Family, Spouse and Partner Visa for Kenya: How to Apply
Kenya · Africa
Family, Spouse and Partner Visa for Kenya
What a U.S. citizen needs for a family, spouse and partner visa to Kenya: the requirements, the exact document checklist with its authentication routing, where to file, what it costs and how long it takes.
- U.S. passport status
- eTA / ETA
- Visa-free days
- 90 days
- Document route
- Embassy legalisation
- Translation
- Not required
- Short-stay fee
- $30
- Schengen area
- No
What Kenya specifically requires
A family, spouse and partner visa for Kenya is applied for through Directorate of Immigration Services. For short visits a U.S. passport is treated as “travel authorisation required”, but this category is a separate authorisation with its own test.
- Entry status for a U.S. passport
- Electronic Travel Authorisation required; up to 90 days
- Authority
- Directorate of Immigration Services
- Official portal
- Kenya eTA (official)
- Where to file
- At the consulate with jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence.
- Biometrics
- Fingerprints and a facial image are collected for most visa categories.
- Passport validity
- Valid for at least six months beyond your intended departure, with at least two blank pages.
- Fees
- The eTA is around 30 dollars plus processing. Work and residence permits cost substantially more.
- Processing
- Several months for work and residence permits
- Document route
- Embassy legalisation
- Translation
- Not normally required. English is an official language of Kenya.
Your document checklist
10 documents. 5 need authentication: 1 federal through the U.S. Department of State and 4 state-issued through a Secretary of State. Route: embassy legalisation.
- Passport No authentication needed Identity, nationality and the physical book the visa is placed in. How to get it. Renew early. Processing times published by the U.S. Department of State move with demand. Specification. Most countries require validity of at least six months beyond your intended departure. A significant minority require six months beyond entry, and some long-stay visas require twelve to fifteen months. Two blank visa pages is the common minimum; some countries require four. Lead time. Weeks; check current published processing times What goes wrong. Insufficient remaining validity is the single most common reason a traveller is refused boarding at a U.S. airport, before they ever reach the destination.
- Visa application form No authentication needed The core filing. Almost always country-specific. How to get it. Download or complete it on the official portal of the country you are applying to, or the outsourced visa application centre it uses. Never pay a third party for a form that is free. Specification. Usually signed within days of the appointment. Many systems generate a barcoded PDF that must be printed at full size and unmodified. Lead time. Same day What goes wrong. Consular jurisdiction is determined by your U.S. state of residence. Filing at the wrong consulate is an automatic rejection, not a transfer.
- Passport-format photographs No authentication needed Every application. How to get it. Check the destination specification before you sit for them. The U.S. passport photo standard is not universal. Specification. Schengen states generally require 35 x 45 mm with the face occupying 70 to 80 percent of the frame on a light grey or off-white background. The United States uses 2 x 2 inches on pure white. China requires 33 x 48 mm on white. India requires 2 x 2 inches on white. Taken within the last six months in almost all cases. Lead time. Same day What goes wrong. Glasses are prohibited in an increasing number of systems, including U.S. passport photos, and cause automatic rejection.
- Certified marriage certificate Secretary of State of the issuing state Embassy legalisation Spouse and family visas, dependants on a work or study visa, and joint financial evidence. How to get it. Certified copy from the county clerk or state vital records office that recorded the licence. Specification. Usually within three to six months of issue for visa purposes. Lead time. 3 to 20 days What goes wrong. A church or celebrant certificate is not a civil record and will be rejected.
- Certified birth certificate Secretary of State of the issuing state Embassy legalisation Identity, nationality and proof of family relationships for dependants and family-based applications. How to get it. Order a certified long-form copy from the vital records office of the state or county of birth. Specification. Many authorities require issuance within the last three to six months even though the underlying facts never change. Lead time. 3 to 20 days What goes wrong. Hospital souvenir certificates are never accepted.
- Divorce decree or former spouse death certificate Secretary of State of the issuing state Embassy legalisation Proving current marital status where earlier records show a different one, and for remarriage abroad. How to get it. Certified copy from the issuing court clerk, or the vital records office for a death certificate. Specification. Generally accepted regardless of age, but the certification and apostille must be recent. Lead time. 5 to 30 days What goes wrong. The clerk certification is what the Secretary of State authenticates, so an uncertified court copy cannot be apostilled.
