Burundi or Malawi
Two countries side by side across the same rows as the full comparison. A dash means the value is missing: fields are not filled with guesses. about the data
| Burundi | Malawi | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | — | — |
| Partner can work | — | — |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | — | difficult |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | — | — |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 467 · estimate | $ 478 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 37,3 | $ 22,1 |
| Life expectancy | 63.82 | 67.56 |
| Homicides/100k | 5.65 | 1.78 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 3 | 3.9 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Burundi — 17, Malawi — 8. Types present in both: work, study and investment. Burundi adds: family.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Burundi: fees range from 25 to 1,200 USD. Routes with no fee: 7. Malawi: not a single route publishes its fee. Routes stating an income threshold: 1; the lowest is 50,000 USD a month.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Burundi after 10 years, Malawi after 5 years.
Burundi in brief
Burundi is a country with weak institutions and expensive connectivity alongside very cheap transport. On the World Bank scale from −2.5 to +2.5, control of corruption stands at −1.46, political stability at −1.38, rule of law at −1.30 and government effectiveness at −1.01. Life expectancy is 63.82 years, health spending 28.14 dollars per person per year, basic access to water reaches 65.92 per cent of the population, and mean PM2.5 concentration is 35.69 micrograms per cubic metre. Road deaths run at 12.3 per 100,000 and homicides at 5.65 per 100,000 (2016 data). Overall natural risk is 3.0 out of 10 on INFORM: earthquakes 4.6, droughts 3.8, floods 2.6; the country is landlocked, so cyclone, tsunami and coastal risks are zero. The unemployment figures — 0.92 per cent overall and 1.68 per cent among young people — reflect the structure of a labour market that is almost entirely informal and agricultural, not the absence of a problem finding work. One distinctive feature of prices: a month of internet costs 65.28 dollars against utilities of 16.92 and a monthly transport pass of 25.37. The immigration framework is published by the authority in full and reads without intermediaries: the service catalogue of the Directorate-General of Migration sets out, for every visa, the required documents, the fee and the period of validity. The establishment visa is issued for two years and requires a deposit in a blocked account — 1,500 dollars for one person or 5,000 for a family. Permanent residence is granted on one of several grounds: ten years of uninterrupted residence with proven investments, substantial investment creating durable employment for nationals, or marriage to a Burundian citizen, where the marriage condition is asymmetric by gender. What this data does not contain: the authority publishes no statutory processing times for any service, and the rules for importing cats and dogs are described neither by a national source nor by the veterinary authorities of other countries.
Malawi in brief
Malawi is one of the poorest and at the same time one of the calmest countries on the continent: homicides at 1.78 per 100,000 (UNODC; the figure is from 2012, as the agency publishes nothing more recent for the country), political stability at −0.38 on the World Bank scale from −2.5 to +2.5 — markedly better than its neighbours in the region. The air is cleaner than in most developing countries: average PM2.5 concentration 16.7 µg/m³. The immigration set-up is simple and the department states it plainly: the visa grants entry, while living and working require a permit. The work permit (TEP) is applied for by the employer, and until it is decided the applicant must stay outside Malawi; it can be renewed twice. Permanent residence is available after five years of ordinary residence, and also to the foreign wife of a Malawian citizen, to retirees with assured income and to adult dependants of a PRP holder. The business permit requires an investment of at least $50,000 from a lawful source outside the country and is valid for five years. The department publishes no processing deadlines for any permit, but it does publish a deadline for the applicant: the fee must be paid within 30 days of approval. Cats and dogs may be brought in only under a permit from the chief veterinary officer obtained in advance.
Other comparisons
Burundi or… Nigeria · Rwanda · Tunisia · Algeria · Tanzania · Kenya · South Africa · Angola
Malawi or… Gabon · Madagascar · Sierra Leone · Uganda · Zambia · Eswatini · Lesotho · Mozambique
More on each: Burundi · Malawi. Build your own comparison — up to four countries
This material is for reference and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax thresholds and prices change. Before deciding anything, check the official sources and consult a licensed professional in the relevant country.