An immigration attaché at the High Commission of Kenya in Ottawa provided the following information on entry and exit stamps to the Research Directorate in correspondence dated 27 September 2006:

1. There are two principal stamps Immigration Officers in Kenya use to stamp travelers passports at the entry and exit control points (airport, land borders, seaports, etc.). [The] Entry stamp is rectangular and [the] exit stamp is triangular [...]

Under certain circumstances, when an exit stamp is not available, the entry stamp can also be used to stamp a traveler's passport on departure. When this happens, the Immigration Officer codes the entry stamp as exit.

2. The[se] two stamps have been used by the Immigration Department of Kenya for decades including 2001-2003.

3. It is not regular and proper to have two Kenya entry stamps endorsed in one's passport without one having left the country.

4. It is not regular and proper for a person to re-enter Kenya if his/her passport bears no exit stamp from his/her previous trip [out of] the country

5. ...This is because all travelers to Kenya ought to have an entry stamp immediately on arrival in Kenya and an exit stamp immediately on departure from Kenya.

There are other stamps used by Kenya Immigration Officers at the immigration Headquarters in Nairobi and the Regional Offices in Mombasa and Kisumu. These include Kenya re-entry pass stamps given to residents, work permit stamps given to non-citizens working in Kenya, among others.

The most common stamps used by Immigration Officers to stamp travelers passports are the two ... described in [point No.1 above]. (27 Sept. 2006)

No information regarding notations made by Immigration Officers in traveller's passports could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within time constraints.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Kenya. 27 September 2006. Correspondence with an immigration attaché at the High Commission in Ottawa.

Oral Sources: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees did not provide information to the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Internet sites including: Department of Immigration, Kenya