Why I applied for a Kenyan ID
My Kenyan identity, travelling home, plans for the future and where I started with the application.
Prefer the short version? Read the step-by-step checklist for the documents and official links.
Kenya is the country I was born in. I am Kenyan, and getting my Kenyan documents in order felt like something I wanted to do for myself.
I became British as a child, and my life is now in the UK. Both countries are part of my story. I want to make use of the opportunities available to me in both, and keep a real connection to where I come from.
Applying for a Kenyan national ID was one practical way of doing that. This collection is the account I wish I had been able to read before I started: the citizenship paperwork, the solicitor, the copies, the appointment and even the return envelope.
Why I wanted to do it
One reason was travelling home. I do not want to need a visitor’s permission to enter the country where I was born. I want my paperwork to reflect that I am Kenyan.
For travel, the passport matters: Kenya’s official travel portal (opens in a new tab) identifies Kenyan passport holders as exempt from the visitor eTA route. An ID card is a separate document; getting one does not replace having the right travel documents. My aim was to get my Kenyan identity paperwork in order, including an ID and passport.
There was also a longer-term reason. I am ambitious about what I want to build, and I want the option of buying property and investing in the Kenyan economy. Having my Kenyan documents sorted feels like a sensible foundation for those plans. I would still need to check any purchase or investment properly, but I wanted to start by sorting out my own paperwork.
And there was identity. Being Kenyan is part of who I am. I wanted to give that part of my life some attention, rather than leaving the documents as something I would deal with one day.
Starting with the form
My starting point was the Kenya High Commission’s national ID page (opens in a new tab). That is where I would look for the current application form and instructions, rather than using a copy from somebody else’s blog.
I printed and filled in the ID application form. But the form was only one part of the preparation. Because I had also become British, there was citizenship paperwork to understand, and some of the evidence I used went back to childhood.
The part I had not understood at the start was the dual-citizenship declaration. Finding out about that changed the order of things: I needed to prepare the declaration and have it witnessed before taking it to my appointment.
What this collection covers
I have split the process into short posts so each part is easier to find. The next one explains the citizenship paperwork I dealt with, followed by witnessing the declaration, packing the documents, attending the appointment and receiving my ID.
This is my experience, with links to the organisations involved. Where the published instructions now differ from what happened to me, I have pointed that out. Someone with a different citizenship history may need a different route.