The government has revealed plans to introduce orientation programmes for Kenyans transitioning to other countries via visa lotteries in a bid to suppress the accelerating rate of psychological distress among Kenyans in foreign countries.
In a statement on Sunday, June 8, the state Department for Diaspora Affairs noted that most Kenyans, especially the youths, who travel abroad through the visa lotteries often end up experiencing culture shock, and if they lack guidance, most of them end up grappling with mental issues.
The department asserted that providing orientation programmes to these Kenyans will be critical in ensuring that the Kenyans have an easy time manoeuvring through job markets, social systems, and community integration.
"A key concern raised was the increasing psychological distress among diaspora communities, especially young adults grappling with culture shock and identity issues," the department stated.
The announcement was made after the department's Director, Skills and Expertise Division, Irene Karari, met with the President of Uplifted Care Services, Bill Akuma, in Minnesota, USA, to deliberate on issues affecting Kenya abroad.
"The discussions focused on enhancing diaspora welfare by establishing comprehensive support systems overseas and effective reintegration frameworks for returnees," the statement from the state department stated.
According to Akuma, the government should also be at the vanguard of providing additional tools to families who have already relocated abroad to ensure that they can overcome communication barriers.
The department asserted that the empowerment of Kenyans in the diaspora is key to unlocking valuable human capital for both domestic and diaspora needs.
"The meeting recognised the vast, untapped potential within Kenya’s global professional diaspora, noting that many trained doctors, counsellors, trainers, and other specialists are spread worldwide without coordinated engagement," it stated.
This comes a month after the United States of America released, on Saturday, May 3, the results of the 2026 Diversity Visa (DV) lottery programme.
The DV lottery program is a U.S. government program that awards up to 55,000 immigrant visas each year to individuals from countries with low immigration rates to the United States.
The programme is engineered to promote diversity by offering a chance to immigrate to the U.S. to eligible individuals from countries whose populations are not heavily represented in U.S. immigration.
All those who participated in the applications, which happened from October 2 to November 5, 2024, were advised to visit the Entrant Status Check on the E-DV website using the unique confirmation number received during the DV-2026 online registration.
