Malawi or Zimbabwe
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 | Zimbabwe | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | — | — |
| Partner can work | — | — |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | difficult | difficult |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | — | no |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 478 · estimate | $ 539 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 22,1 | $ 29,7 |
| Life expectancy | 67.56 | 63.06 |
| Homicides/100k | 1.78 | 6.76 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Malawi — 8, Zimbabwe — 10. Types present in both: work, study and investment. Zimbabwe adds: family.
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. Zimbabwe: fees range from 100 to 1,000 USD.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Malawi after 5 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.
Zimbabwe in brief
In Zimbabwe the chief hazard is not political but hydrological. Drought stands at 9.4 out of 10 on INFORM — the third-highest figure in this guide; overall natural hazard is nonetheless only 3.9, because there is no coastal, cyclone or tsunami exposure at all, flooding is 3.6 and earthquakes 1.8. Basic water access reaches 67.21 percent of the population, twenty-first from the bottom among the 171 countries with data. Health spending is 62.93 dollars per person per year — thirtieth from the bottom out of 167. Life expectancy is 63.06 years. The air is clean by this guide's standards: PM2.5 at 15.03 micrograms per cubic metre. Road deaths run high at 29.9 per 100,000. Inequality is among the most pronounced anywhere: a Gini coefficient of 50.3, the ninth-highest of 139 countries, though the figure is from 2019 and flagged as stale. Unemployment is 9.29 percent, and 15.55 percent among young people. On the World Bank scale, control of corruption is −1.25, rule of law −1.21, political stability −1.02 and government effectiveness −0.99. The internet is expensive: 65.97 dollars a month for a fixed connection running at 27.22. The immigration framework is published by two sources that complement each other. The Department of Immigration prints, for every permit, a full list of documents and the exact fee: 500 dollars for the employment and investor permits, 200 for the student permit, 100 for the scholar's, and for the spouse permit 300 to extend and 500 for the initial and the permanent stage, plus 300 for each dependant. The visa regime is split into three categories of country — no visa, a visa at the border, and a visa strictly in advance through the portal. The Immigration Act [Chapter 4:02] itself is published by the department on its own site. Two features shape the experience of a foreigner. First: a work permit is granted against an undertaking to train one's own replacement — the employer must advertise the vacancy in a local newspaper, attach the CVs of everyone on the shortlist, and name a local person who will understudy the foreigner. Second: settlement in the law is measured not by a permit but by domicile — ten years of continuous lawful residence, and only time held on a residence permit counts, not time on any other (s. 3(3)); domicile is lost after five years' absence. The Minister, meanwhile, is expressly forbidden to exempt a foreigner from the general requirements in a way that would let them live in the country permanently. What is not in this data: permanent residence exists and its fee is published (500 dollars, or 1,000 for an investor), but the department gives neither a qualifying period nor any conditions — the one permit for which no list is published, so the number of years is left empty here. There are no processing standards for any service: the law sets deadlines only for appeals, and very short ones — three working days to appeal from inside the country, ten from abroad, twenty-four hours to make representations to the Minister. City populations are not given: no official source separating the city from the province could be found.
Other comparisons
Malawi or… Nigeria · Rwanda · Tunisia · Algeria · Tanzania · Kenya · South Africa · Angola
Zimbabwe or… Gabon · Madagascar · Sierra Leone · Uganda · Zambia · Eswatini · Lesotho · Mozambique
More on each: Malawi · Zimbabwe. 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.