Checked on official sites on 24 October 2026. Fees change, so the source link sits under each document.
Almost every government job advert in Kenya ends with the same list: a KRA tax compliance certificate, a HELB certificate, a certificate of good conduct from the DCI, a CRB clearance certificate and the EACC self-declaration form. People lose interviews because one of the five is missing or expired. Open the folder below, pick a tab, and tick each step as you finish it. Your ticks are saved on this phone only, so you can come back to it tomorrow.
When do you actually need these documents?
Since the Employment (Amendment) Act 2022, an employer in Kenya cannot demand clearance certificates just for you to apply. It may ask for them once it intends to hire you, before you sign the contract, and it may withdraw the offer if you fail to bring them. The exception is a state office (for example a Public Service Commission or county public service board role, where Chapter Six of the Constitution applies). Those adverts can still ask for the documents during recruitment. In practice, start the slow ones (DCI and HELB arrears) as soon as you see a government job you want, because the DCI alone can take up to two weeks after fingerprinting.
Which order to do them in
- KRA first. It is free, online and quick if your returns are filed. A rejected TCC usually means a missing nil return from an old year, which you can fix the same day on iTax.
- DCI next, because fingerprinting needs a trip and the wait is the longest.
- HELB. The compliance certificate is free. If you are behind on repayments, talk to HELB before you apply, not after.
- CRB. Check your free yearly report before you pay for a certificate. If a digital lender has listed you, settle with them first, because the certificate shows whatever is on your file that day.
- EACC is just a form. Fill it in when the advert asks.
Worked example
Achieng sees a county clinical officer advert closing in 21 days. She applies for her TCC on iTax that evening, but it is rejected for an unfiled 2023 return. She files a nil return, reapplies, and the TCC arrives by email. The next morning she pays KES 1,050 for the good conduct certificate on eCitizen and books fingerprinting at the Huduma Centre. She downloads the free HELB compliance certificate, gets a TransUnion CRB certificate, and keeps the EACC form ready. Her total cost: about KES 1,050, plus KES 2,200 if the CRB certificate is not her first free one.
Watch out for fake “clearance agents”
No genuine agency sells these certificates over WhatsApp. HELB warned in July 2026 about a fake account charging KSh 1,999. Pay only inside iTax, eCitizen, the HELB portal or the bureau’s own app. If an advert asks you to pay a recruiter for “clearance processing”, run it through our fake job advert checker.