How to Hire Nurses from Kenya: Employer Guide

Employers abroad can hire nurses from Kenya, but how you may do it depends on your country's rules on ethical recruitment, Kenya's rules on recruitment agencies, and your own regulator's licensing process. In short: recruit through a channel your government allows, use only a Kenyan agency licensed for foreign recruitment if you use one at all, pay the recruitment costs yourself, and verify every nurse's licence with the Nursing Council of Kenya before they apply to your regulator.

Kenya trains more nurses than its public health system currently employs, and many Kenyan nurses want to work abroad. That makes Kenya an important source of nurses - and a market where the ethics and legality of recruitment are watched closely by both governments.

Step 1: Check what your country allows

United Kingdom: Kenya is on the amber list

The UK Code of Practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel placed Kenya on its amber list on 11 November 2021. For amber-list countries, international recruitment is allowed only under the terms of the government-to-government agreement in place. The UK and Kenya signed a bilateral agreement in July 2021, which NHS Employers describes as still in its pilot phase.

What this means in practice:

• NHS trusts, care providers and agencies may not actively recruit in Kenya outside the agreement's terms. Doing so breaches the Code.
• Kenyan nurses can still apply directly to UK employers on their own initiative, as long as they are not being targeted by an agency or employer.
• The first nurses travelled under the agreement in June 2022, through a programme coordinated by Kenya's Ministry of Health.

WHO safeguards list

The WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List 2023 names 55 countries where WHO recommends extra safeguards, such as government-to-government agreements, before recruiting health workers. Kenya was not on the 2023 list. WHO updates the list every three years, so check the current edition.

Other destinations

The United States, Canada, Australia, Germany and the Gulf states recruit Kenyan nurses under their own immigration and licensing rules. Before you start, confirm your own regulator's requirements for internationally educated nurses and your country's visa route for nurses.

Step 2: Choose a legal recruitment channel in Kenya

You have three routes:

1. Government programmes. Kenya's government runs labour mobility programmes, including the Kazi Majuu portal of the State Department for Diaspora Affairs and the Ministry of Health's arrangements under bilateral agreements such as the UK deal.
2. A licensed private recruitment agency. Under Kenyan law, private employment agencies must be licensed by the National Employment Authority (NEA), and placing workers abroad needs a licence for foreign recruitment. Check the agency yourself on the NEA's NEAIMS portal or the Diaspora Affairs register, which shows each agency's status as Valid or Expired and its service type.
3. Direct hiring. You advertise and nurses apply to you directly. Where your country's ethical recruitment code applies, make sure your advertising does not amount to active recruitment it prohibits.

See our guide to jobs abroad from Kenya for how Kenyan jobseekers are told to check agencies - your candidates will be doing the same checks on you.

Step 3: Recruit ethically

Good practice also includes:

• A written contract before travel, setting out pay, hours, leave, accommodation, the contract length and who pays travel. Kenya's State Department for Diaspora Affairs publishes a standard contract for migrant workers you can compare against.
• No retention of passports - Kenyan workers abroad are entitled to keep their own identity documents.
• Clear information about licensing exams, their costs and timelines, and what happens if a nurse does not pass.

Step 4: Verify qualifications and licences

Never rely on photocopies. Kenya's regulators offer direct verification:

• Licence status: search the nurse on the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) register at osp.nckenya.com (License Status). Every nurse practising in Kenya must be on the NCK retention register.
• Verification for outmigration: the nurse applies to NCK through its online services portal for verification of their registration and qualifications for a foreign regulator.
• KMTC certificates: verify diplomas and certificates through KMTC's certificate verification system, using the certificate serial number and year of graduation.

Our full guide explains each step: how to verify a Kenyan nurse's licence.

Kenyan nursing qualifications you will see include the Kenya Registered Community Health Nurse (KRCHN) diploma and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN). Check that the qualification matches your regulator's entry requirements, including midwifery training where it is required.

Step 5: Support the nurse through your licensing process

Every destination has its own route to a nursing licence. The two most common for Kenyan nurses are:

• United States, Canada and Australia: the NCLEX exam, which Kenyan nurses can sit at a Pearson VUE centre in Nairobi. See NCLEX for Kenyan nurses.
• United Kingdom: NMC registration, with an English test, a computer-based test and an OSCE in the UK. See NMC registration for Kenyan nurses.

Paying exam and registration fees upfront, rather than lending them and deducting them from salary later, keeps you in line with the fair-recruitment principle above and avoids leaving nurses in debt to their employer.

Checklist

1. Confirm your country's rules for recruiting from Kenya (UK: amber list, agreement only).
2. Choose a government programme, an NEA-licensed agency, or direct hiring.
3. Agree in writing that the nurse pays no recruitment fees.
4. Verify the NCK licence and qualifications directly.
5. Issue a written contract and plan the licensing route and visa.

Sources

• NHS Employers: Code of Practice red and amber list of countries
• WHO health workforce support and safeguards list 2023
• Kenya News Agency: government flags off first cohort of nurses to the UK
• ILO general principles and operational guidelines for fair recruitment
• Nursing Council of Kenya: online services portal
• KMTC certificate verification system

Frequently asked questions

Can UK employers recruit nurses from Kenya?+

Only within the UK-Kenya government-to-government agreement. Kenya has been on the amber list of the UK Code of Practice for international recruitment since 11 November 2021, so active recruitment outside the agreement's terms breaches the Code. Kenyan nurses can still apply to UK employers directly on their own initiative.

Is Kenya on the WHO health workforce safeguards list?+

No. Kenya was not on the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List 2023. WHO updates the list every three years, so check the current edition before you plan a recruitment campaign.

Do I have to use a recruitment agency to hire Kenyan nurses?+

No, but if you use an agency in Kenya it must be licensed by Kenya's National Employment Authority for foreign recruitment. You can check an agency's licence on the NEA's NEAIMS portal or the State Department for Diaspora Affairs register.

Who should pay the recruitment costs?+

The employer. Under the ILO's general principles for fair recruitment, no recruitment fees or related costs should be charged to, or otherwise borne by, workers or jobseekers. Charging nurses for placement is also a common sign of an exploitative agency.

How do I check that a Kenyan nurse is really qualified and licensed?+

Check the nurse's practising licence on the Nursing Council of Kenya's online register, ask the nurse to request an NCK verification for outmigration (which goes to your regulator), and verify KMTC certificates through KMTC's online verification system.