Retirement documents

Dear Olga, all the information is available at the EDB website. I think you can apply online from abroad, but the documents should be in French or English. There are some mandatory documents yo have to scan and upload, and some other stuff you will have to do once you have entered on a tourist visa. The whole process will take time but should be straight forward if you have all the documents needed. You can do it all yourself.

@oshudofsky  you can Google ebd business Mauritius then create account on it , it's online system when you upload the document if it's not correct then it will send you message till corrections completed.  When you reached medical document then take business visa at Mauritius Airport do your medical in Mauritius upload document when permit ready you can collect from edb office.  Its easy process if all documents are good .

You can apply from your country till medical uploads then police clearance certificate from Mauritius needed it'll take one month. 

You have to visit Mauritius,  come on business visa when every document uploaded till medical stage.

In medical blood test, urine test, stool test, chest x Ray report and doctor certification that all are correct . In port Louis next to cnr Court building they do the process or city clinic is there, list of clinic is there on website.

Just a couple of points over and above what yrsbarra wrote.

Retired Non-Citizens applying for a residence permit should enter Mauritius on a Tourist Visa.

As stated above, you can apply on-line. You will have an approval in principle when everything is submitted including proof of revenue. Be cautious on how you proceed with funds, otherwise you could be subject to tax in Mauritius.

Submitting docs is easy, applying the right strategy is different. *** If not, best to get a good relocation agent.

BestofMusicRadio -

"Be cautious on how you proceed with funds, otherwise you could be subject to tax in Mauritius."

Please could you explain more about what you mean by this? ie, how to proceed with funds and not be subject to tax in Mauritius? Thanks

@oshudofsky hi. Please send me an email on [email protected]. We can assist you. Thanks

@andrew9799 as far as I know, funds from abroad transferred from a bank account to a bank account in Mauritius are free from income tax. Mauritius has tax agreements with several countries to avoid double taxation. EDB or a Mauritian bank should be able to advise you.

@oshudofsky you enter Mauritius on a tourist visa. There is no need to enter the country until you are ready to do your medical tests. These medical tests are just blood drawn and an x-ray. The EDB website is very clear and easy to use. The documents you need in your home country are the most “complicated” so create an account on the website and get started as soon as possible.

@Expat Ash Hi we also in the process. When do you have to show proof of funds.  We both work online so our funds come from that.  We have a Amazon and Spotify business and work online for UK companies.  Which doctor is the best to go to regards xrays and urine samples. We a bit embarrassed to do the stool tests and have heard some doctors don't even do the stool test.  We are 59 and 60 and will be earning pounds and bringing pounds into Mauritius but we are South Africans.  I hope you can answer for me.  We have already started the online application.  Many thanks

@traciwoodley these are roughly the steps as I remember them:

1. Submit all documents in the portal.
2. Get pre-approval.
3. With the pre-approval letter open a Mauritian bank account and deposit at least USD1,500. Get a letter from the Mauritian bank confirming the inward fund transfer. (Some have managed to open this account from outside Mauritius, for most people it would be easier to do this once in Mauritius in person. NBNB you need a letter of reference from your current bank in order to open a Mauritian bank account.)
4. Attend the medical tests, I recommend the clinic in Grand Baie. There is no stool sample only a blood draw and x-ray. You get you results on the same day, sometimes a day later.
5. Submit the proof of inward funds transfer and full medical results to the portal.
6. Await scheduling of your in person appointment at EDB.
7. Attend the in person appointment. The main purpose is to present all the original documents to them.
8. Receive your permit that afternoon.

Traci check your direct messages on this forum please.

Very good reply above. The EDB site is very clear also. I think you will have to visit Mauritius on a tourist visa between steps 2 and 3, and stay till you get the retirement visa done. Make sure you have all the documents before you arrive. Also, I would suggest you transfer more than the 1500 USD because you will need to pay the visa fees, medical fees, rental etc. After all, you have to have an address on the island for your bank documents etc.

Also, I think one retiree can apply and the other applies as a dependant, and there are fees for both. Once again, EDB should gve you the answers.

I was also looking at this route, but now I have had a job offer in Mauritius, so hopefully my employer will apply for the 'occupation permit'.

@yrsbarra thank you very much for the good explanation. When I uploaded all documents except the medical statement, I should by a flight for at least one month then? How much funds should I bring for the medical tests? Because I am sure I will not be able to use my medical insurance from my country (the Netherlands).

My first visit will be upcoming May 12 and for now I will stay for 2,5 weeks and have booked an airbnb on both east and west coast. I am so excited to experience the island. My French is not very good but I understand that English is spoken too?

@Tookays can I also give a address of an airbnb when I come to apply? And I have to translate all the necessary documents in English? That would be easier for me than translating them in French.

