International Students to Pay in Dollars for Pupil Passes to Study in Kenya Under New Directive
In order to study in Kenya, international students must now pay USD 100 for pupil passes.
Speaking with an official at one of Kenya’s international universities, it was revealed that the directive was issued last week, at the same time that Kenya updated missionary visas from Ksh15,000 to Ksh150,000.
The new regulation also states that international students will no longer be able to pay in shillings.
The administrator revealed that they were shocked to receive an invoice stating that they should pay USD100 (Ksh13,200) instead of the usual Ksh5,000 per student.
Furthermore, they stated that they can no longer make payments using mobile money because it only allows transactions in the local currency.
It was unclear why the administration decided to triple the fees for international students.
The decision has caused problems for scores of Kenyan institutions that accommodate international students.
Over 6,000 overseas students attend Kenya’s universities and institutions. According to Master Studies, Kenya now welcomes over 50,000 international students ranging from primary to tertiary level.
The administrator stated that this directive now impacts all overseas students and pupils, whether in kindergarten or university.
“We prepare our fee structure using Kenyan shilling, but now it is complicated to do so due to the volatility of the dollar,” she went on to say.
While USD 100 is currently worth Ksh 13,200 as of April 17, this value can fluctuate within a day or even hours.
The academic institution must also pay the amount on the student’s behalf through the Republic of Kenya’s Electronic Foreign Nationals Services (eFNS).
The international college stated that the students cannot make the payments individually because they need to have a bank account for such purposes.
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The explanation was that this approach was unfeasible due to the requirement of a pupil pass for the application of Alien ID, which is necessary to open an account with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and enable the student to have a bank account. Many schools and students found this process to be inconvenient.
The school administrator expressed dissatisfaction, explaining that the foreign college processed 40 applications each semester.
They must now raise school fees while devising strategies to manage the volatility of the dollar.
International Students to Pay in Dollars for Pupil Passes to Study in Kenya Under New Directive
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