Moving to Tanzania from Australia
Australian passport holders can get a visa on arrival for a visit to Tanzania, but living there takes a residence permit. The self-funded residency routes we track start at an investment of about $100k, and our residency index rates Tanzania 55/100 for Australian citizens (possible, with conditions). We estimate €1,962 a month for a couple living centrally in Dodoma and €2,081 in Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is in our low to medium tax tier. Check the official requirements before you apply.
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- Short stays
- Visa on arrival
- Australian passport
- Residency
- 55/100
- Possible, with conditions, our index
- Tax tier
- Low to medium
- Moderate personal income tax
- Est. cost for two
- From €1,962/mo
- Dodoma, our estimate
Living there long term
Our residency index: 55/100, possible, with conditions. It is our own rating of how realistic long-term residency in Tanzania is for Australian citizens, based on the routes Tanzania publishes. Long-term residency runs mainly through investment (a relatively accessible Zanzibar ZIPA-approved property route or a larger mainland investor permit) or a sponsor-tied work permit, plus a discretionary retirement permit for applicants 55+ with assured means.
The cheapest self-funded routes we track:
- Investment: about $100k (Zanzibar Residence Permit Class C (C-11) via a ZIPA-approved property purchase, USD 100,000 minimum (vs the mainland Tanzania Investment Centre investor permit at USD 500,000); as of June 2026)
Check the official requirements before you apply: amounts, conditions and exchange rates change, and what a couple needs can differ from a single applicant's threshold.
For short visits, Australian passport holders can get a visa on arrival for a visit, according to the passport-index dataset. Short-stay entry covers visits; living there takes a residence permit.
Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).
Where in Tanzania to start
Ranked by our match model for a typical couple who both hold Australian passports, using the preset answers of our best places to live list. Your own answers would change the order. We pick the cities, up to five, by how often English Wikipedia readers looked them up over the past year.
1. Dodoma
61% match- Est. cost
- €1,962/mo
- Avg temp
- 22°C
- Safety index
- 50/100
2. Mwanza
60% match- Est. cost
- €1,984/mo
- Avg temp
- 23°C
- Safety index
- 50/100
3. Dar es Salaam
54% match- Est. cost
- €2,081/mo
- Avg temp
- 26°C
- Safety index
- 50/100
Cost of living for two
Our estimate for a couple living centrally runs from €1,962 a month in Dodoma to €2,081 in Dar es Salaam. For comparison, we estimate €4,094 a month in Melbourne. Use these figures to compare places rather than to set a budget.
Source: our cost model: a country-level cost-of-living index scaled for city size, from our city dataset (last rebuilt June 2026). An estimate, not a survey of current prices.
Taxes
Tanzania is in our low to medium tax tier (moderate personal income tax); Australia is in our high tax tier (high personal income tax). Tiers describe each country's own income tax. They do not cover tax you may still owe in Australia after you leave, or the treaty between the two countries, so check both with a tax adviser before you move.
Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.
Lists with cities in Tanzania
Moving to Tanzania from elsewhere
How we built this page
Every figure here comes from the datasets behind our city and country pages:
- Short-stay entry: the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT license), which records the entry rule for short visits on each passport.
- Residency index, routes and thresholds: the OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. It is a summary, not legal advice.
- City ranking: our match model, the one behind the quiz, run with a typical couple's preset answers and both partners holding Australian passports. It ranks up to five of the country's best-known cities: of the cities in our quiz (100,000 people or more, capitals and a few towns movers seek out, such as Faro), the five most read about on English Wikipedia over the past year. It folds suburbs into their main city and leaves out countries with a residency index under 40 and areas under a US State Department Level 4 advisory, as our best-cities lists do.
- Costs: our cost model, a country-level cost-of-living index scaled for city size, from our city dataset (last rebuilt June 2026).
- Tax tiers: three coarse bands we assign by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation.