Tunisia or South Africa
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
| Tunisia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | — | 10 years |
| Partner can work | — | no |
| Parents | — | difficult |
| Pets | no trouble | difficult |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | — | 14 days |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 391 · estimate | $ 633 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 25,1 | $ 26,0 |
| Life expectancy | 76.71 | 66.31 |
| Homicides/100k | 4.69 | 39.72 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 4.4 | 3.9 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Tunisia — 33, South Africa — 24. Types present in both: work, study, family, investment, talent and retirement. The set of types is identical — the difference is in how many routes there are and on what terms, not in the types themselves.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Tunisia: not a single route publishes its fee. Routes with a published decision deadline: 12; the shortest is 30 days. South Africa: fees range from 425 to 1,520 ZAR. Routes with no fee: 2. Routes stating an income threshold: 2; the lowest is 8,500 ZAR a month.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: both after 5 years. Citizenship: South Africa after 10 years; the other country publishes no term.
Tunisia in brief
Tunisia is a North African republic on the Mediterranean coast with a relatively low cost of living and a small share of foreigners in its population: the 2024 census puts them at 0.55% (66,349 of 11,972,169 people, INS). The five cities described show different sides of the country: Tunis, the capital and business centre with a UNESCO-listed medina and the ruins of Carthage inside its metropolitan area; Sfax, the second-largest city and the industrial port of the south; Sousse, the resort centre of the Sahel whose medina and ribat were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988; Hammamet, one of the country's oldest beach resorts on the Cap Bon peninsula; and Bizerte, a historic northern port beside the northernmost point of the African continent. Foreign workers face a branched system of work authorisations with several expressly described categories, including a simplified regime for companies covered by the 2016 investment law. Residence splits into temporary and ordinary: the temporary card is issued for no more than a year, while the ordinary one goes to a foreigner who has lived in the country for five uninterrupted years, to a foreign woman married to a Tunisian, to a foreigner with Tunisian children or one born in Tunisia, and it is valid for two years and renewable; Tunisian law knows no open-ended status. The right to ordinary residence is lost after an absence of more than six months without a return visa. The period to citizenship and the decision period for family applications remain unconfirmed: the nationality code could not be read in the primary source, and neither the law on the status of foreigners nor its implementing decree sets any decision periods. World Bank indices for political stability, control of corruption, rule of law and government effectiveness were all below zero in 2024 on the −2.5 to +2.5 scale, and youth unemployment exceeds 38%.
South Africa in brief
South Africa builds its intake around scarce occupations: the Critical Skills Work Visa is issued for up to 5 years, but the occupation must be on the current list and the qualification must be assessed by SAQA with an NQF level stated. The constraints are the time limits and family: the processing standard for a spousal visa is 120 working days, work on it without a separate permit is not allowed, and citizenship comes after 10 years.
Other comparisons
Tunisia or… Nigeria · Rwanda · Algeria · Tanzania · Kenya · Angola · Gabon · Madagascar
South Africa or… Sierra Leone · Uganda · Zambia · Eswatini · Lesotho · Mozambique · Republic of the Congo · Burundi
More on each: Tunisia · South Africa. 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.