Brunei or Uzbekistan
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 | Uzbekistan | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | 20 years | 5 years |
| Partner can work | no | — |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | no trouble | no trouble |
| Pet limit | no limit | 2 |
| Quarantine | no | no |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 946 · estimate | $ 719 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 31,6 | $ 19,3 |
| Life expectancy | 75.5 | 72.53 |
| Homicides/100k | 0.49 | 1.4 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 2.8 | 4.8 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Brunei — 19, Uzbekistan — 48. Types present in both: work, family, investment, talent and repatriation. Uzbekistan adds: study and startup.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Brunei: the fee is 50 BND wherever it is published. Uzbekistan: fees range from 352,440 to 396,000 UZS. Routes with no fee: 4. Routes stating an income threshold: 1; the lowest is 30,000 USD a year. Routes with a published decision deadline: 44; the shortest is 1 days.
Beyond the first permit
Citizenship: Brunei after 20 years, Uzbekistan 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).
Uzbekistan in brief
Uzbekistan is built as an easy way in and a hard way out. The way in really is easy: citizens of the CIS and several dozen other countries need no visa, and IT specialists have a three-year IT visa that grants work without a separate permit, social rights on a par with citizens and the purchase of property at any price; the thresholds are income from IT work of at least 30,000 dollars a year and employment with an IT Park resident. The cost of living is among the lowest in this guide, pets get through without quarantine, and Russian is in everyday use. The hard part is citizenship: multiple citizenship is not recognised, giving up the previous passport is the first condition, and the five-year residence period is counted from the residence permit of a stateless person — that is, it starts only after the renunciation. The softening is a guarantee letter, valid for a year and issued before the renunciation. The exam is in Uzbek. Seismicity (Tashkent was destroyed in 1966) and air quality deserve separate weight. Routes for reuniting with parents and children are not confirmed by official sources.
Other comparisons
Brunei or… Taiwan · South Korea · Japan · Thailand · Kazakhstan · Lebanon · Malaysia · Azerbaijan
Uzbekistan or… Philippines · Bangladesh · Kuwait · Iraq · Mongolia · Oman · People's Republic of China · Sri Lanka
More on each: Brunei · Uzbekistan. 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.