Key Takeaways
- Confirm permit eligibility before the offer is finalized, not after.
- Ensure authorization is in place before the employee's first day.
- Log every foreign hire in a central compliance register from day one.
- Address dependant applications within the first 30 days if family are relocating.
- Review the register quarterly for upcoming renewals and role changes.
Onboarding a foreign employee compliantly means more than confirming their work permit exists — it means building a repeatable checklist HR can run every time, without reinventing the process for each hire.
Before the Offer Is Finalized
Confirm the role and candidate are eligible for the intended permit class, and that the employer can make the case a Kenyan candidate couldn't fill the role.
Before Arrival
Ensure the permit (or an appropriate Special Pass) is in place before the employee begins work, not after.
On Day One
Log the employee and their permit details in your central compliance register — not just their personnel file.
In the First 30 Days
Confirm any dependant applications are underway if family are relocating too, and calendar the permit's renewal date immediately.
Ongoing
Review the register quarterly to catch upcoming renewals and any role changes that might affect permit validity.
A checklist like this turns foreign employee onboarding from a one-off scramble into a standard HR process — which is exactly what it should be.
Take the Next Step
Standardize Your Onboarding Process
We help HR teams build a repeatable, compliant onboarding process for foreign hires — so every hire follows the same reliable path, not a fresh interpretation each time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should own the compliance register internally?
A named member of your HR or People team, with clear escalation to legal or an immigration advisor when a question arises — ownership split across multiple people is where gaps creep in.
What happens if a new hire's permit isn't ready by their start date?
In some circumstances, a Special Pass can bridge the gap — but this should be planned for in advance, not treated as a fallback after the fact.
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