Before you start

Residence permit, and usually the work permit
Passport
Proof of a Gaborone address — a lease or a utility bill
Employer's letter confirming employment and salary
A local phone number

Step-by-step

1
Wait until the permits are actually issued
Banks here want to see the residence permit rather than an application receipt. This is the main reason account opening lags arrival, and it is worth arranging a temporary salary route with your employer for the first weeks.
In personWho: YouAfter the permits
2
Open with a bank your employer already uses
In a small market, an existing corporate relationship materially smooths individual account opening and salary crediting. Ask the finance team which bank they pay from before choosing.
Via employerWho: You
3
Bring the employer's letter, not just the contract
A letter on company letterhead confirming employment, salary and the permit position is what branches actually want. It is a small thing and its absence sends people away for a second visit.
In personWho: You
4
Ask about a foreign currency account if you need one
Botswana has liberal exchange control by regional standards and foreign currency accounts are available. If you are paid partly abroad or send money home regularly, set this up at the same time rather than later.
In personWho: You
5
Set up cross-border payments deliberately
Transfers to South Africa are common and routine here, but they are international transfers with fees and a spread, because the pula is not in the rand area. Compare your bank against a specialist service before making a habit of it.
Mobile appWho: You
6
Register with BURS for tax
The Botswana Unified Revenue Service administers income tax. Your employer operates PAYE, but registering and understanding your position matters — particularly the difference between resident and non-resident treatment.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Residence permit and work permit
Employer's letter on letterhead
Proof of Gaborone address
Passport photographs

Things most newcomers don’t know

Botswana is not in the Common Monetary Area, and this catches people arriving from South Africa.

Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini peg their currencies at par to the rand and accept rand as legal tender under the Common Monetary Area. Botswana left that arrangement in the 1970s and introduced the pula precisely to run its own monetary policy. The pula is managed against a basket of the SDR and the rand under a crawling band, the rate against the rand moves, and rand is not legal tender in a Gaborone shop. Someone relocating from Johannesburg who assumes the Namibian model applies is wrong in a way that costs money on every transfer.

Source: Bank of Botswana

The account waits on the residence permit, so arrange an interim salary route.

Botswana banks want the issued residence permit, not an acknowledgement of application, and the published processing standard for that permit is thirty working days. That leaves a gap between starting work and being able to receive salary locally. Employers here are used to it, but only if you raise it — agree in advance whether the first month is paid abroad or held.

Source: community-reported; Government of Botswana

Exchange control is genuinely liberal, which is unusual for the region.

Botswana abolished exchange controls in 1999 and the pula is freely convertible, which puts it in a very different position from most of its neighbours. In practice that means foreign currency accounts, outbound transfers and repatriating savings are ordinary banking transactions rather than regulated events requiring approvals. Anyone accustomed to South African or Zimbabwean exchange control will find the absence of it disorienting in a good way.

Source: Bank of Botswana

The banking market is small, so an employer's relationship is worth more than a comparison table.

With a handful of banks serving a population of around two and a half million, individual account opening runs substantially on relationships and on payroll arrangements. A bank that already banks your employer will open your account faster, credit salary more reliably and be more flexible about documentation. Comparing fee schedules matters much less here than asking the finance team which bank they use.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming rand works in Botswana because it works in Namibia.
Arriving expecting to open an account on a permit application receipt.
Not agreeing an interim salary arrangement for the first month.
Making frequent rand transfers through a bank without comparing a specialist service.
Letting the bank hold an expired residence permit on file.

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