Benin or Senegal
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
| Benin | Senegal | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | 3 years | 10 years |
| Partner can work | — | — |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | no trouble | no trouble |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | — | no |
| Residence permit fee | 250 000 XOF | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 332 · estimate | $ 974 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 28,9 | $ 41,3 |
| Life expectancy | 60.96 | 68.92 |
| Homicides/100k | 1.13 | 0.27 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 3.1 | 4.5 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Benin — 8, Senegal — 2. Benin adds: work and study.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Benin: fees range from 32,798 to 800,000 XOF. Routes with a published decision deadline: 6; the shortest is 1 days. Senegal: the fee is 15,000 XOF wherever it is published.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Benin after 6 years; the other country publishes no term. Citizenship: Benin after 3 years, Senegal after 10 years.
Benin in brief
Benin is noticeably calmer than the region's reputation suggests: 1.13 homicides per 100,000 people (World Bank, 2017 data — the authorities publish nothing more recent for the country), political stability −0.4 and control of corruption −0.24 on the World Bank scale from −2.5 to +2.5. The strong points end there: life expectancy 60.96 years, health spending of 46.5 dollars per person a year, basic water access for 69.6 per cent of the population, and mean PM2.5 of 39.66 micrograms per cubic metre — nearly ten times the WHO guideline. Road deaths run at 24.8 per 100,000. Natural risk is moderate overall (3.1 out of 10 on INFORM), but flooding scores 6.7. The immigration framework has been rewritten from scratch and simplified: law No. 2025-15 of July 2025 and the decree of March 2026 left two resident statuses instead of three — an ordinary card for three years and a privileged one for ten. Two rules are worth knowing in advance: silence from the authority at the end of the decision period counts as a refusal, and a visa refusal cannot be appealed at all — three days are allowed to leave. Fees for nationals of ECOWAS states and for everyone else differ by a factor of five or more. There is no separate work permit: the labour directorate endorses the contract with a foreigner, and that is the employer's obligation.
Senegal in brief
Senegal is a French-speaking country in West Africa with the CFA franc (XOF) as its currency, whose fixed peg to the euro is guaranteed by the Franc Zone (BCEAO). For citizens of ECOWAS/CEDEAO member states, a free-movement regime applies: visa-free entry and the right to reside and work without a separate work permit - based on the Community's 1979, 1986 and 1990 protocols. For other foreigners staying more than 3 months, a carte de résident is required, issued through the Direction de la Police des étrangers et des titres de voyage under the Ministry of the Interior. Since 2024 the country has become an oil-and-gas producer: industrial production began at the offshore Sangomar field, and gas exports launched from the Grande Tortue Ahmeyim field shared with Mauritania. Malaria is present throughout the country. Some visa, family and employment procedures could not be confirmed against primary sources - the official websites of several relevant agencies did not respond to requests or did not contain the necessary sections at the time of research.
Other comparisons
Benin or… Nigeria · Rwanda · Tunisia · Algeria · Tanzania · Kenya · South Africa · Angola
Senegal or… Gabon · Madagascar · Sierra Leone · Uganda · Zambia · Eswatini · Lesotho · Mozambique
More on each: Benin · Senegal. 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.