Class G vs Class D permit Kenya is the choice every foreign professional and every sponsoring company in Kenya has to get right first. Pick the wrong one and you lose the fee and the wait. The rule of thumb is straightforward: Class D is for being employed, and Class G is for running your own business. This guide compares the two and helps you choose.
This guide is for foreign professionals moving to Kenya, and for companies deciding how to bring someone in. If you already know which class you need, go straight to our Class D work permit guide or our Class G work permit guide for the full detail. If you will not work at all but live on your own income, neither applies, and that is Class K.
Both permits come from the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Regulations, 2012, under the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act, No. 12 of 2011, and both are applied for online. They answer different questions. Class D asks whether a foreign worker is filling a role a Kenyan could not. Class G asks whether the applicant is making a genuine, funded business investment. Because the questions differ, the evidence differs, and so does the party who applies.
The cleanest test is the relationship. If a Kenyan entity is employing you and paying your salary, that is Class D, and the employer applies. If you are coming to run your own trade, business, consultancy or non-prescribed profession, alone or with partners, that is Class G, and you apply through your company. Everything else follows: the documents you file, the requirement you must satisfy, and the fee you pay.
| Feature | Class D (Employment) | Class G (Trade / Business / Consultancy) |
|---|---|---|
| For | A foreign employee in a specific role | A foreign investor or business owner |
| Who applies | The Kenyan employer | The applicant, through a registered company |
| Decisive requirement | Understudy plus proof the role cannot be filled locally | Documentary proof of USD 100,000 capital to be invested |
| Key documents | Forms 25 and 27, employment contract, certified certificates, understudy details, TCC | Forms 25 and 27, certificate of incorporation, memo and articles, CR12, PIN, capital proof |
| Can you be employed by another? | Yes, that is the point | No, Class G is your own venture |
| Can you run your own business? | No, you are an employee | Yes, that is the point |
| Processing fee | KES 20,000 (non-refundable) | KES 20,000 (non-refundable) |
| Issuance fee (per year) | KES 500,000 | KES 250,000 |
| Typical cross-sell | Employment contract, PAYE, SHIF/NSSF | Company set-up, tax registration, beneficial ownership |
Read the fee row carefully. On the annual government fee, Class D is the more expensive permit at KES 500,000 a year. Class G requires USD 100,000 of committed capital in your own business, a far larger total commitment, though not a payment to the government.
The choice between the two permits reaches beyond immigration, and this is where treating a permit as a standalone form gets clients into trouble. A Class D route pulls in the Employment Act, 2007, PAYE, and SHIF and NSSF contributions, because there is a genuine employment relationship to run properly. A Class G route pulls in the Companies Act, 2015, the Business Registration Service, tax registration and beneficial-ownership filing, because there is a company to stand up first. The permit decision should be made at the same time as the corporate and employment structuring, because the three are one design, and choosing the permit in isolation is how people end up refiling.
A fintech founder from Nigeria plans to launch a Kenyan startup and also to draw a salary from it. Because she is coming to build and own the business, the correct route is Class G. She incorporates the Kenyan company, documents at least USD 100,000 of committed capital, and applies through the company. If, a year later, the funded company hires a foreign chief technology officer it cannot fill locally, that officer comes in on Class D, with the company sponsoring, naming a Kenyan understudy, and showing that the role was advertised. It is the same business using two different permits, because the relationships are different. The cost contrast is worth noting too: the officer’s Class D permit costs KES 500,000 a year, while the founder’s Class G costs KES 250,000 a year but sits on top of her USD 100,000 investment.
I will own the company but also be its employee. Class D or G? If you are the investor building your own venture, Class G is the natural route. Take advice where the structure is mixed, because the facts drive it.
Which is more expensive? On the annual government fee, Class D at KES 500,000 is higher than Class G at KES 250,000. Class G requires USD 100,000 of committed capital, a much larger commitment overall.
Can I switch classes later? You apply afresh under the correct class. You cannot simply repurpose one permit for the other’s activity.
Do both allow family to join? Yes. Dependant’s passes are available under both, for a spouse and children.
Which is faster? Both run through the same online process and the Permit Determination Committee, and completeness of the file, not the class, drives the timeline.
Can a Special Pass cover either while I wait? Yes. A Special Pass can cover the gap for either class while the permit is processed. Do not work on a visitor’s pass.
The biggest mistake is choosing the class from cost or convenience rather than the actual relationship, and then having the application fail on the requirement that class turns on. A founder who files Class D to avoid the capital test cannot produce an employer or an understudy, and an employee who files Class G has no company or capital of their own. A second mistake is leaving the permit decision until after the company or the contract is set up, when an earlier choice would have shaped both. A third is ignoring the wider obligations, such as hiring before payroll registration, or investing before the company and beneficial-ownership record are clean. A fourth is a budgeting surprise: employers sometimes forget the Class D permit is KES 500,000 a year, and investors sometimes treat the USD 100,000 as a fee rather than committed capital they must evidence.
Our immigration, corporate and employment teams help you choose the right class and then execute it, whether that is the company set-up and capital evidence for Class G, or the sponsorship, contract and localisation case for Class D, along with the tax and beneficial-ownership steps that go with each. To discuss which permit fits your plans, contact John Maina, Partner, at OLM Law Advocates LLP.
This article is a general guide only and is not legal advice. Please seek advice on your specific circumstances.
OLM Law Advocates LLP advises employers, investors and individuals on Kenyan work and residence permits from start to finish.
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