Ghana or Kenya
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
| Ghana | Kenya | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | 5 years | 7 years |
| Partner can work | — | no |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | difficult | no trouble |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | no | no |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 632 · estimate | $ 520 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 29,3 | $ 26,0 |
| Life expectancy | 65.69 | 63.83 |
| Homicides/100k | 1.83 | 4.65 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 3.3 | 4.2 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Ghana — 16, Kenya — 24. Types present in both: work, study, family, investment and repatriation. Kenya adds: remote work and retirement.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Ghana: fees range from 40 to 18,000 USD. Kenya: fees range from 1,000 to 750,000 KES. Routes with no fee: 2. Routes stating an income threshold: 2; the lowest is 24,000 USD a year. Routes with a published decision deadline: 22; the shortest is 1 days.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Kenya after 7 years; the other country publishes no term. Citizenship: Ghana after 5 years, Kenya after 7 years. Both allow a second citizenship.
Ghana in brief
Ghana is a West African country with English-language law based on the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573) and the Citizenship Act, 2000 (Act 591), which has allowed dual citizenship since 2000. Work immigration is structured through the Ghana Immigration Service's 'Work and Residence Permit' combination and, for investors, an automatic GIPC/GIPA immigrant quota sized to the company's paid-up capital. A distinctive feature of the country is two official channels for the diaspora of African descent: the Right of Abode permanent-residence status and a state citizenship programme launched in 2016 and continued by the Year of Return 2019 campaign. Importing dogs and cats does not require quarantine, but does require laboratory confirmation of the absence of several infections and current vaccination. Of the country's five largest districts by the 2021 census, one — Cape Coast — is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site tied to the history of the transatlantic slave trade.
Kenya in brief
Kenya admits foreign specialists through a system of ten classes of work permits (Class A-M), each for a different purpose — from mineral prospecting and agriculture to prescribed professions and religious activity — and, since 2024, through a separate digital nomad visa (Class N) requiring a confirmed minimum income of $55,000 a year from sources outside the country. Permanent residence on the general ground — holding a work permit — is reached after 7 years, the last 3 of which must be continuous residence in the country; the spouse of a Kenyan citizen becomes eligible for permanent residence sooner, after 3 years of marriage, but until then the accompanying spouse holds a Dependant's Pass, which does not carry the right to work. Naturalisation takes the same 7 years — by marriage or by permanent residence with knowledge of Swahili or a local language; former citizens by birth who lost their citizenship on acquiring a foreign one have a separate, faster route to restoration. The 2010 Constitution permits dual citizenship for citizens by birth. Nairobi is the region's largest technology hub: since 2007 it has hosted the African headquarters of Google, IBM, Cisco Systems, and General Electric.
Other comparisons
Ghana or… Nigeria · Rwanda · Tunisia · Algeria · Tanzania · South Africa · Angola · Gabon
Kenya or… Madagascar · Sierra Leone · Uganda · Zambia · Eswatini · Lesotho · Mozambique · Republic of the Congo
More on each: Ghana · Kenya. 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.