Moving from Ireland to Kenya (2026): Complete Guide

Moving from Ireland to Kenya means closing out your tax and customs position with Irish Revenue on the export side, then navigating an East African Community customs regime and Kenya’s work-permit-linked duty relief on the import side. This guide is written for an Irish resident — an employee taking up a Kenyan work permit, a retiree, or a family relocating with pets and a household shipment — who needs the real government rules on both ends of the corridor, plus a short note on the reverse move back to Ireland.

Key takeaways

• Kenya abolished visas on 1 January 2024; almost everyone now needs an Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) before flying in, but eTA is not a residence status and gives you no customs relief — etakenya.go.ke, Directorate of Immigration Services.
• Duty-free import of your household goods and one vehicle into Kenya depends on holding a Kenyan work permit issued for a contract of at least two years, and on shipping within three months of that permit being issued — KRA, Importing Personal Effects and Household Goods.
• Ireland’s customs authority is Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs), which also runs the export side via the Automated Export System (AES), live since 21 March 2023 — Revenue, AES.
• Your PPS number cannot be cancelled and stays valid for life, so there is no "deregistration" step for it — you simply update your address with Revenue — Citizens Information, PPS number.
• You remain "ordinarily resident" for Irish tax purposes until you’ve been non-resident for three continuous tax years, and Irish-sourced income (e.g. rent) stays taxable after you leave — Revenue, leaving Ireland permanently.
• Used vehicles imported into Kenya must be less than 8 years old from first registration, right-hand drive, and pass a KEBS-appointed pre-shipment roadworthiness inspection in the exporting country — KRA, Motor Vehicle Importation.
• Carrying €10,000 or more in cash out of Ireland requires an EU Cash Declaration to Revenue; Kenya requires a customs declaration (Form CBK/C.D./1) for cash exceeding USD 5,000 or KES 500,000 — Revenue, declaring cash, Central Bank of Kenya (Declaration of Currency) Regulations.
• Dogs and cats need a Kenyan Directorate of Veterinary Services Import Permit (VS01) and International Veterinary Certificate (VS16) arranged before departure, plus an Irish export health certificate from your Regional Veterinary Office — InfoTrade Kenya, VS01, DAFM, Pet Travel.

1. How your immigration status in Kenya determines your customs treatment

The single biggest driver of how your move is taxed is not what you ship — it’s what status you hold when you arrive. Since 1 January 2024, Kenya requires almost every foreign visitor to hold an approved Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) before travel, applied for through the official portal (etakenya.go.ke). The eTA is valid for entry within 90 days of issuance; confirm the current processing fee on the official portal when you apply, since third-party sites frequently quote different figures. Holders of a Kenya Permanent Residence permit or a valid Work Permit are exempt from the eTA requirement (Directorate of Immigration Services, eTA).

An eTA only gets you through the airport; it confers no right to import household goods duty-free. That relief is tied to an actual Work Permit issued by the Directorate of Immigration Services — most commonly Class D, for a specific job with a named employer (Directorate of Immigration Services, Class D). The Kenya Revenue Authority’s own published guidance for "First Arrivals" makes the link explicit: your household effects and one motor vehicle qualify for duty exemption under East African Community customs rules only if your work contract runs for at least two years, the goods have been owned and used by you for at least one year, and they are imported within three months of the Work Permit being issued (KRA, Importing Personal Effects and Household Goods). Arriving on a tourist eTA with a container of furniture in transit is the fastest way to lose that relief — get the permit sorted, and time your shipment, before your goods land.

2. The Ireland export side: Revenue, deregistration and tax exit

Ireland’s customs authority is Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs), which administers both import relief for people moving to Ireland and the export declaration system for people leaving. There is no single "deregistration" event when you leave — your PPS number is a lifetime reference number and cannot be cancelled or given up (Citizens Information, PPS number). What you do need to do is notify Revenue of your new non-Irish address, either through myAccount (if you’re a PAYE employee) or the Revenue Online Service, and if your employer doesn’t formally end your employment record, cease it yourself via "Cease job/pension" in PAYE Services (Revenue, if you are leaving Ireland permanently).

On tax residency: leaving Ireland does not make you a tax exile overnight. You remain "ordinarily resident" until you have been non-resident for three continuous tax years, and while non-resident you’re still liable for Irish tax on Irish-sourced income, such as rent from a property you keep in Ireland — Revenue’s own guidance is explicit that "if you are non-resident, you are required to pay Irish tax on any Irish sourced income" (same source).

