Moving & Living - Comoros - Complete Guide

01Choose an island and test your daily journeys

Start with the island where your main commitment actually takes place. A home near a beach on Grande Comore does not solve a job based on Anjouan, and a school in Moroni does not become a daily option from Mohéli. The principal urban bases are Moroni on Grande Comore, Mutsamudu on Anjouan and Fomboni on Mohéli. The country presentation identifies these cities; the National Tourism Office provides local destination information.

1. Mark the workplace, school and likely clinic before collecting housing listings.
2. Ask an employer or school for the actual entrance and a realistic morning journey from each candidate address.
3. Reserve initial accommodation on that island, with an arrival transfer and a contact who can describe the final turn or landmark.
4. Visit candidate homes during the hours you would travel. Test the road, phone signal, water arrangements and power backup inside the property.

The medinas and public spaces of Moroni, Itsandra and Mutsamudu are useful places to explore, with heritage information from the tourism authority. Treat a neighbourhood name as a starting point: the building’s access and service arrangements matter more than a broad label.

02Separate visitor entry from permission to settle

The tourism authority describes visas on arrival at principal entry points, a passport with at least six months’ validity and an onward or return ticket. Its visitor guidance gives an approximate EUR 30–50 charge and stays up to 45 days. That is visitor-entry information, not a published settlement or remote-work programme. British-passport guidance specifies a EUR 30 entry visa; French tourist guidance describes approximately EUR 30 plus accommodation details and resources of EUR 30 per day. Preserve the nationality scope of those instructions.

The foreigner-stay law published by the Ministry of Justice provides a long-stay framework for more than three months and distinguishes residence from income-producing activity. Meanwhile, current French business-travel guidance describes an ordinary visa being converted locally to a one-year visa for a valid reason such as employment or investment. The correct application location and current implementation for your case therefore need a consular answer before departure.

1. Describe your purpose precisely: named employer, own business, study, joining family or a proposed stay supported by overseas resources.
2. Give the Comorian consulate your passport nationality, present country of residence, intended duration and accompanying family members.
3. Request the application form, responsible office, supporting documents, current official charges and whether prior approval is needed before travel.
4. Ask which permission covers each accompanying person and whether changing purpose requires a further application.
5. Keep the reply beside your travel documents and follow its sequence before paying for an irreversible move.

For applicants dealing with France, the official embassy directory lists the Comorian mission at 20 rue Marbeau, Paris. Use the mission responsible for your own location. A visitor visa should never be treated as approval to begin a local job.

03Arrange the employer or business permissions

Put the offer in writing before discussing a relocation date. The contract should identify the employing entity, workplace island, salary currency, payment method, start date and who pays for immigration, housing and travel. If accommodation is included, obtain its address and terms rather than allowing it to disappear inside a general benefits promise.

The Labour Code provides for a carte spéciale de travailleur étranger, subject to applicable exceptions. Ask the employer to work with the labour authorities on the foreign-worker authorisation and to explain which documents you must supply. Residence paperwork and a company’s existence are separate matters; neither alone establishes your right to perform the proposed work.

If you will operate a business

Start with ANPI, the National Investment Promotion Agency. Its commercial-company procedure connects company formation, notarised statutes and capital arrangements with the Registre du commerce et du crédit mobilier (RCCM), taxpayer registration and the patente, the business licence/tax document. The published checklist includes identification, a criminal-record extract, residence evidence, a lease and company documents.

1. Describe the activity and ask ANPI whether sector-specific approval is needed.
2. Choose the legal form with a local adviser and assemble its actual checklist.
3. Obtain the registration certificate, taxpayer card and patente through the indicated offices.
4. Resolve your personal immigration and professional authorisation before trading.
5. Keep company money, invoices and accounts separate from household spending.

For overseas remote employment, disclose the work to the consulate and tax authority. No verified dedicated digital-nomad route is identified here, and overseas payment does not settle the immigration question.

04Build a quoted budget and organise tax records

Work in Comorian francs, KMF. The Central Bank’s published fixed parity is EUR 1 = KMF 491.96775; a transfer provider can still charge fees or apply its own service terms. Ask your bank what will arrive in the account after all transfer and receiving charges.

The package sources are Comores Telecom and Yas Comoros, reviewed on 13 October 2026. The other rows are planning assumptions, not verified prices. A separate hypothetical arrival reserve of KMF 1,270,000 could consist of one month’s rent in advance (100,000), an assumed negotiated two-month security deposit (200,000), temporary accommodation (150,000), flights (300,000), freight (400,000) and setup purchases (120,000). This is arithmetic, not a legal deposit rule; permit charges, school, import taxes and individual insurance remain additional.

