office clerk or a receptionist, KES 33,820.24 (about €231) for a salesperson and KES 40,724.23 (about €279) for a cashier or a heavy goods vehicle driver. These figures are floors: skilled positions and jobs open to a French national are negotiated in the contract, against an equivalent position locally. The detail by occupation is in the schedule to the order.

The Employment Act sets the foundation of employee rights. A contract of three months or more, or for work that cannot reasonably be completed in under three months, is in writing. Every employee is entitled to at least one day of rest every seven days and, after twelve consecutive months, to at least 21 working days of paid leave; a female employee is entitled to three months of maternity leave on full pay and to return to her post or an equivalent one.

• Sickness: after two months of service, at least seven days of sick leave on full pay, then seven days on half pay, on presentation of a medical certificate.
• Notice: a contract under which pay is paid at intervals of one month or more can be terminated by either party after twenty-eight days’ written notice, unless otherwise provided.
• Health: the employer sees to it that the necessary medicines are provided during illness and, where possible, medical assistance in case of serious illness; many contracts add health cover, the premium for which is not taxed on the employee (KRA).

The guide to working abroad helps with reading a contract, and the page seconded or expat compares the two statuses.

The employer withholds tax at source (PAYE) and pays it over to the KRA before the 9th of the following month. The monthly scale in force since 1 July 2023 is 10% on the first KES 24,000 (about €164), 25% on the next 8,333, 30% on the next 467,667, 32.5% on the next 300,000 and 35% above KES 800,000 (about €5,470). A personal tax credit of KES 2,400 a month (about €16), granted to residents, is set against the tax, and a credit of 15% of life, health or education insurance premiums is capped at KES 60,000 a year.

• SHIF: 2.75% of gross monthly income, withheld by the employer, with a minimum of KES 300 a month; contributions are deductible from taxable income (SHA, KRA).
• Housing levy (Affordable Housing Levy): 1.5% of gross monthly pay for the employee, 1.5% for the employer, paid over together to the KRA within 9 working days of the end of the month; the employee’s deduction is deductible from taxable income (KRA).
• NSSF: 6% for the employee and 6% for the employer on earnings between KES 9,000 (about €62) and KES 108,000 (about €739) since February 2026, that is at most KES 6,480 (about €44) for the employee and KES 12,960 (about €89) for the two shares combined (NSSF).

By way of illustration, a gross salary of KES 100,000 a month (about €684) gives, before allowable deductions, about KES 22,383 of tax (about €153) after the personal credit, KES 2,750 of SHIF, KES 1,500 of housing levy and KES 6,000 of NSSF: an indicative calculation based on the scales, the actual tax being lower once the SHIF, the housing levy or a contribution to a registered pension fund are deducted from taxable income.

The France-Kenya tax treaty, signed in Nairobi on 4 December 2007 and in force since 1 November 2010, avoids double taxation. Article 4 resolves dual residence (permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality). Article 15 reserves the taxation of salary to the state of residence when the stay in the other state does not exceed 183 days over twelve months, the employer is not resident there and the pay is not borne by a permanent establishment; article 16 attaches directors’ remuneration and attendance fees to the state of the company. Article 22 eliminates double taxation: France grants a tax credit equal to the French tax corresponding to the income taxable in Kenya (impots.gouv.fr).

A self-employed person who settles in Kenya to carry on a business or consulting activity falls under Class G: the information sheet requires proof of capital to invest of at least USD 100,000 (about €88,800), a bank statement for a new application, audited accounts for a renewal and the licences and registrations relevant to the activity. A regulated profession falls under Class C. Outside these cases, a remote worker whose clients are abroad applies for Class N.

With no employer, health cover and social protection are a personal choice: the SHIF, at 2.75% of household income determined by a means test for non-employees, the CFE (Caisse des Français de l’étranger, the French social security fund for French nationals abroad) or international insurance. The guide to the CFE or private insurance compares these routes, and the page on healthcare reimbursement in Kenya details them.

The CLEISS does not list Kenya among the countries linked to France by a bilateral social security agreement. Insurance periods in Kenya are therefore not added to French periods, and the employee follows the general rules: a secondment outside an agreement lasts 3 years, renewable once, with the French scheme maintained and contributions paid in France; an employee on a local contract falls under the Kenyan schemes (NSSF, SHIF, housing levy).

For pensions, the guide to quarters worked abroad explains the effect of years spent outside France, and the page on receiving your pension abroad sets out the formalities.

The 2026 Economic Survey of the National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS, April 2026) reports real growth of 4.6% in 2025, against 4.7% in 2024, with progress in all sectors. Agriculture, forestry and fishing, which account for more than twenty percent of the economy, grew by 3.1%. Construction rebounds by 6.8% after a 0.7% fall, mining recovers by 14.9% after a 7.8% contraction, accommodation and food services gain 15.6%, public administration 8.3%, finance and insurance 6.5%, information and communication 4.8%, transport 3.7% and trade 3.6%.

The currency is the Kenyan shilling (KES): KES 146.20 to €1 on 5 October 2026, according to the central bank. The updated growth, unemployment, inflation and exchange-rate indicators appear in the economic indicators block of this page; the outlook can be followed in the publications of the KNBS and the central bank. See also living in Kenya for settling in and the cost of living.