For the physical export of your goods, formal shipments to a non-EU country such as Kenya require an electronic customs declaration lodged through Revenue’s Automated Export System, AES, which went live on 21 March 2023 and is what confirms exit of goods from the EU (Revenue, AES process flow). For smaller, genuinely personal removal shipments, Revenue also permits an oral declaration at the customs office of exit for defined categories such as personal effects, tools of the trade and similar traveller’s goods (Revenue, oral declaration). In practice, for a full household shipment a professional mover or customs agent files the formal AES declaration on your behalf; the oral route only suits small, straightforward consignments, and your mover should confirm which route applies to your shipment. Separately, if you personally carry €10,000 or more in cash out of the EU through an Irish airport or port, you must complete the EU Cash Declaration Form for Revenue (Revenue, declaring cash).

3. Ports and transit — Ireland to Mombasa

There is no direct sea service between Ireland and Kenya, so household shipments move in two legs. On the Irish end, the two real gateways are Dublin Port — which handles around 80% of all unitised (Lo-Lo and Ro-Ro) freight in the Republic of Ireland — and Rosslare Europort in Wexford, which runs around 92 weekly RoRo calls, with daily sailings to Pembroke and Fishguard in the UK and weekly sailings to Cherbourg and Bilbao on the continent (Dublin Port, About Us; Rosslare Europort, Roll on Roll off). Goods leaving from either port are typically trucked or ferried to a major European hub (commonly Antwerp, Rotterdam or Hamburg) for onward deep-sea loading to Kenya’s principal gateway, the Port of Mombasa, run by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA, Port of Mombasa).

Freight-industry estimate, not an official figure: door-to-door sea freight from Ireland to Mombasa via a European hub port typically runs around 6–10 weeks depending on sailing schedules, consolidation, and Mombasa clearance times; air freight for smaller unaccompanied baggage or pets typically transits in 3–7 days but at a much higher cost per kilo. Always confirm current transit times with your carrier or moving company before committing to dates.

4. The Kenya import side: the KRA process

Once your goods and Work Permit are in order, Kenyan clearance runs through the Kenya Revenue Authority under the "First Arrivals" category described above. The required documents are: your passport, your Work Permit or residence visa, your KRA PIN Certificate, the Bill of Lading or Air Waybill, a comprehensive valued inventory and packing list, an authority letter for your clearing agent, and — if you’re bringing a car — the vehicle logbook (KRA, Importing Personal Effects and Household Goods). You’ll need a KRA Personal Identification Number (PIN) before your shipment can be cleared, so apply for it as soon as your permit is confirmed rather than after your container arrives.

The exemption covers wearing apparel and personal and household effects that were genuinely in your own use at your previous place of residence, plus one motor vehicle you’ve personally owned and used abroad for at least twelve months (same source). Keep the one-year-of-use and three-months-of-permit windows in mind — goods bought new just before the move, or shipped long after your permit is issued, risk losing the exemption entirely. The goods also can’t be sold, lent or otherwise disposed of while you remain in Kenya under the permit that got them in duty-free (same source).

5. Pets — the rules on both ends

Leaving Ireland: for a non-commercial move of a dog, cat or ferret to a third (non-EU) country like Kenya, contact your Regional Veterinary Office well ahead of travel — commonly at least two months in advance — to arrange the correct export health certificate. Kenya isn’t covered by the EU pet passport scheme, so the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s pet travel guidance is the starting point for destination-specific requirements (DAFM, Pet Travel).

Entering Kenya: dogs and cats require an Import Permit for Dogs & Cats (VS01), issued by Kenya’s Directorate of Veterinary Services, plus an International Veterinary Certificate for Dogs & Cats (VS16) — both arranged, via the official government trade portal, before the animal travels (InfoTrade Kenya, Import permit for dogs & cats). Start this process in parallel with your Ireland-side export certificate, not after — Kenyan import permits are issued in advance of arrival, not on landing.

6. Vehicles, money, and things people forget

Vehicles: a used car imported into Kenya must be under 8 years old from its year of first registration, right-hand drive, and must pass a pre-shipment roadworthiness inspection by a KEBS-appointed agent in the country of export before it’s loaded — a left-hand-drive Irish car cannot be imported at all (KRA, Motor Vehicle Importation). Because the 8-year window is measured from first registration, from 1 January 2026 this means, in practice, only vehicles first registered in 2019 or later clear the age limit — check the current cut-off year with your clearing agent before you commit to shipping a specific car. The same "First Arrivals" duty exemption can apply to one vehicle if you’ve owned and used it for 12+ months, but the age and drive-side rules apply regardless of the exemption.