Take your income sources, employment contract and proposed arrival date to the AGID tax office. Ask how residence, foreign earnings and any continuing obligations in your previous country interact. The government’s income-tax procedure is a practical starting point for declarations, including employer paperwork. Keep contracts, payslips and transfer records; do not infer a current tax rate from an older online table.

05Secure school placement or university admission

For French-language schooling in Moroni, the Lycée Français International Henri-Matisse publishes its own enrolment information. Ask for the appropriate class, availability and any assessment before deciding where to rent. Admission to the school does not confer residence permission.

The fee schedule approved on 28 January 2026 also lists a non-refundable KMF 170,000 first-enrolment charge and KMF 25,000 dossier fee. For an elementary pupil in the other-nationality category, those charges plus the KMF 567,000 first-term tuition total KMF 762,000 before books, meals and transport. The monthly schedule covers ten school months, not twelve.

1. Send the school the pupil’s age, previous curriculum, reports and intended start date.
2. Prepare its required forms, family or birth documentation, vaccination record, photograph and original school-leaving certificate, the EXEAT.
3. Ask which identification replaces a requested Comorian identity document for a foreign family and whether placement testing applies.
4. Confirm fees, payment dates and the journey from the actual home.

The University of Comoros describes campuses across the three islands. Choose the programme and teaching campus first, then use its actual admissions portal. Current 2026–2027 programme deadlines and foreign-student fees were not verified in the available registration guidance; obtain those from the university’s admissions office before payment. An accessible login page is not proof that a particular intake is open.

06Plan a supported stay for retirement

Retiring to Comoros needs a residence decision and a care plan before a home purchase or long lease. This guide has not verified a dedicated retirement visa or a published pension-income threshold. Present your intended duration and resources to the Comorian consulate and ask which existing permission, if any, fits your circumstances.

1. Request a pension statement specifying the amount, payment frequency and whether payments continue abroad.
2. Ask the pension provider which address, bank and life-certificate arrangements it requires when you relocate.
3. List regular medicines, clinical appointments and any treatment that must remain available outside Comoros.
4. Obtain a written insurance quotation covering your age, medical history, evacuation destination and likely duration of residence.
5. Keep money for both an urgent transfer and planned specialist travel, separate from the household budget.

The current French health guidance describes limited facilities and possible medical transfers to Réunion, Mayotte or mainland France. Such a destination does not automatically give you permission to enter or entitlement to publicly funded treatment. Coordinate entry documents, insurer approval and the receiving facility in advance wherever possible.

A trial stay can help you test everyday needs: obtaining prescriptions, sleeping comfortably during a power interruption, collecting cash and getting to an appointment. Record the actual costs rather than adopting a visitor’s holiday budget. If you plan to supplement retirement with consultancy, a shop or paid remote work, include that activity in the immigration assessment instead of treating it as incidental pension income.

07Prepare documents, freight and any pet move

Create one folder for each traveller: passport, the applicable permission or consular instructions, civil-status documents, qualifications, work or admission papers and medical records. Keep originals in hand luggage and encrypted copies somewhere you can access without the household computer. Ask each receiving office what language, certification and legalisation it accepts before purchasing translations.

Send belongings through a defined clearance chain

1. Ask a freight agent for a written quote identifying departure handling, sea or air freight, destination handling, customs work and delivery to the final island.
2. Prepare an itemised inventory with values and separate medicines, food, commercial stock and other regulated goods.
3. Send the inventory and your immigration status to Comorian Customs to establish the applicable requirements and tax treatment.
4. Agree who will receive the shipping documents, represent you at clearance and pay any storage charge.
5. Keep the transport document, receipts and clearance evidence until the goods reach your home.

The government’s archived customs workflow illustrates the handoffs between carrier, agent, customs and port. It is labelled an old procedure and should not be used as a current household-goods tariff. No general duty-free exemption for a foreign household is assumed here.

If bringing a pet

Current Comorian veterinary permit conditions, certificate validity periods, inspection charges and quarantine arrangements could not be verified from an authoritative public checklist. Before transport, ask the consulate to identify the competent veterinary service and obtain its written instructions together with Customs’ requirements. Give the species, origin, transit countries and arrival island. Then coordinate the health certificate with your exporting-country veterinarian and the airline; another island’s rules are not a substitute.

08Arrive with an address, funds and a first-week plan

Keep your passport, permission evidence, onward or return arrangements where required, accommodation details and consular correspondence together for inspection. Have a paper copy of the host’s phone number and directions; an arrival plan should still work while your phone has no local data.

