Nairobi is one of only a handful of cities worldwide hosting United Nations headquarters agencies, alongside more than a hundred diplomatic missions. If you're arriving on posting, you're very likely entitled to bring in a vehicle without paying import duty, excise or VAT.
The entitlement is well established. The process, however, runs through your protocol office and the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs rather than through KRA directly — which is where most of the confusion starts.
Who qualifies
The exemption flows from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Kenya's reciprocity arrangements, applied through the customs exemptions regime. It generally extends to accredited personnel of:
- Foreign embassies, high commissions and consulates
- United Nations agencies — including UNEP and UN-Habitat, both headquartered in Nairobi, plus UNHCR, WHO, UNDP, FAO and others
- Recognised international organisations and certain NGOs operating under host-country agreements
Eligibility isn't self-assessed. Your protocol or liaison officer determines whether you qualify, and they're the correct first stop — before you start looking at vehicles, not after.
Entitlements vary by mission, by grade, and by the specific agreement your organisation holds with the Kenyan government. Two people arriving in the same week at different organisations can have quite different entitlements.
The PRO 1B form
This is the centre of the process.
Form PRO 1B is the application for authority to import a duty-free vehicle by entitled foreign personnel. It's prepared through your protocol officer and submitted to the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs for approval.
Two things worth knowing:
It must be approved before your vehicle arrives. A vehicle that lands while the PRO 1B is still in process sits at the port accruing storage charges. Start it early — before shipping, not after.
An approved PRO 1B also exempts the shipment from physical customs inspection, which is part of why the paperwork sequence matters so much.
What you'll need
- Approved PRO 1B — via your protocol officer, through the Ministry
- KRA PIN — obtainable via iTax using your diplomatic passport; your protocol office will have a preferred route
- Original diplomatic passport — required when the vehicle reaches Mombasa, and returned once cleared
- Diplomatic ID / accreditation from the Ministry
- Commercial invoice for the vehicle
- Pre-shipment inspection certificate (QISJ or equivalent, done in the country of export)
- Original export certificate / logbook — for Japanese vehicles, both the Japanese original and an English translation
- Bills of lading, signed and endorsed
- Cover letter from your embassy or organisation confirming the registration number allocated to you
Registration and plates
Diplomatic vehicles carry a distinct registration series. Your embassy or organisation handles the allocation once the exemption documents are in order, and will confirm the assigned number — which is why the cover letter above forms part of the clearance file.
Reported clearance time once the paperwork is complete and correct is around three to four working days. The paperwork being complete and correct is doing considerable work in that sentence.
Timelines
The exemption is normally tied to your arrival or accreditation, with the vehicle expected within 90 days.
Some postings allow longer — up to a year — depending on the terms of your contract and your organisation's agreement. This genuinely varies, so confirm your own window with your protocol office rather than assuming the standard one applies. Extensions beyond the stated period are possible but discretionary, involving both the Ministry and KRA.
Shipping from Japan runs roughly six to seven weeks before port time. Against a 90-day window that's comfortable, but not if you spend the first month deciding what to buy.
The rules that still apply
The exemption removes taxes. It does not remove Kenya's vehicle import requirements:
- Right-hand drive — non-negotiable for ordinary passenger vehicles
- Under 8 years old from first registration
- Pre-shipment inspection completed before the vehicle ships
An entitled diplomat importing a nine-year-old vehicle, or a left-hand-drive one, faces the same refusal as anyone else.
Selling your vehicle at the end of posting
This is the part most worth understanding early, because it affects what you should buy in the first place.
Your vehicle holds duty-free status, not duty-exempt-forever status. What happens on sale depends entirely on who buys it:
Selling to another entitled diplomat. The vehicle can remain duty-free — but the buyer processes their own PRO 1B to take it on under their entitlement. This is the cleanest route, and it's why ex-diplomatic vehicles often circulate within the diplomatic community.
Selling to anyone else. The duty must first be assessed and paid. Once settled, the registration certificate is updated to duty-paid status, and only then can the logbook transfer to the new owner. Registration and licensing fees apply on top.
The practical consequence: when you sell outside the diplomatic community, someone absorbs the duty that was never paid — and it's usually reflected in the price. Worth factoring in when you choose a vehicle at the start of a posting, not when you're packing up at the end of one.
Frequently asked questions
Do I apply to KRA directly? No. It runs through your protocol or liaison officer to the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs. Your clearing agent then handles the customs side using the approved PRO 1B.
Can I import more than one vehicle? Entitlements vary by mission, grade and agreement. Your protocol office is the only reliable answer.
Does the exemption cover household goods too? Yes — the PRO 1B process covers personal and household effects alongside the vehicle. Most diplomatic relocation agents handle both together.
I'm an expatriate but not accredited. Do I qualify? Generally not. The exemption attaches to accredited status under a recognised mission or organisation, not to being a foreign national working in Kenya. Check with your employer's protocol office — if there isn't one, that's usually informative in itself.
Can I buy a used car locally instead of importing? Yes, and buying an existing duty-free vehicle from a departing diplomat is common. You'd process your own PRO 1B to take it on under your entitlement.
What if my vehicle arrives before the PRO 1B is approved? It waits, and storage charges accrue. This is the most common and most avoidable cost in the whole process.
Buying the vehicle itself
The exemption paperwork runs through your protocol office. Sourcing the right right-hand-drive vehicle — and getting it inspected, shipped and cleared at Mombasa — is a separate job, and it's ours.
We import from Japan and handle clearing end to end, including vehicles arriving under diplomatic exemption. We're Nairobi-based, so we're also here when it's time to sell at the end of a posting.
Talk to us early. The biggest avoidable costs in a diplomatic import come from paperwork and shipping falling out of sequence — both fixable with a bit of lead time.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Entitlements vary by mission, grade and agreement, and exemption decisions rest with the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs and KRA. Confirm your own position with your protocol office.