Botswana or Zambia
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
| Botswana | Zambia | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | 10 years | 10 years |
| Partner can work | no | — |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | no trouble | difficult |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | no | — |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 360 · estimate | $ 369 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 21,0 | $ 26,5 |
| Life expectancy | 69.29 | 66.53 |
| Homicides/100k | 12.98 | 5.2 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 2.2 | 3.1 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Botswana — 14, Zambia — 19. Types present in both: work, study, family and investment. Zambia adds: repatriation and retirement.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Botswana: fees range from 1,500 to 3,000 BWP. Routes with a published decision deadline: 13; the shortest is 7 days. Zambia: fees range from 3,000 to 24,000 ZMW. Routes with no fee: 1. Routes stating an income threshold: 1; the lowest is 250,000 USD a month.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Botswana after 5 years, Zambia after 10 years. Citizenship: both after 10 years. Zambia allows a second citizenship, Botswana does not.
Botswana in brief
Botswana regulates labour and permanent migration through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs): the official categories are the Work Permit (14 working days to process), the Residence Permit (30 working days), the Exemption Certificate, which exempts certain categories of foreigners from the Work Permit requirement (7 working days), and the Permanent Residence Permit, which requires a minimum of 5 years of continuous lawful residence — except for the investor category, to which this threshold does not apply; the official page gives the processing time both as "56 working days" and as "about six months". Ordinary naturalisation requires at least 10 years of residence in total and the last 12 months continuously before applying, and concludes with a mandatory renunciation of foreign citizenship; for spouses of Botswana citizens the threshold is reduced to 5 years of residence within the marriage. Dual citizenship is preserved without restriction only for those who acquired it by birth or by descent; those who acquire Botswana citizenship by registration, naturalisation or marriage must renounce their foreign citizenship, while citizens by birth/descent who simultaneously hold foreign citizenship must choose a single citizenship by age 21 or automatically lose Botswana citizenship. The import of dogs and cats is handled by the Department of Veterinary Services as an import permit: a valid rabies vaccination certificate and an inspection of the animal before the permit is issued are required — quarantine and rabies antibody titration are not among the listed requirements, and the permit is issued within 1 working day. The country's economy has historically relied on diamond mining and exports: in May 2026 diamonds accounted for 59.0% of all merchandise exports (Statistics Botswana). Access to basic water supply covers 91.77% of the population (World Bank, 2024), and the INFORM drought risk indicator is 5.4 out of 10 (2026). HIV prevalence among adults aged 15–49 is 15.7% (WHO, Global Health Observatory, 2024) — one of the highest rates in the world and a significant factor when planning health insurance and access to treatment.
Zambia in brief
Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa whose economy relies on the mining and export of Copperbelt copper: according to the Zambia Statistics Agency, copper anode- and cathode-based goods are among the country's major export items. English is enshrined by Article 258(1) of the Constitution as the country's official language. Residence and work permits are issued by the Department of Immigration under the Immigration and Deportation Act No. 18 of 2010 in the form of twelve separate permit types - from the Employment Permit and Investor's Permit to the Spouse Permit, Study Permit and permanent residence (Residence Permit); the latter, under the general path, is granted after ten years of continuous work under an Employment Permit, with faster paths of three years under an Investor's Permit or five years under a Spouse Permit. Citizenship by registration (Article 37 of the 2016 Constitution and the Citizenship of Zambia Act, 2016) requires ten years of ordinarily resident residence under the general path, five years for those born in the country or descended from a citizen, and five years of marriage to a citizen; dual citizenship has been allowed under Article 39 of the Constitution since 5 January 2016. Importing dogs and cats requires an Import Permit from the Department of Veterinary Services and a veterinary certificate with a rabies vaccination; the law does not set a fixed mandatory quarantine period - the decision is made case by case. Malaria is endemic across most of the country. Electricity supply relies heavily on hydropower: according to a statement by the Minister of Energy to the National Assembly (5 July 2024), the El Niño-driven drought lowered water levels at the Kariba and Itezhi-Tezhi reservoirs so much that load-shedding began in March 2024, reaching up to 12 hours a day from May 2024. The five cities in the guide are Lusaka (capital and largest business centre), Kitwe and Ndola (the largest industrial centres of the Copperbelt), Livingstone (the city at Victoria Falls, the country's main tourist entry point) and Kabwe (the administrative centre of Central Province on the road between Lusaka and the Copperbelt).
Other comparisons
Botswana or… Nigeria · Rwanda · Tunisia · Algeria · Tanzania · Kenya · South Africa · Angola
Zambia or… Gabon · Madagascar · Sierra Leone · Uganda · Eswatini · Lesotho · Mozambique · Republic of the Congo
More on each: Botswana · Zambia. 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.