I wish you good luck with the job. Great chance ! :-)

@Expat Ash thank you very much for your help.

You say that I should start the process as soon as possible, but I only can retire on December 2024.  Can I wait until next year to start the document proces and money transfer? Because as I understand from your message that it will not be possible to open a bank account with 1,500 euro without a referral from my home bank? What does that letter have to say? That I am a loyal bank user or something like that?

@oshudofsky perhaps you can show your bank statements for the last 6 months or so, to prove you have regular income coming in? Your email from edb with 'approval in principle' should also help. After all, banks want your money. It should not take more than a week to get a bank account but that can be an underestimate. If your current bank has a branch in Mauritius it may help. Good luck.

Your question about address is important; most of us who want to retire will not have a permanent address immediately on arrival, unless you can rent immediately. This is possible if you get a decent estate agent and have the money for deposit etc. which is why I had suggested that you should be prepared to transfer more than $1500 equivalent. Land in Mauritius on a Sunday and get to the agents on Monday and keep your fingers crossed. You could always make contact earlier by telephone or email.

Oh, don't forget your police certificate.

@oshudofsky you can go to your bank and request the bank referral letter. Now, a lot of banks around the world won't have a clue what you're talking about - my bank certainly did not Just tell them to compile the letter for you and that you'll supply them with the exact wording. This is what I did (via email and while in Mauritius, no less) and it was no problem at all.

NOTE: tell them to print the letter on a Bank letterhead and to rubberstamp it. This will give the letter some authenticity.

Here's what I told my bank to put in my letter - feel free to use it:

To whom it may concern,

This is to certify that <YOUR_FULL_NAME>, holding Passport No <YOUR_PASSPORT_NUMBER>, residing at <YOUR_ADDRESS_IN_YOUR_HOME_COUNTRY>, has been a client of <YOUR_BANK_NAME> for the last <NO_OF_YEARS> years since <STARTING_YEAR_OF_YOUR_ACCOUNT>.

We confirm that accounts held by this client had been of proper conduct.

Yours sincerely,

<BANK_EMPLOYEE_DETAILS>

PS: I provided MCB with bank statements of the last 6 months, the bank referral letter and an updated copy of my CV [up until retirement]. Since all of this info would be going to their compliance department, I wanted to make it as easy as possible for them to identify the source of my funds. Must've helped because I got a call the next day to state that my account was ready.

A few answers:

You can use an AirBnB or booking.com short term rental address to start the process. The EDB will want to be kept up to date as to your long term address. I suggest you take time on the island to decide where to live. The North, East and West are very different. If possible spend at least 2 weeks in one place to get a good feel for living not vacationing.

I have spoken to 4 banks on the island and they all want a bank reference letter to open a bank account, The sample above is very similar to the one I used successfully.

All documents must be in English OR French or translated into one of these. Take your pick. My originals were all in English so I can't add anything more to this point. I have had documents translated for other countries and the requirement is for a legal translation, please do research.

No matter when you plan to retire to the island I suggest you start now by using the EDB portal to understand what they need from you. Then work out how long these documents will take to obtain and translate if necessary. For example the morality certificate/police clearance certificate might take a week or many months to obtain depending on your home country.

Build a time line from when you want the permit backwards, don't get any document too early as then you will need to get another one during the process, read the portal but I remember that all documents must be less than 6 months old.

Plan for the first part of the process to take 3 weeks if all your documents are perfect, 6 or 9 if there are issues. This is from submitting all the initial documents till receiving pre-approval. I would do this in your home country, I did it in Mauritius and this made it harder and more costly as I used couriers and agents to help me obtain the documents in my home country.

Plan for the process on the island to take 3 months not less. This is from the point of using the pre-approval letter to apply for a bank account to receiving the permit.

If you can open a bank account in your home country with HSBC (must be a Premier Account), you can then open an account with HSBC in Mauritius and transfer the required funds before you even arrive in Mauritius. I did it this way and got my Residence Permit within 3 weeks of arriving

@Tookays thank you for the useful information. Would you say that it is safe to look on the rental website l'expressproperty and when I see something nice, without first inspecting it, that I rent it already? Or is that not adviseable?

Oh, a police report takes a few weeks to receive, so that is good to know also that I have to plan ahead.

I don't think we in the Netherlands have a brach bank of the any Mauritius bank. What names of banks should I look for?

@vrtlmadness oh wow, that is of great help.

I will go to my bank and hopefully can make it work.

Why do I have to include a CV if I come as a retiree? I guess I have to dig in my box of "important papers" .

@andrew9799 I don't think my country of the Netherlands has a branch of the HSCB bank. But I will take a look of course. What does it mean that you need to have a "premium account"? And is that the only and best bank to deal with? I saw on the map that it is only in Port Louis?

@Expat Ash this info is so helpful, thank you so much. 