- FBI Identity History Summary (police clearance) U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications (federal) Embassy legalisation Required for essentially every long-stay, work, study, residence and citizenship application. Short tourist visas rarely ask for it. How to get it. Order directly from the FBI electronically, or through an FBI-approved Channeler, which is usually faster. The mail route requires fingerprints on form FD-1164. Specification. Typically accepted for three to six months from the issue date, and some authorities count from the date of the apostille rather than the date of issue. Lead time. 1 to 10 days to obtain, then federal authentication What goes wrong. A state police clearance is not a substitute and is routinely rejected. Consulates want a federal record covering all fifty states.
- Proof of funds No authentication needed Evidence you can support yourself without working illegally or becoming a public charge. How to get it. Three to six months of bank statements, sometimes stamped or certified by the bank, plus pay slips or a benefit award letter. Specification. Most Schengen states apply a published per-day minimum. Long-stay categories set an annual or monthly figure, often indexed to a local benchmark. Lead time. 1 to 10 days What goes wrong. A large deposit shortly before filing looks like borrowed money and frequently triggers a refusal. Season the balance for several months.
- Medical certificate or health examination Secretary of State of the issuing state Embassy legalisation Long-stay, work and residence categories in many countries, and immigrant visas everywhere. How to get it. Sometimes any licensed physician on letterhead; often a panel physician the destination designates. Specification. Typically valid 30 to 90 days. Immigrant medicals have their own validity rules. Lead time. 3 to 21 days What goes wrong. Where the destination publishes exact wording, use it verbatim. A generic doctor letter is refused.
- Proof of accommodation No authentication needed Where you will actually be, for the whole stay. How to get it. Hotel confirmations covering every night, a signed lease, a property deed, or an official invitation from a host. Specification. Must cover every date of the requested stay with no gaps. Gaps are a frequent refusal reason. Lead time. Days What goes wrong. Several countries require the host invitation to be on an official form obtained by the host from their local authority, not a letter the host writes.
- 1 Establish the relationship in law If you are marrying abroad, expect to need an apostilled single-status affidavit or certificate of no impediment, plus apostilled birth certificates and any divorce decrees. Getting married is itself a document exercise.
- 2 Order every civil record in the chain Birth certificates for both parties and any children, the marriage certificate, and divorce decrees or death certificates ending any previous marriage. Certified copies, not photocopies.
- 3 Authenticate the whole set Each record goes to the Secretary of State of the state that issued it, which is often several different states. Federal records such as an FBI check go to the U.S. Department of State. This is where a family file becomes a large apostille order.
- 4 Translate after authentication Into the destination language, by a translator that country recognises. Doing this before the apostille is attached is the classic and expensive mistake.
- 5 Sponsor files, or the applicant files, depending on the system Some countries have the sponsor petition from inside; others have the applicant apply at a consulate abroad. The United States uses a petition-then-consular-process model.
- 6 Interview Frequently required and frequently about the relationship rather than the paperwork. Both parties should be able to describe the shared life consistently.
- 7 Arrive, register, and transcribe the marriage where required Several countries require a foreign marriage to be transcribed into their own civil registry, which needs another apostilled and translated copy of the certificate.
Your action Documents and authentication Government processing
- 1 Obtain a certified original From the issuing authority. Photocopies, scans and souvenir certificates cannot be authenticated.
- 2 Notarise, if it is a private document Letters, affidavits, powers of attorney and diploma copies need a notary acknowledgement first. Government-issued vital records do not.
- 3 County clerk, in some states A handful of states require the county clerk to certify the notary commission before the Secretary of State will act.
- 4 Authenticate at the right level State-issued documents go to the Secretary of State of the ISSUING state. Federal documents, including the FBI Identity History Summary, go to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications.
- 5 Apostille or embassy legalisation Hague Convention destination: the apostille ends the chain. Non-member destination: the document then goes to that country embassy or consulate. For Kenya, an apostille alone will be rejected. The document must go on to that country’s embassy or consulate.
- 6 Certified translation Translate the document together with its apostille or legalisation certificate. Doing this first means paying twice. Not normally required. English is an official language of Kenya.
- 7 File with the right consulate Jurisdiction is by your U.S. state of residence. Bring originals plus a full copy set.
The two expensive mistakes. Sending a federal document such as an FBI Identity History Summary to a Secretary of State, which cannot authenticate it. And translating before authentication, so the apostille certificate is not inside the translation and the whole set has to be paid for twice.
