Malawi or Tanzania
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
| Malawi | Tanzania | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | — | 8 years |
| Partner can work | — | no |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | difficult | no trouble |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | — | — |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 478 · estimate | $ 729 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 22,1 | $ 23,0 |
| Life expectancy | 67.56 | 67.21 |
| Homicides/100k | 1.78 | 3.3 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Malawi — 8, Tanzania — 28. Types present in both: work, study and investment. Tanzania adds: family, talent and retirement.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Malawi: not a single route publishes its fee. Routes stating an income threshold: 1; the lowest is 50,000 USD a month. Tanzania: fees range from 100 to 3,000 USD. Routes with no fee: 2. Routes stating an income threshold: 1; the lowest is 100,000 USD a month. Routes with a published decision deadline: 24; the shortest is 5 days.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Malawi after 5 years; the other country publishes no term. Citizenship: Tanzania after 8 years; the other country publishes no term.
Malawi in brief
Malawi is one of the poorest and at the same time one of the calmest countries on the continent: homicides at 1.78 per 100,000 (UNODC; the figure is from 2012, as the agency publishes nothing more recent for the country), political stability at −0.38 on the World Bank scale from −2.5 to +2.5 — markedly better than its neighbours in the region. The air is cleaner than in most developing countries: average PM2.5 concentration 16.7 µg/m³. The immigration set-up is simple and the department states it plainly: the visa grants entry, while living and working require a permit. The work permit (TEP) is applied for by the employer, and until it is decided the applicant must stay outside Malawi; it can be renewed twice. Permanent residence is available after five years of ordinary residence, and also to the foreign wife of a Malawian citizen, to retirees with assured income and to adult dependants of a PRP holder. The business permit requires an investment of at least $50,000 from a lawful source outside the country and is valid for five years. The department publishes no processing deadlines for any permit, but it does publish a deadline for the applicant: the fee must be paid within 30 days of approval. Cats and dogs may be brought in only under a permit from the chief veterinary officer obtained in advance.
Tanzania in brief
Tanzania splits the right to reside in the country and the right to work between two authorities: the Immigration Service issues residence permits in three classes (A — investors and the self-employed, B — employees under a specific job offer, C — other grounds) under the Immigration Act, 1995, while the Labour Commissioner under the ministry responsible for employment issues a separate work permit in one of five classes (A–E, for investors, holders of in-demand professions, other professions, religious/charitable activity, and refugees) under the Non-Citizens (Employment Regulation) Act, 2015; legal paid employment requires both documents at once. Residence permits are capped by default at five years total (three years plus a renewal of up to two), and no separate permanent-residence status has been established between this term and citizenship — the only exception found covers a narrow category of major investors after 10 years of residence. Naturalisation requires practically 8 years of residence (the year immediately before filing plus at least 7 of the preceding 10 years), knowledge of Swahili or English, and renunciation of prior citizenship: dual citizenship is not permitted by law. Zanzibar is an autonomous part of the Union Republic: the law explicitly provides for additional entry and residence rules there, set with the consent of the President of Zanzibar, separate from the mainland's. The guide's five cities reflect both the largest population centres (Dar es Salaam — the country's commercial and technology centre, Mwanza — the second-largest city on Lake Victoria), the official capital, Dodoma, and two key inbound tourism destinations — Arusha (the gateway to the Serengeti and Kilimanjaro) and Zanzibar City with Stone Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Other comparisons
Malawi or… Nigeria · Rwanda · Tunisia · Algeria · Kenya · South Africa · Angola · Gabon
Tanzania or… Madagascar · Sierra Leone · Uganda · Zambia · Eswatini · Lesotho · Mozambique · Republic of the Congo
More on each: Malawi · Tanzania. 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.