Money: declare cash of €10,000 or more when leaving Ireland/the EU (Revenue); on the Kenya side, anyone carrying more than USD 5,000 (or the equivalent KES 500,000) in or out of the country must declare it to Customs on Form CBK/C.D./1 (Central Bank of Kenya (Declaration of Currency) Regulations).

Easy to forget: apply for your KRA PIN before your shipment departs, not after it lands in Mombasa; lock in your Work Permit start date before you book your sea freight, since the Kenyan three-month import clock runs from permit issuance; and keep your Irish address update with Revenue and your PPS number details on hand — you’ll likely need them again if the move ever reverses.

Reverse direction: moving back from Kenya to Ireland

Coming back the other way, Irish Revenue’s Transfer of Residence relief lets you bring your used household effects and a vehicle back into Ireland free of Customs Duty and VAT, provided you’ve lived outside the EU for a continuous period of at least twelve months before you move and the goods have been in your possession and use for at least six months (Revenue, Transfer of Residence — rules). You apply using the "Declaration form for transfer of residence" (form C&E 1076), emailed with your supporting documents to the relevant Irish port or airport roughly two weeks before your goods arrive (Revenue, Transfer of Residence — procedure at importation).

How Flyto handles your Ireland to Kenya move

Flyto runs its own offices, warehouses, vehicles and crews across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, so the Irish collection, export documentation and consolidation to a European hub port are handled in-house by our own teams. For the ocean leg to Mombasa and final delivery in Kenya, we work through a carefully vetted network of subcontracted carriers and trusted local partners on the ground in Kenya, who handle KRA clearance, permit-linked duty relief, and last-mile delivery. That combination gives you one point of contact for the whole corridor, backed by people who actually know both the Irish and Kenyan rules described above.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Kenyan work permit before I can ship my household goods duty-free?
Yes. KRA’s duty exemption for "First Arrivals" requires a Work Permit issued for a contract of at least two years, and your goods must arrive within three months of that permit being issued (KRA).

Can I bring my left-hand-drive Irish car to Kenya?
No — Kenya requires imported vehicles to be right-hand drive, in addition to the 8-year age limit and pre-shipment KEBS inspection (KRA, Motor Vehicle Importation).

Do I need to formally deregister from Ireland?
There’s no single deregistration step. Update your address with Revenue via myAccount/ROS and cease your job record if needed; your PPS number stays valid for life regardless (Revenue, Citizens Information).

Am I still an Irish tax resident after I move?
You remain "ordinarily resident" for tax purposes until you’ve been non-resident for three continuous tax years, and Irish-sourced income stays taxable throughout (Revenue).

Do I need an eTA even if I’m relocating permanently, not just visiting?
You need an eTA to enter unless you already hold a Kenya Work Permit or Permanent Residence permit at the time of travel; most people entering to take up employment enter first, then convert status (Directorate of Immigration Services, eTA).

How do I get my pet into Kenya?
Arrange an Irish export health certificate through your Regional Veterinary Office well ahead of travel, and in parallel apply for Kenya’s Import Permit for Dogs & Cats (VS01) and International Veterinary Certificate (VS16) before the animal travels (DAFM, InfoTrade Kenya).

Sources

• Revenue: Moving to live in Ireland from outside the EU / Transfer of Residence
• Revenue: Transfer of Residence — rules
• Revenue: Transfer of Residence — procedure at importation
• Revenue: If you are leaving Ireland permanently
• Revenue: Automated Export System (AES) — process flow to confirm exit of goods from the EU
• Revenue: Oral declaration (export and re-import)
• Revenue: Declaring cash of €10,000 or more
• Citizens Information: Personal Public Service (PPS) number
• DAFM: Pet Travel and EU Pet Passport
• Dublin Port Company: About Us
• Rosslare Europort: Roll on Roll off freight
• Kenya Ports Authority: Port of Mombasa
• Directorate of Immigration Services (Kenya): Work Permits and Passes
• Directorate of Immigration Services (Kenya): Class D (Employment)
• Directorate of Immigration Services (Kenya): Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA)
• eTA Kenya — official portal
• Kenya Revenue Authority: Importing Personal Effects and Household Goods
• Kenya Revenue Authority: Procedures for Motor Vehicle importation
• Central Bank of Kenya (Declaration of Currency) Regulations — Kenya Law
• InfoTrade Kenya (KenTrade): Import permit for dogs & cats (VS01)