I will draw a time line and guess I will calculate backwards from december 2024 the 6 to 9 months category lol

and like you said, morality certificate/police clearance certificate  does take a while to obtain in my country.

@andrew9799 I don't think my country of the Netherlands has a branch of the HSCB bank. But I will take a look of course. What does it mean that you need to have a "premium account"? And is that the only and best bank to deal with? I saw on the map that it is only in Port Louis?
-@oshudofsky

Hello

You do have one :

DE ENTREE, 1101EE, AMSTERDAM, Netherlands

https://thebanks.eu/banks/16567/locations

@oshudofsky - A Premier account is just the name of the type of current account with HSBC (with this account they will help you to open an account in other countries). You'll only need it for a few weeks until the HSBC Mauritius account is open then you can close your home country one if you want. There are of course other banks but as far as I know it is only with HSBC that you can open the account and transfer funds before arriving in Mauritius. The have a branch in Port Louis and another in Moka (in Bagatelle Mall).

@andrew9799 that is interesting. I had visited Barclays bank in Mauritius when I was visiting in 2019. I use the same bank in the UK. Mauritius branch said it was not possible to open the account. Perhaps this has changed.

@oshudofsky I don't think renting without seeing it in person is advisable. In any case, the agencies often want advance payment and their own fees. Visit Mauritius first as a tourist if you wish and look around and decide which area you want to live in. Then register with a few reputable agencies in the area and ask to see some properties. Make contact with some of the locals and expats; go around the shops and markets, see the prices yourself. Check out healthcare, etc. Only then you can decide whether Mauritius is a good place for you. If you can retire at end 2024, visit mid 2024, or say, 4 months before. that will give you time to get clearances etc.

Does having asthma disqualify someone from retirement visa?

@Tookays Thank you very much for your reply. I am coming to the island already upcoming May so I can check out all the suggestions that you said. I am so excited and curious if I indeed will like and preferably love it .

As my biggest hobby is scuba diving, I will go diving at the west as well as the east coast, see what the underwater world is like there off the coasts.

@longbb8 Oh I did not realise that the processing fee is $ 1.000,- . And why do you need 2 flight tickets? One for yourself and one for your wife I assume? Do I need prove of medical insurance even before I have my retirement visa?

@longbb8 Thank you for mentioning the $ 1.000 processing fee. I forgot about that lol. The medical check up will be done before you receive your retirement visa I assume? Would it at all be possible to the visa will be rejected, if they think that you have one or another sickness or so? And why 2 flight tickets? That is for you yourself and your wife ?

@oshudofsky Hi yes the 2 return tickets are for the wife and I. If you go to the EDB website and you apply online for the permit the requirements are all listed there and are quite clear. The people there are friendly I emailed them some questions and they promptly replied. I already scanned and uploaded all the required documents I am still waiting for my police clearance certificate as the last document before I can submit the application. You have to have a clear medical certificate as a requirement. If they are happy with your application they will approve in principle and then you have 90 days to arrive in Mauritius Open a bank account Deposit the monthly $1500 Do the medical and make an appointment to submit the paper documents in person at the EDB to get the permit. From here you would return home to get ready to move to Mauritius.

There is no minimum stay period n Mauritius for this permit you have to deposit $1500 every month so if you stay in your home country and travel now and then to Mauritius you will be incurring costs in 2 countries. It may not be a problem if you can afford it.   

For retired people there are 3 options for accommodation One rent accommodation Two buy an apartment of min Rup 6 million in a G+2 scheme Three buy accommodation in the new retirement village scheme.  Cheers Billy

Hello everyone,

Please note that I have added the last 2 posts to this thread as they were initially posted on the new members introduction thread.

All the best

Bhavna

@longbb8 thank you Billy, it is good to know that the process outlined in th EDB pages works. Regarding the $1500 transfer, I suppose it will be better to transfer at least $3000 initially to cover the visa fees for appilcant and spouse, and the medical test bills.

Hope all proceeds well with you. Best wishes.

@Bhavna thanks.

@Tookays yes you will need more than the $1500 there is the $1000 processing fee and medical certificate and living expenses I am probably going to use my credit card to pay where possible. I have travelled to other countries and I use my credit card where it is accepted  the main thing is to inform your bank that you are going to use it overseas and the dates. It may happen that your bank blocks your card the first time you use it overseas because they think it is a fraudulent transaction.

@Expat Ash  Did any of the documents submitted to EDB needed to be Apostilled from your home country ?

@elio64 yes

Hello all I am at the point where I have a retirement visa in principle. I need to apply for my wife as dependent.

I have all the required documents . How do I apply for her as a dependent do I do it online? Please let me know those who have done this before

I wrote to the EBD I got an answer immediately. I have to wait until I get the actual permit before I can apply for dependents in person at the Passport office.