Brunei or Oman
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
| Brunei | Oman | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | 20 years | 15 years |
| Partner can work | no | — |
| Parents | — | difficult |
| Pets | no trouble | difficult |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | no | — |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 946 · estimate | $ 799 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 31,6 | $ 29,9 |
| Life expectancy | 75.5 | 80.25 |
| Homicides/100k | 0.49 | 0.14 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 2.8 | 4.8 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Brunei — 19, Oman — 25. Types present in both: work, family, investment and talent. Brunei adds: repatriation. Oman adds: study.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Brunei: the fee is 50 BND wherever it is published. Oman: fees range from 10 to 500 OMR. Routes with no fee: 3. Routes with a published decision deadline: 14; the shortest is 1 days.
Beyond the first permit
Citizenship: Brunei after 20 years, Oman after 15 years. Neither recognises a second citizenship.
Brunei in brief
Brunei is an oil-and-gas monarchy on the island of Borneo with one of the most closed long-term entry regimes in the world. The grounds for working residence are the Employment Pass, rigidly tied to a specific employer and requiring the employer to hold a Foreign Workers Licence from the Department of Labour, the Professional Visit Pass for select categories of experts, the Dependant's Pass for family members, and the Student's Pass. For none of these categories does the immigration service's official website publish processing times. There is no separate permanent residence status with a published number of years: the closest analogue, the Entry Permit, is granted at the discretion of the Controller of Immigration without an objective criterion. Naturalisation is governed by the Brunei Nationality Act (Cap. 15): 20 years of residence in the country out of the preceding 25 years, an oral exam in Malay before the Language Board, and a decision made entirely at the Sultan's discretion; time spent in the country on temporary passes (including work passes) does not count toward this period unless the Sultan directs otherwise. Dual citizenship is not permitted. There is no personal income tax — the Income Tax Act taxes only the income of legal entities. The country's economy rests on the extraction and export of oil and natural gas. Since 2014 the Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013 has been phased in and is in force; under the code's direct provision (s. 3(1)) it applies to both Muslims and non-Muslims unless expressly stated otherwise, and it includes hudud and qisas categories of offences. The sale of alcohol is banned throughout the country (Excise Order, 2006, s. 73).
Oman in brief
Oman is built as a country for a long stint of work rather than for settling: there is no permanent residence at all, and the most on offer is the investor residence permit of 5 or 10 years, relaunched in August 2025, starting at 250,000 Omani rials. It does, however, let you bring a spouse, children and parents with no limit on age or number, which is rare in this part of the guide. Citizenship remains a distant prospect: the 2025 law cut the period from 20 years to 15, but it requires fluent Arabic with reading and writing, renunciation of the previous passport, and allows 36 months for a decision. The government's own service page still describes the old 20-year rule — a discrepancy worth keeping in mind. The country's strengths are measurable: homicide at 0.14 per 100,000, control of corruption at +0.51, life expectancy of 80.25 years and no personal income tax. Against that: heat above +45, desert dust in the air, cyclones on the coast and a difficult process for bringing pets.
Other comparisons
Brunei or… Taiwan · South Korea · Japan · Thailand · Kazakhstan · Lebanon · Uzbekistan · Malaysia
Oman or… Azerbaijan · Philippines · Bangladesh · Kuwait · Iraq · Mongolia · People's Republic of China · Sri Lanka
More on each: Brunei · Oman. 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.