1. Check the entry endorsement before leaving the arrival area: name, date and allowed stay must match your documents.
2. Keep the visa-payment receipt and photograph the entry page for your administrative file.
3. Meet the transfer contact at the agreed location and confirm the fare or booking terms before departing.
4. At accommodation, establish the water supply, power backup, door access and a contact for urgent repairs.
5. Contact the office identified for residence registration and your employer or school to confirm the first appointment.

If the final destination is another island, organise that connection as a separate journey with baggage and arrival arrangements confirmed by its actual operator. The tourism office’s destination material is useful orientation, but it is not a live sailing or flight timetable. Leave room in your plan for a revised connection rather than scheduling a permit appointment immediately after an unconfirmed transfer.

Make a small operational checklist for the first evening: drinking water, enough food until the next shopping trip, cash for the next day’s journeys, working chargers and a place to keep originals dry. Then put every entry-related date into your calendar. Resolving paperwork early is easier than doing it during the final days of a visitor permission.

09Complete residence and workplace registrations

The published residence framework calls for the long-stay holder’s residence-card application within ten days of entry and annual renewal of the carte de séjour. It also distinguishes professional residence status and provides for exit-visa and tax-compliance requirements for resident-card holders. Confirm the current handling with the office responsible for your approved route; do not substitute an archived entrepreneur checklist’s charges for today’s assessment.

1. Take the passport and entry evidence, approval correspondence and the checklist supplied for your specific application.
2. Make the required appointment or submission at the designated office, keeping copies of everything handed over.
3. Obtain a receipt showing the application date, official payment and how to collect the issued document.
4. Ask what the receipt proves while the card is being prepared and which services require the final card.
5. Check spelling and validity on collection, and schedule renewal reminders with preparation time included.

Employees should ask payroll which tax and social records it creates and obtain the relevant identifiers. The government social-contribution procedure names the Caisse Nationale de Solidarité et de Prévoyance Sociale, CNSPS, and employer declarations. Ask what benefits your actual affiliation covers rather than assuming every resident receives comprehensive medical insurance.

Business owners should retain the RCCM certificate, taxpayer identification or NIF, taxpayer card and patente from the company process. Before any international departure, ask immigration and AGID whether your status requires an exit document or tax clearance and when to request it. This is a task to schedule alongside the ticket, not something to discover at boarding.

10Open a usable account and test your payment chain

Choose an institution through the Central Bank’s credit-institution directory, then deal with the bank’s own Comorian service. A similarly named bank in Tanzania or another country can have entirely different identification requirements.

AFG Bank Comores’ account-opening request separates employment and professional profiles and asks for identification, income and residence evidence. It starts a review; sending the form is not the same as an activated account. Ask its staff which foreign passport and residence documents fit your profile, whether originals must be shown and when the account can receive funds.

1. Contact the branch on your island and obtain the current personal-account checklist and tariff.
2. Prepare the accepted identity document, address evidence and proof of the source of funds.
3. Ask about minimum balances, card issuance, transfer charges, cash withdrawals and online access separately.
4. Complete the bank’s verification, keeping the account agreement and fee schedule.
5. Send a small first transfer, confirm the net amount received and test one withdrawal before routing your full income.

Exim Bank Comoros’ personal-account page publishes minimum balances of KMF 10,000 for its remunerated account with chequebook and KMF 3,000 without chequebook. Those are balances, not automatically opening fees. Its diaspora product is described for Comorians abroad and should not be assumed to cover every foreign newcomer.

Keep a modest cash reserve in denominations useful for ordinary purchases and ask suppliers which payment methods they actually accept. For a large rental payment, record the payee, property, covered period and receipt; a transfer screenshot alone may not settle a dispute over what was paid.

11Inspect a home and agree the whole rental contract

Ask employers, schools and local contacts for introductions, then inspect the actual property. The first question is whether it supports your daily routine; the second is what the quoted rent really includes. A furnished home can still leave you responsible for fuel, water delivery, internet installation and equipment maintenance.

1. Confirm the owner or representative’s identity and authority to rent the property.
2. Visit inside and outside, testing locks, ventilation, plumbing, the water-storage arrangement and power outlets.
3. Ask to see recent utility bills, meter details and any arrears. Identify a shared meter before dividing its bill informally.
4. Write the rent, currency, due date, payment method, advance payment and any negotiated deposit into the contract.
5. Agree lease duration, notice, renewal, repairs, furnished inventory and the circumstances for returning the deposit.
6. Record the condition with dated photographs, meter readings and signatures when collecting the keys.

A current authoritative national residential-deposit cap or standard notice period was not verified for this guide. The two-month deposit in the earlier budget is only an example of an amount to negotiate, not a statutory requirement. Have a local legal adviser review unclear terms rather than importing the rental rules of France or a neighbouring country.