How a family, spouse and partner visa works, anywhere
Family routes are usually the most generous immigration category a country offers and simultaneously the most document-intensive. There is normally no income test on the applicant, no labour market test and no quota, and the status often carries full work rights and a fast path to permanent residence. In exchange the state examines the relationship closely, and every document that establishes it, birth, marriage, divorce, must be certified, authenticated and often translated. This is the category where an apostille order runs to a dozen documents rather than two.
The core requirements
- Proof of the relationship
- A certified civil marriage certificate, apostilled. A religious or celebrant certificate is not a civil record. For unmarried partners, evidence of cohabitation and a shared life over a defined period, commonly two years.
- Proof of the sponsor status
- The sponsor citizenship or residence document, and evidence they actually live in the country.
- A financial requirement on the sponsor
- Most countries set a minimum income the sponsor must earn, sometimes with a savings alternative. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands are strict; EU free movement cases are far more permissive.
- Adequate accommodation
- Several countries require the sponsor to show suitable housing, occasionally with a municipal inspection certificate.
- Evidence the relationship is genuine
- Photographs over time, correspondence, joint finances, travel together, statements from family. This is where applications are actually won or lost.
- Police certificates and often a medical
- From every country of extended residence.
Where it goes wrong
- Using a religious or celebrant marriage certificate instead of the civil record.
- Name mismatches across documents. A maiden name on a birth certificate and a married name on a passport needs the marriage certificate to bridge it, and any other discrepancy needs correcting at the source before filing.
- Ordering apostilles from the wrong state. Each record goes to the state that issued it, not the state you live in.
- Translating before authenticating.
- Thin relationship evidence. Consulates want a documented history, not a stack of paperwork from the last month.
- For Americans married to EU citizens: applying under ordinary national immigration rules when the far more favourable EU free movement route was available.
Family, Spouse and Partner Visa for Kenya: common questions
Do I need a visa for Kenya as a U.S. citizen?
For a short visit, travel authorisation required. But that is not what this page covers. A family, spouse and partner visa is a separate authorisation, and every country requires one for this purpose regardless of what your passport allows for tourism. Kenya abolished visas in January 2024 and replaced them with a mandatory Electronic Travel Authorisation that every visitor, including U.S. citizens, must obtain before travelling. It is applied for online through the official government portal, costs around 30 dollars plus processing charges, and is normally approved within a few days. It is not technically a visa but it functions as one and it is checked at boarding.
Which of my documents need an apostille for Kenya?
For this route we count 5 documents that need authentication: 1 federal and 4 state-issued. Kenya is NOT a Convention member, so an apostille alone will be rejected and the documents need embassy legalisation on top of domestic authentication. The routing rule that catches people: your FBI Identity History Summary is a federal record and must be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State, while birth and marriage certificates go to the Secretary of State of the state that issued them.
How long does a family, spouse and partner visa for Kenya take?
Several months for work and residence permits On top of the decision itself, budget for the parts people forget: appointment availability, document lead times, and authentication. Three months to three years. EU free movement cases are the fastest, often weeks. U.S. immigrant visa cases and several European national routes routinely run twelve to twenty-four months.
What does it cost?
The published short-stay fee for Kenya is $30. The eTA is around 30 dollars plus processing. Work and residence permits cost substantially more. Government fees from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Document costs are unusually high in this category because of the number of records: certified copies, an apostille per document across possibly several states, and translation per page.
Where do I actually apply?
At the consulate with jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence. The official portal is Kenya eTA (official), run by Directorate of Immigration Services. Use it directly rather than a third-party site: the forms are free, and paid intermediaries frequently charge several times the government fee for the identical product.
Official sources for Kenya
- Kenya eTA official portal The only legitimate eTA application site.
- Directorate of Immigration Services Permit classes and requirements.
Verified Sep 7, 2026 Primary sources: www.etakenya.go.ke, immigration.go.ke
Email this checklist to yourself
A plain-text email you can forward to a spouse, an employer or an attorney. Sent once. No list, no sequence.
This resource is provided free by Federal Apostille as an educational tool. It is not legal or immigration advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by using it. Visa rules, fees, processing times and entry requirements change frequently and often without notice, and individual circumstances change the answer. Always confirm current requirements with the official government source and the specific embassy or consulate that has jurisdiction over your place of residence before you book travel or file an application. Every figure on this site carries the date we last verified it and a link to the primary source.
