GlobeQuest
Legal & ID🇹🇿 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The work permit and the residence permit — two instruments, two bodies

Tanzania runs two parallel systems. The Labour Commissioner issues a work permit under the Non-Citizens (Employment Regulation) Act 2015, with classes A to E. The Immigration Services Department issues a residence permit, with classes A, B and C. Immigration's guidelines state that the work permit comes first, except for students, researchers, retirees and court attendees. The letters overlap and the meanings do not.

Total cost
Two fees. Immigration's published bands run roughly USD 500–2,000 for Class B and USD 500–3,000 for Class A, with reduced rates for EAC citizens and diaspora applicants, plus a separate Labour work permit fee. Secondary sources routinely conflate the two into one figure — get both from the official schedules.
Time needed
Commonly several months end to end, dominated by the Labour Commissioner's stage.
Validity
Both permits are commonly two years and renewable, each on its own clock. Renewals are assessed partly on succession — what has been done to train a Tanzanian counterpart.
Verified
August 2026
Medium confidence·Foreign nationals moving to Dar es Salaam for work. Dar is on the mainland, so mainland rules apply; Zanzibar has its own immigration administration. East African Community citizens are treated better than others but Tanzania, unlike Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, has not waived work permit fees for them.

Before you start

  • An employment contract with a Tanzania-registered employer
  • Certified academic and professional certificates, plus Tanzanian professional-body registration for regulated occupations
  • Employer's company registration, tax clearance and justification for hiring a non-citizen
  • Certified passport copy, photographs and police clearance

Step-by-step

  1. 1

    Employer applies to the Labour Commissioner for the work permit

    Labour Class C covers professionals generally; Class B is narrow — health professionals, oil and gas experts, and science and maths teachers. Class A is investors and the self-employed. Most expatriate hires are Labour Class C.

    Via employerWho: Your employerThe long pole — budget months
  2. 2

    Then apply to Immigration for the residence permit

    Immigration Class B is the employed class, Class A is investor and self-employed, Class C covers students, researchers, missionaries, volunteers and retirees. Filed through the immigration e-services portal.

    OnlineWho: You and your employer
  3. 3

    Stay outside Tanzania while a Class B application processes

    Immigration's guidance is that Class B applicants should not be in the country during processing, with an exception for people changing employers, who are issued a special pass to cover the gap.

    OnlineWho: You
  4. 4

    Enter and complete formalities

    Collect the permit and check the class, employer and validity on the document itself. Errors here mean a fresh application rather than an amendment.

    In personWho: You
  5. 5

    Get a NIDA number

    The National Identification Authority issues a national identification number to foreign residents holding a residence permit. It is required for biometric SIM registration and increasingly for other services.

    In personWho: YouWeeks
  6. 6

    Register with TRA for a TIN

    The Tanzania Revenue Authority number is needed for payroll and for a driving licence, which TRA also issues.

    OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

  • Passport, certified copy
  • Employment contract with a Tanzania-registered employer
  • Certified academic and professional certificates
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Employer's certificate of incorporation and tax clearance
  • Police clearance certificate
  • Passport photographs

Things most newcomers don’t know

Labour Class B is not the general employee class, and Immigration Class B is.

Under the Non-Citizens (Employment Regulation) Act, Labour Class B is a narrow list — medical and health-care professionals, oil and gas experts, and science and maths teachers and lecturers. Everyone else professional is Labour Class C. Meanwhile Immigration Class B is the ordinary employed residence permit. Same letter, two systems, opposite scope, and advisers get this wrong in writing.

Source: Non-Citizens (Employment Regulation) Act, 2015

Zanzibar administers its own immigration, even though the Labour Commissioner covers both.

The split is not clean, which is exactly why it catches people. Work permits for Zanzibar come from the same Labour Commissioner as the mainland, but Zanzibar residence permitting and investor approvals run through its own immigration office and ZIPA. A Dar-based job is unaffected; a role or a property on Unguja is a different process entirely.

Source: Tanzania Immigration e-services guidelines

Tanzania is the EAC partner state that still charges East Africans for work permits.

Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have waived work permit fees for EAC citizens under the Common Market Protocol; Tanzania reduced its fee for them instead of removing it. A Kenyan or Ugandan colleague's experience of moving within the bloc does not predict yours moving to Dar, and free movement in East Africa is a lot less complete in practice than the protocol suggests.

Source: EAC Common Market Protocol implementation

Tanzania does not permit dual citizenship, which changes the long game.

Kenya and Uganda both allow it; Tanzania does not for adults. That makes naturalisation a genuine either/or rather than an accumulation, and it matters most to mixed families who assume the regional norm applies. Decide this question early rather than after a decade of renewals.

Source: Tanzanian citizenship law

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Treating the work permit and the residence permit as one process, or assuming approval of one carries the other.
  • Confusing Labour Class B with Immigration Class B when choosing what to file.
  • Arriving on a tourist visa intending to convert — Class B processing expects you to be outside the country.
  • Assuming a Kenyan or Ugandan colleague's EAC fee waiver applies to you in Tanzania.
  • Budgeting one fee when there are two, from two different bodies.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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Sources

Last verified August 2026. Government processes change — always confirm critical details against the official source before acting.

More on settling into Dar es Salaam

Driving
Converting your licence — through the Tanzania Revenue Authority
Banking
Opening a Tanzanian bank account and using mobile money
Health
Health cover, Dar's hospitals and coastal malaria
Telecom
Getting a Tanzanian SIM — and why it needs your permit
Tax
TRA registration, PAYE and Tanzanian tax residency
Dar es Salaam guideCost of livingLanguageCulture