Immigration
The Immigration Act with strict work-permit quotas
The Immigration Act (Cap 54) and the Non-Citizens (Employment Regulation) Act 2015 govern entry and work. Work permits are quota-limited by class and employers must show that no qualified Tanzanian is available, and Zanzibar administers its own permits for some purposes.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Immigration Department issues residence permits; the Labour Commissioner issues work permits under the 2015 Act.
- Deadline — Work permit: classes A to E, generally two years and renewable to a maximum period
- Deadline — Residence permit: applied for in conjunction with the work permit
Governing law
- Immigration ActCap 54
- Non-Citizens (Employment Regulation) Act, 2015No. 1 of 2015
- EAC Common Market Protocol
In practice
Tanzania requires two separate authorisations for a foreign employee — a work permit from the Labour Commissioner and a residence permit from Immigration — and the 2015 Act tightened the succession-planning requirement, obliging employers to train a Tanzanian understudy. This dual-permit structure is the most common source of compliance failure.