Burundi Investment Code Residence

Burundi has no investor visa product. What exists is a statutory guarantee of entry and residence visas attached to investor certification under the Investment Code — a Laos-style arrangement where the immigration right is a benefit of the investment regime rather than a discrete permit category.

The operative statute is Loi n° 1/19 du 17 juin 2021 portant modification de la Loi n° 1/24 du 10 septembre 2008 portant Code des Investissements du Burundi (Burundi Investment Code 2021, FAO FAOLEX; Agence de Développement du Burundi, Réglementation; UNCTAD, Burundi Investment Law 2021).

The eligibility threshold is in Article 14(3): the project must be "un projet d'investissement d'au moins 500 000 USD pour les investisseurs étrangers et l'équivalent en francs burundais pour les investisseurs burundais dans la Mairie de Bujumbura et de la moitié de cet investissement dans d'autres localités" — at least USD 500,000 in Bujumbura City, and half that (i.e. USD 250,000) elsewhere. Note that the statute expresses the provincial figure as "half", not as a stated dollar amount (Burundi Investment Code 2021).

Article 25 imposes a deployment obligation: "L'investisseur certifié s'engage à réaliser au moins 20% de son investissement prévisionnel au cours de la première année à compter de la date de notification de son éligibilité et 10% dans les secteurs spécifiques" — at least 20% of the projected investment in the first year from the date of eligibility notification, or 10% in specific sectors (Burundi Investment Code 2021).

The residence entitlement is Article 8: "Dans le respect des lois et règlements sur l'immigration, la République du Burundi garantit l'octroi de visas d'entrée et de résidence ainsi que le libre établissement sur son territoire à toute personne physique ressortissant de la Communauté Est Africaine ou de nationalité étrangère" — Burundi guarantees the grant of entry and residence visas and free establishment to EAC nationals and foreign nationals, and exempts the fees for such advantages for the certified investor's permanent staff (Burundi Investment Code 2021). Article 30(1) obliges the Agency to "appuyer et assister l'investisseur dans l'obtention des documents et facilités suivants: visas d'entrée et d'établissement, permis de travail, le raccordement à l'eau et à l'électricité, licence..." (Burundi Investment Code 2021).

Crucially, the 2021 Code replaced the former Agence de Promotion des Investissements (API) with the Burundi Development Agency (Agence de Développement du Burundi, ADB) as the sole interlocutor for investors (UNCTAD Investment Policy Monitor, Burundi). Article 4(1) of the Code defines "Agence" as the Agence de Développement du Burundi (Burundi Investment Code 2021).

Application requirements and fees are published by the Agency: priority-sector alignment, a new/extension/rehabilitation/modernisation project, environmental compliance, registration documents (RC, NIF, statutes), a business plan with financing detail, five-year revenue forecasts, an investment plan and works schedule, and a non-refundable file fee equivalent to USD 500 (Agence de Développement du Burundi, Éligibilité).

Investment threshold

• At least USD 500,000 for foreign investors in the Mairie de Bujumbura, and half that amount in other localities (Investment Code 2021, Art. 14(3); Agence de Développement du Burundi). UNCTAD records the same figures as USD 500,000 / USD 250,000 (UNCTAD Investment Policy Monitor).

• At least 20% of the projected investment must be realised in the first year from the date of eligibility notification — 10% in specific sectors (Investment Code 2021, Art. 25).

Sector requirements

• The project must fall in a listed investment sector under Article 3: agriculture, fishing, livestock and storage of plant/animal/fishery products; manufacturing production or processing; extraction, research or processing of mineral substances; tourism, tourism developments and industries, other hotel activities; cultural industries; sports, energy, port, airport and rail infrastructure; commercial complexes, industrial parks, cyber-villages and craft centres; services in health, ICT, transport, education and training; assembly and maintenance of industrial equipment; and packaging production (Investment Code 2021, Art. 3).

• Arms and munitions production, and investment in sensitive areas including pharmacology and radioactive industry, are subject to special regulation (Investment Code 2021, Art. 7).

• The project must be a new venture, extension, rehabilitation or modernisation (Agence de Développement du Burundi).

Documentation

• Registration documents: RC (commercial register), NIF (tax number) and company statutes (Agence de Développement du Burundi).

• Business plan with financing detail, five-year revenue forecasts, investment plan and works schedule (Agence de Développement du Burundi).

• Environmental compliance, including an environmental impact assessment certificate where required (Agence de Développement du Burundi; Investment Code 2021, Art. 30(1)).

Fees

• Non-refundable file fee equivalent to USD 500 (Agence de Développement du Burundi).

• Visa and establishment fees are exonerated for the certified investor's permanent EAC or foreign staff (Investment Code 2021, Art. 8).

Immigration outcome

• On certification, the State guarantees entry and residence visas and free establishment, subject to compliance with immigration laws and regulations (Investment Code 2021, Art. 8).

• The Agency must assist the investor in obtaining entry and establishment visas and work permits (Investment Code 2021, Art. 30(1)).

• No permit duration, renewal term or family-member entitlement is specified in the Code text reviewed — the Code mentions entry/residence visas, entry/establishment visas and work permits, but not a carte de séjour, and does not expressly extend the benefit to family members (Investment Code 2021).