Specify who pays for cleaning a tank, repairing a pump or servicing a backup system. Agree access for repairs and how you report a fault. Keep the contact details of the person who can authorise work, not only those of the person who showed you the home.

Buying property involves a different process. The published foreigner law provides for prior authorisation for foreign property transactions; a seller’s willingness to take a deposit does not establish immigration eligibility or transaction approval.

12Choose care and insurance around your actual island

Match the care plan to the island and to your household’s conditions. Belgian Foreign Affairs’ guidance, updated 19 June 2026, identifies El Maarouf on Grande Comore, Hombo on Anjouan and Fomboni on Mohéli as hospital starting points. Contact the facility to confirm the department, appointment arrangements and available treatment; a hospital name does not guarantee that your specialist service is present.

1. Ask your present clinician for a concise medical summary and prescriptions using the medicine’s generic name.
2. Contact an appropriate provider on the intended island before moving if continuing treatment is essential.
3. Ask insurers about local treatment, direct billing or reimbursement, pre-existing conditions and evacuation.
4. Record the insurer’s assistance number, authorisation procedure and proposed transfer destinations.
5. Keep policy documents, medical records and funds for any payment that must be made before reimbursement.

Current French guidance recommends medical and repatriation insurance and describes the limitations of local facilities. Distinguish emergency transport from the cost of treatment at the destination. Ask who selects the receiving hospital and whether an accompanying child or partner can travel under the policy.

For everyday health, agree a safe drinking-water arrangement at home and identify where you will obtain regular medicines. Carry labelled prescriptions and the permitted initial supply in hand luggage, with any import questions resolved before departure. Review insurance again if your employment, age, medical needs or duration of stay changes.

Do not infer healthcare entitlement from having a visa, a bank account or a CNSPS record. Have the employer or insurer explain the exact coverage and exclusions in your own contract, and retain that answer with the household’s care plan.

13Connect the home and establish reliable transport

Test the mobile signal inside the home before choosing a provider. Yas Comoros publishes Net 5000 at KMF 5,000 for 10 GB over 30 days. Comores Telecom’s Furaha Net is published at KMF 22,500 for 150 GB over 30 days at 8 Mbps, reduced to 2 Mbps after the allowance. These were reviewed on 13 October 2026; ask about address coverage, available equipment and activation before paying.

1. Take the identity documents requested by the operator and confirm that the account is registered to the correct person.
2. Activate a small mobile package and test calls, messages and data where you live and work.
3. For home service, ask for a written order showing installation, equipment ownership, recurring price and cancellation arrangements.
4. Keep a separate backup connection for work that cannot wait for a fixed-line repair.

The government electricity-project documentation distinguishes SONELEC for electricity and SONEDE for water. At your property, establish the actual supplier, account holder, meter and payment arrangement. No current universal connection charge is quoted here. Obtain the current bill or supplier assessment and agree with the landlord who clears an old balance or pays for a new connection.

For transport, arrange a known local driver or learn the route you will use, confirming the fare before the journey. If planning to drive, ask the licensing authority about your actual foreign licence and residence status and obtain local insurance terms before hiring or buying a vehicle. Current inter-island bookings must come from the operating carrier, including baggage and cancellation conditions.

14Build a first-month routine and close the loose ends

Use the first month to turn separate arrangements into a routine: the shopping trip, the school journey, a place to work during an outage and a contact who can help with a repair. Learn the local landmarks used in directions and write your own address consistently across the employer, school, bank and official records.

For French practice in Moroni, the Alliance Française’s general courses require a placement test. Ask about the next session and level before enrolling. Its own programme includes cultural activities and current October 2026 events, providing a practical starting point for meeting people beyond the workplace. Everyday conversation also involves Comorian languages; ask colleagues or neighbours how they use them locally rather than assuming every interaction will be in French.

Close the first-month checklist

• Check that entry and residence dates are recorded and that you know the collection or renewal process.
• Confirm the employer’s work, tax and social paperwork or the business’s outstanding registrations.
• File the signed lease, condition photographs, payment receipts and utility details together.
• Test income transfers, withdrawals and the payment methods used by regular suppliers.
• Confirm school attendance arrangements and the next tuition date where relevant.
• Store the medical and insurance contacts somewhere every adult can find them.
• Review actual spending against the hypothetical worksheet and replace assumptions with household figures.

Make the next international trip part of this calendar too: residence validity, any exit or tax-clearance requirement, destination-entry documents and insurance dates should align before booking. A completed move means you understand how to maintain the arrangements, not just how to obtain them once.