Kenyan teachers seeking employment in countries like the United States have called on the government to streamline the process of applying for a visa which they termed as being bureaucratic and tedious. This came as an appeal following a situation whereby embassies had continued to struggle with backlogs for Kenyans seeking travel permits.
Visa Application Challenges
According to some teachers who spoke to journalists in Ruiru, hundreds of them visit embassies daily, only to find a very stretched and tedious application process. Hundreds of applicants reported withdrawal or canceling of their applications for failure to pass the interview stages or over accusations of having ‘illegitimate’ documents.
Led at the front by Ruth Kiarie, Brian Belfas, and Caroline Wanjiku, the teachers aired their anger over the delay and challenges in getting a VISA, stressing that most of them miss job opportunities abroad.
“Government should intervene to save Kenyans for the many jobs they miss for a simple hindrance. More jobs for Kenyans in the US result in more remittances to grow our country, the government should give a hand to those who have already secured jobs abroad”, said Belfas.
Government Response and Recent Developments
Their appeal has come just as the US government had rolled up its sleeves in tackling the visa processing problem. The White House announced last month that it had increased capacity through the addition of staff at the Nairobi embassy to expedite visa applications. The improvements to consular services were aimed at clearing the backlog of visa applications and are part of agreements reached between the US and Kenya.
It was Ambassador Isaiya Kabira, the Secretary of Investments and Entrepreneurship, who placed the Kenyan teachers working abroad into the perspective of the country’s socio-economic development. “This is a new dawn where the professional destinies of our teachers are redefined and elevated to global heights. We are looking at you as global citizens and not just as Kenyans,” said Kabira.
Successful Recruitment and Future Prospects
According to the founder of PesuaR International Job Placement Consultancy, Dr. Peter Ruhiri, over 70 Kenyan teachers will fly into the US in this year’s first batch following successful recruitment and placement. He added that more teachers would be enrolled in the program next year as more teaching opportunities arise.
The initiative will be a sequel to the agreed policy and regulatory framework for teacher labour mobility between the State Department of Diaspora Affairs and the Teachers Service Commission in February 2024.
“Now we are asking them to be good ambassadors so we are able to retrain and get more teachers the following year. We will rely on what they do as a calling into the US community to recruit more teachers from Kenya. We ask them to work extra hard and to be on top of their behavior to put our country, Kenya, on the map,” Ruhiri said.