• Statutory — not discretionary — guarantee of entry and residence visas and free establishment for certified investors and foreign or EAC nationals (Investment Code 2021, Art. 8)
• Visa and establishment fees exonerated for the certified investor's permanent staff, EAC or foreign (Investment Code 2021, Art. 8)
• Halved threshold outside Bujumbura — USD 250,000 rather than USD 500,000, a rare explicit regional-incentive discount (Investment Code 2021, Art. 14(3))
• Low official application cost: a non-refundable file fee equivalent to USD 500 (Agence de Développement du Burundi)
• Single-window Agency mandated to assist with visas, work permits, utility connections, licences and environmental certificates (Investment Code 2021, Art. 30(1))
• Free transfer of unused professional income for permanent EAC or foreign staff after tax, under exchange-control rules (Investment Code 2021, Art. 10)
• Constitutional-grade investment protection: prohibition of nationalisation and expropriation, with just and prior compensation in exceptional public-interest cases (Investment Code 2021, Art. 13)
• State land and buildings may be sold, leased or contributed to investor companies, and Special Economic Zones or industrial land may be developed for them (Investment Code 2021, Art. 12)
• No formality beyond ordinary company law to create, extend, modernise or rehabilitate an enterprise (Investment Code 2021, Art. 5)
• EAC membership — the Code's visa and establishment guarantees run to East African Community nationals alongside other foreigners (Investment Code 2021, Art. 8)

Naturalisation is granted by presidential decree under Article 6 of the 2000 Nationality Code. Article 7 sets the admissibility conditions: the applicant must be at least 21 at the time of application (or at most 20 if a child applying alongside a parent); be of good conduct and morals and free of any conviction arising from a crime or offence; demonstrate attachment to the Burundian nation and assimilation to Burundian citizens; and have resided permanently in Burundi for at least ten years. That ten-year period is reduced to five years for foreigners married to Burundian women and for those who have rendered exceptional services to Burundi. Article 8 provides for an implementing decree and a consultative naturalisation commission. Article 9 bars naturalised citizens from elective office for ten years from publication of the naturalisation act in the Bulletin Officiel (Burundi Nationality Code 2000).

Because the requirement is permanent residence for ten years, and because Article 7(c) demands demonstrated assimilation, this is a genuine-residence path with Burundian tax residency implied. Secondary reporting confirms the ten-year permanent-residence requirement and the five-year reduction (ecoi.net, Whether Burundi recognizes dual citizenship).

Burundi's position on dual citizenship is unclear: the Nationality Code defines double nationalité at Article 1(4) as the legal situation of an individual acquiring a second nationality in addition to their nationality of origin (Burundi Nationality Code 2000), but published sources do not state unambiguously whether it is permitted for naturalised or natural-born Burundians.

The statute is Loi n° 1/19 du 17 juin 2021 portant modification de la Loi n° 1/24 du 10 septembre 2008 portant Code des Investissements du Burundi, promulgated by the President after adoption by the National Assembly and Senate, and revising both the 2008 Investment Code and Loi n° 1/23 du 24 septembre 2009 on fiscal advantages (Investment Code 2021, FAOLEX; Agence de Développement du Burundi, Réglementation; UNCTAD).

Key articles: Art. 1 (object — promoting and facilitating investment and exports); Art. 2 (scope, including Special Economic Zones and public-service/asset concessions); Art. 3 (eligible sectors); Art. 4 (definitions, including "Agence" = Agence de Développement du Burundi, and the certificat d'éligibilité); Art. 5 (no formality beyond ordinary law for creating, extending, modernising or rehabilitating an enterprise); Art. 7 (freedom of establishment and capital investment; restricted sensitive sectors); Art. 8 (guarantee of entry and residence visas, free establishment, fee exoneration for permanent staff); Art. 10 (free transfer of unused professional income after tax); Art. 11–12 (property rights and non-discrimination, including sale/lease of State land or buildings to investors and development of Special Economic Zones); Art. 13 (prohibition of nationalisation and expropriation, with just and prior compensation in exceptional public-interest cases); Art. 14(3) (investment thresholds); Art. 25 (20% / 10% first-year deployment); Art. 30 (Agency duties, including visa and work-permit assistance, incentive facilitation, project monitoring, amicable dispute resolution and confidentiality) (Investment Code 2021).

The implementing authority is the Agence de Développement du Burundi (ADB), which under the 2021 reform replaced the former Agence de Promotion des Investissements (API) and became the investor's sole interlocutor (UNCTAD Investment Policy Monitor; Agence de Développement du Burundi). The certificat d'éligibilité is signed by the head of the Agency (Investment Code 2021, Art. 4).

Nationality is governed by the Code de la nationalité burundaise (Loi n° 1/013 du 18 juillet 2000). Article 6 provides that nationality may be acquired by naturalisation, granted by presidential decree. Article 7(d) requires the applicant to "avoir résidé en permanence au Burundi pendant une durée d'au moins dix ans" — at least ten years' permanent residence — reduced to five years for foreigners married to Burundian women and for those who have rendered exceptional services to Burundi. Article 7(a) sets a minimum age of 21; Article 7(b) requires good conduct and no criminal conviction; Article 7(c) requires demonstrated attachment to the Burundian nation and assimilation. Article 9 defers eligibility for elective office for ten years from publication of the naturalisation act (Burundi Nationality Code 2000, Droit-Afrique; implementing decree at Décret n° 100/156 du 14 octobre 2003; English translation at Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative).