Before you start

A contract of employment with a Zimbabwe-registered entity — realistically a Harare employer
The post advertised in a local newspaper, with the shortlisted candidates' CVs
Police clearance from your country of origin or last permanent residence, not older than six months
A radiological certificate
Notarised academic and professional certificates
Employer documents: certificate of incorporation, entity summary, ZIDA licence and ZIMRA tax clearance

Step-by-step

1
Confirm the job is in Harare and the address is here
Nothing in the permit process cares where you sleep. Your employer's registration, tax clearance and advertisement are what the file turns on, and they will almost certainly be Harare documents.
Via employerWho: Your employer
2
Employer advertises and shortlists
The newspaper advertisement and the shortlisted candidates' CVs are documents in the file, not assertions. This has to happen before the immigration application opens.
Via employerWho: Your employer
3
Get Zimbabwean documents certified locally
Documents issued in Zimbabwe need a Commissioner of Oaths; foreign documents need notarisation. A Commissioner of Oaths in Chitungwiza is the same as one in Harare, so do that part without the trip.
In personWho: You
4
File with the Chief Director of Immigration in Harare
Chingaira Building, corner Leopold Takawira and Herbert Chitepo. From Chitungwiza that is a short drive or one kombi with a change — a real advantage over Bulawayo, where the same file is 440 km from the desk.
In personWho: You and your employer
5
Pay in US dollars and plan the renewal
US$500 plus US$300 per dependant, non-refundable, and US$500 again to extend. The extension asks for your understudies' CVs.
In personWho: You or your employerUS$500 + US$300 per dependant

Documents you’ll need

Form I.F.5, completed in duplicate
Letter to the Chief Director of Immigration
Contract of employment
Newspaper advertisement plus shortlisted candidates' CVs
Notarised academic and professional certificates and a CV
Police clearance not older than six months
Radiological certificate
Certified passport bio-data page and two certified photographs
Employer's certificate of incorporation, entity summary, ZIDA licence and ZIMRA tax clearance

Things most newcomers don’t know

Proximity to the Chief Director's office is Chitungwiza's genuine immigration advantage.

In a paper-based system where files go in duplicate and queries are settled in person, being twenty-five kilometres from the deciding desk instead of four hundred and forty is worth something real. It is the strongest practical argument for living here rather than in Zimbabwe's other secondary cities.

Source: Department of Immigration — head office address

There is no digital nomad permit, and Chitungwiza is exactly where that temptation arises.

Rents here are the lowest of any urban centre in the country, which makes it superficially attractive to someone planning to work remotely on a visitor entry. The Department publishes five permit categories and none of them is a remote-work route. Entry is not residence.

Source: Department of Immigration — Permits

Your residential address does not create or remove any immigration option.

Countries with provincial or regional nomination make where you live a variable. Zimbabwe does not, and anyone suggesting a Harare Province route or a Chitungwiza concession is describing something that does not exist.

Source: Department of Immigration — Permits

The fee schedule is denominated in US dollars from top to bottom.

US$500, US$300, US$200, US$100, US$1,000. In a city where household income is low and often informal, the fact that the state prices immigration exclusively in a foreign currency is the sharpest illustration of Zimbabwe's dual-currency reality.

Source: Department of Immigration — schedule of fees

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a cheaper address means a cheaper or easier permit. It is the same permit and the same fee.
Letting the six-month police clearance lapse while other documents are notarised.
Planning to work remotely on a visitor entry because the rent is low.
Accepting a role where no one can name your understudy for the renewal.

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

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