Citizenship by Descent

Greetings,

Last year, after living in Kenya for 40 years (and 7 years after applying) I was granted citizenship.

I do not believe that you qualify to apply for citizenship here. Sorry. Even had your mother been a citizen of Kenya at some point, the fact that you are an adult does not allow you to apply on that basis.

Feel free to contact me if you wish ore info.

A child born to a Kenyan Citizen outside Kenya is considered to be a Kenyan citizen.  Whether you are an adult or not, now is irrelevant. 

Was your mother a citizen at the time of your birth?  If so, it may well be worth following up.  If she lost Kenyan citizenship before you were born (which was automatic upon marriage to someone non Kenyan), then this is unlikely to apply to you. 

Citizenship can be regained by your mother, on application (if dual citizenship is permitted in your country), but what I don't know is whether you would then be considered to be a Kenyan citizen, by default, or eligible to apply by descent.  These are questions which are best answered by a legal expert, for example.

I believe Longonot62 is correct concerning the issue of being an adult or not. Sorry that my reply above was wrong about that. If either or both of one's parents was a citizen when one was born, then one has a right to Kenya citizenship. However, there is a procedure to be followed in order to get that formalized.  This is complicated if one has another citizenship, and has never applied for and been formally recognized as a Kenyan. This is why former US president, Barack Obama, could follow the procedure laid down, and claim Kenya citizenship -- because at the time of his birth, his father was a Kenyan.  However, since he has never done so (as far as I know) his right to Kenya citizenship has never been claimed or recognized. Such people have a right to Kenya citizenship. I had no such right, but I could apply for citizenship based on "legal residence" of 7 or more years of living in Kenya. My application could have been denied. I'm very glad that it wasn't.