Kenya slaps foreign students with new tougher Visa requirements

It will no longer be business as usual for foreigners wishing to study in Kenya.

Foreigners wishing to study in Kenya will now be required to secure police clearance certificates before they step into any lecture halls for learning as part of their applications for study visas under new rules introduced by Immigrations.

“All foreigners seeking admission to our local institutions must prove they have been cleared by the police in their country of origin” said director of immigration, Maj Gen (rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa

As a result, local institutions of higher learning admitting foreign students will be required to collect the police clearance certificate, alongside other documents and forward them to the immigration department for processing of student passes.

The rule which comes into force in January 2018 is part of ongoing efforts by the Kenyan government to crack down on criminals’ networks, whose ranks have increasingly been dominated by foreigners of late.

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Over the few months there have been increased arrests of foreigners across Nairobi for failure to live within the provisions of their Visas and committing several criminal acts such as assault, peddling narcotics, robberies and cybercrime.

“Police clearance should serve as an extra assurance that these individuals do not have criminal records. Some of them claim they are coming here to study but are simply using it as a front to engage in activities which may pose a security risk” Mr. Kihalangwa added.

Kenya’s education standards is one of the highest in the continent and the country is boost some of the best equipped and top ranked institutions of Higher Learning on the continent.

Kenya’s oldest university, the University of Nairobi is among the top 3% in the World.

According to 2016 Webometrics ranking, the University of Nairobi was ranked position 6 in Africa and 697 in the world ahead of all other universities in the region.