Foreign Worker Employment and Residence in Tunisia — January 2025 snapshot
Tunisia's principal route for a foreign national taking local employment combines employment authorization with the foreign residence card process.
Employment authorization
The Ministry of Employment publishes two authorization tracks for foreigners: a visa of employment contract and, for specified categories, an attestation of non-submission to the visa of employment contract. Ordinary foreign recruitment can require the contract-visa route, including cases where the employer relies on the absence of a Tunisian counterpart in the requested specialty.
Residence card
The Ministry of Interior's residence-card procedure requires a foreign national carrying out remunerated activity to provide either the approved employment contract or the attestation of non-submission, together with company, accommodation, passport and application documents.
Work authorization and residence are related but distinct. A visitor stay should not be treated as permission to take local employment.
Skilled workers
The reviewed Tier-1 January 2025 framework does not establish a separate open skilled-worker visa. Skilled foreign employees use the applicable foreign-worker authorization and residence-card process.
Remote work and freelancing
The reviewed official framework does not establish a dedicated digital-nomad, remote-work or generic freelance visa. Do not infer local work authorization from visitor status.
Compare Investor Residence, Company Manager and Entrepreneur Residence, the Tunisia hub, work visas, Africa, methodology, and the legal disclaimer.
Official and supporting sources
- Ministry of Employment — Employment of Foreignersgovernment · accessed 2026-10-01
- Ministry of Interior — Foreign Residence Cardgovernment · accessed 2026-10-01