PASSPORTS AND PERMITS: THE INJUSTICES WE DON’T TALK ABOUT ENOUGH

A European passport, an open world. An African passport, a wall of borders.

There is a profound injustice in the world of visas and freedom of movement. While a European citizen can visit the vast majority of countries around the world with extreme ease, the same does not apply to those born with an African passport. The passport thus becomes not only an identity document, but a determinant of personal freedom, economic opportunities, and growth possibilities. This inequality manifests itself in the daily lives of anyone who wants to travel: the student trying to reach a foreign university, the small entrepreneur who wants to expand their contacts beyond national borders, the citizen who wants to visit another country as a tourist. Everyone finds themselves facing lengthy, expensive, and almost always unsuccessful visa application processes, simply because they were born in the “wrong” place.

This inequality is a daily reality that limits the potential of millions of people. Eurostat data shows that between 2015 and 2024, the Schengen visa rejection rate for African applicants rose from 18.6% to 26.6%. More than one in four Africans attempting to travel to Europe is rejected. Not because they are dangerous, not because they have bad intentions, but because the system assumes that those from certain countries must prove something that is not required of those who come from other countries.

Tanzania and Dual Citizenship: Those Born Here Remain Foreign

Added to this global injustice is a specific local problem: Tanzania does not recognize dual citizenship. This means that anyone born in Tanzania to foreign parents or who chooses to acquire Tanzanian citizenship must renounce their previous nationality. A choice that many people cannot or will not make, and which condemns them to live in a state of permanent legal insecurity.

This is the case for the daughters of the creator and co-founder of Gruppo Tanzania ETS and KISEDET NGO. Born and raised in Tanzania to Italian parents, they have never lived elsewhere, and Swahili is their mother tongue. Yet, in the eyes of the law, they are foreigners. To remain in their own country, they must periodically renew their residence permit, undergoing complicated bureaucratic procedures and paying costs that accumulate over time. But above all, they must live with a fundamental uncertainty that clashes with the depth of their roots in their country, which is simply not recognized as such.

For children born to a Tanzanian parent, things are not much different, except that upon reaching adulthood, they are asked to choose the citizenship of one of their two parents.

Tanzanian citizenship for a foreigner costs $5,000. At the time of application, the applicant will have to pay $1,500, which is non-refundable if the application is unsuccessful.

Living in Tanzania as a Foreigner: A Never-Ending Obstacle Course

The creator and co-founder of KISEDET and GRTZ ETS has lived in Tanzania for thirty years: three decades of life, work, and daily commitment to local communities through KISEDET. Yet, she, like her daughters and husband, is not a Tanzanian citizen and must regularly renew her residence permit to remain in what has effectively become her country.

Obtaining and renewing a residence permit in Tanzania has never been easy. The procedure requires extensive documentation, often long and unpredictable waiting times, and constant interaction with offices and institutions that have repeatedly changed rules and requirements over the years. Each renewal is an investment of time, energy, and money, which, for those working in an NGO, takes away resources from fieldwork and financial resources from projects.

She was recently informed that the cost of her permit will double from 2027: from $1,050 to $2,100. This increase weighs heavily on those who work for the common good on a non-profit basis.

For those who have lived in Tanzania for decades, have built their lives here, and contribute every day to the development of local communities, this type of financial burden isn’t just an administrative issue. It’s a sign that the system doesn’t recognize the value of those who choose to stay and invest in this country.

Same mission, different costs

There is an issue that directly affects the work of NGOs in Tanzania and that deserves to be discussed: there is a special category called “charitable status”, which allows them to pay significantly less for visas and residence permits for foreign staff. The problem is that this benefit is actually available exclusively to organizations linked to the Church and religious institutions. 

Secular NGOs, regardless of how many years they have been operating in the area, how many children they serve, or how many families they support, can access this status, but it is almost impossible for them to obtain it, with the result that they are forced to pay significantly higher fees. This is a structural distinction in the Tanzanian system, which creates unequal treatment between organizations that perform similar social functions, simply based on their religious or secular nature.

Religious organizations pay less; secular NGOs, equally rooted in communities and equally essential to the survival of thousands of people, pay more. Resources that could be allocated to social purposes instead end up in administrative procedures and differential tariffs, which no logic of equity can justify. 

Furthermore, “charitable status” would allow an NGO like KISEDET to enjoy tax benefits that it currently lacks.

The world does not work the same way for everyone

The thread that links the difficulty Africans face in traveling, the condition of those born in Tanzania without being able to fully call it “home” from a legal standpoint, and the financial burden that secular NGOs bear to maintain their staff in the field is the same: the system is not neutral. The rules on international mobility, citizenship, and residence permits do not affect everyone equally. Until the West allows people from other countries to travel freely, there will always be inequality and a disrespect for the human right to move freely. 

Talking about these injustices is the first step to changing things.