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Brunei or Tajikistan

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 and Tajikistan across the reference rows
BruneiTajikistan
Salary in IT——
Citizenship20 years5 years
Partner can workno—
Parents——
Petsno trouble—
Pet limitno limitno limit
Quarantineno—
Residence permit fee——
Rent, 2 bedrooms$ 946 · estimate$ 671 · estimate
Basket$ 31,6$ 25,1
Life expectancy75.571.93
Homicides/100k0.490.89
Natural hazards, 0–102.84.8

How the two sets of routes differ

Long-stay routes in this reference: Brunei — 19, Tajikistan — 23. Types present in both: work, family, investment and repatriation. Brunei adds: talent. Tajikistan adds: study.

Fees, thresholds and deadlines

Brunei: the fee is 50 BND wherever it is published. Tajikistan: fees range from 20 to 100 USD. Routes stating an income threshold: 1; the lowest is 500,000 USD a month. Routes with a published decision deadline: 23; the shortest is 1 days.

Beyond the first permit

Permanent status: Tajikistan after six months; the other country publishes no term. Citizenship: Brunei after 20 years, Tajikistan after 5 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).

Tajikistan in brief

Tajikistan is the cheapest country in this part of the guide: rent in Khujand is half that of the capital, and the capital itself is already low. Permanent residence is not tied to years of waiting — the law allows no more than a month for a decision on the application. Citizenship is formally available after five years of continuous residence, and a facilitated route applies for marriage to a citizen of the country lasting three years or more. The restrictions are significant. Dual citizenship is not allowed outside intergovernmental treaties, and a decision to grant citizenship can be revoked within five years of being made — this is an unusual rule and worth bearing in mind. Control of corruption at −1.22 and a seismic risk of 8.1 out of 10 are among the worst figures in the guide. One thing worth saying separately about what is not in this data: the language requirements for naturalisation and the rules for bringing in animals could not be confirmed against official sources, so they are left blank rather than filled in with paraphrases.

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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.