Civil marriage on tourist visa?

Hi
I think that as a tourist you are allowed to stay for a maximum of 6 months in a 12 month period, so this is different from 6 months a year; however you would need to check this.
I'd say that the marriage visa they are talking about isn't a visa at all but the piece of paper that you need to get saying that you are not a resident but are getting married in Mauritius. There are lots of companies that do marriages in Mauritius so you could talk to them about what is required.
As far as residency goes after you are married you need to check with Daisymay2 because she is doing this at the moment.
If I were you I would delve into the legislation rather than trust the word of a civil servant, which can sometimes be rather like being sold a camera by someone who has no idea what they are selling.
Hope this of some help.

Hi Maja,

Well, "this is mauritius". They will drag you and make you waste your time to the max. You will be sent to useless offices to do something easy.

Did you tell them that you are coming in the country for marriage/??

If you did not,then you have to go out of the country dear. Going to Reunion might be an option, not very expensive to travel there. You can come back the same day. It would be really helpful if your finncee travel with you. When you are given the arrival form on the plane , opt for the "other options" and be honest to tell them that you are here to get married. They will stamp your stamp your passport by the date which you tell them  you are getting married.

You do not need to go to the civil status office. That office is meant for birth, death ,etc registry here.

Just let me know if you told them whether you are here to get married or not, then we can follow up with the convo. Actually my husband is from the US and we came here to get married too! I can help you

Thanks guys for fast responses!

Kirinyaga - do you think those marriage companies would give me advice like that without me actually booking a wedding with them? And if so: any ideas which companies to call?

Disha: reunion is expensive for my count: 10 000 + rupees return trip. Especially since it will not be trip for pleasure but necessity. If I am going anywhere, I am going back to New Zealand. I have a return ticket anyway- pre-requisite for tourist visa. When I arrived into Mauritius, I said I am here visiting my boyfriend. We did not have plans of getting married...The plan came up because we want to stay together (mauritous being part of the plan for couple of years) and that resident visa seems to be the only way ( work visa is not gonna happen for me).

An option we are considering now is getting married in New Zealand and than coming back here. Would I than say at Mauritius custom that I am a spouse of Mauritian and that I am entering the country with the aim of applying for resident visa? Any idea what visa I will be on before I send the application in? Tourist? If so, than I have to check about this whole '6 months in 12 months' Kirinyaga mentioned (thanks for that)

Hope you are having a good Friday night!

Ok Maja,

It is better that you guys get married in NZ then come as his spouse. But then after you enter the country you might be eligible for resident permit after staying here together for at least a year! You can stay here as long as you have the marriage certificate but you can not do anything. You will be regarded as a tourist and in extreme cases, depending on the custom officer on the day of your arrival, when you come back, might stamp your passport for only 2 month again so that you haev to leave the country every 2 months!

Good luck anyways!

Hi Maja!

concerning residence permit,here is my experience and i hope it could help!

my husband is mauritian and i'm italian, we got married abroad in 2009 and moved back to mauritius this year
i entered the country on a tourist visa(which allows me to stay in the country for 3 months, i had my return ticket booked as pre-requisite)
a few days after my arrival i went to the immigration office in port louis to apply for residence permit to stay in the country as spouse of a mauritian citizen. Be aware that you need to submit a bunch of legal docs for the application to be considered ( i could send you the list if it helps)

the process to get my residence permit took more or less
2 months

i understand your frustation when you say it's very difficult to get proper information from public officers, i got through it all and i know how it feels!

if you need more info, i'll be glad to help

take care!

Francesca

Agree its very confusing.
For residency you need to get a copy of your birth certificate and marriage certificate apostilled in your original birthplace.
A morality certificate (some dispute amongst the civil servants in Mauritius as to what exactly this is...I am going with the police ACPO  and not the CRB check)
You need Birth Certificate of spouse and their National ID card and a letter from spouse to support claim. Also if spouse has taken citizenship of another country a copy of their certificate of foreign nationality.
Photocopy of data pages of passport.
Photocopies of all the above documents.
Completed application form and two photos.
This is for people who married abroad and not in Mauritius and I am currently going through this process.
Its by no means easy and takes over 2 months I think.

Disha: wow...k...I am not sure I could leave on tourist visa for that long. I need to make a living after all Thanks for the info.

Francesca: Is the list Daisymay posted the one you have? And if so, than the question to both of you re marriage certificate apostilled in your original birthplace: even if you were married in the country where you are a citizen now!? So this means I would have to go back to Serbia (where I was born) to get that apostolie stamp on my marriage certificate I got in NEw Zealand?

And question extended to you all expats that have managed to go through marriage and residence permit process: did any of you go through an agency? Is there anywhere that I can find a list of registered agencies for this?

Thanks again

Hi Maja,
I was born and got married in the UK and so its simpler for me.
The list I got from the Mauritian authorities in PL says:
Civil marriage certificate (in case marriage was celebrated outside Mauritius, the Marriage Certificate should be legalised/authenticated by competent authority/bear the seal of "Apostille" of the Hague Convention of 5th October 1961 - (whichever is applicable).
I am in the process of getting my certificates apostilled by the British FCO.
I would think you would have to apply in the country you got married, I am not sure.
The birth certificate would have to be apostilled by the Serb authorities I would think?
Sorry I can't be of more help here.
The authorities in Mauritius are really not too much help.
Good luck,
Daisymay

Hi Maja
I know that you said that your boyfriend is Mauritian but is he resident in Mauritius? There's a difference between the amount of documents you need i.e. a mauritian resident and a non mauritian need to produce more documents than two non residents when getting married in Mauritius.

Hi everyone,

Xav and me went to Port Louis today. We visited the immigration and passport office where we were told:

1. Tourists that are here on holiday are NOT allowed to get married in Mauritius to a citizen.
2. The tourist visa can be issues for maximum of 900 days in calendar year.
3. If you intend to get married in Mauritius, you need to declare this at the point of entry. You will be given a marriage visa that will grant you stay here for purpose of the  marriage. Once married and with marriage certificate you need to go to the Spouse section of Immigration office to get registered, apply for the resident permit and receive a letter saying you can start with work while it is processing.
4. If you already are married to a Mauritian citizen, when arriving into a country, if the immigration officer at the airport, does not recognise or does not want to be bothered analysing what kind of marriage certificate you have, he will give you a tourist visa, and that than you go to spouse office, producing two additional pieces of paper: your birth certificate and certificate of charachter, and than they will do all of the things mentioned above.

We than went to the Spouse section, that also confirmed that you can not get married on tourist visa but you need a marriage visa. We did however get one immigration officer who said that civil office does process marriages with tourits involved.

Others could also learn from my case: I applied in September (two weeks after arriving) for an extension of my tourist visa. It says that I am still in the process (the immigration office is awaiting primeministers approval). Hence I can not get a stamp in my passport yet and hence I can not get married - because I am a tourist 'in process'.

Lesson learned: if you want to stay in Mauritius for longer than 6 months to do whatever really, unless you are lucky enough to have a job offer,  get married as soon as you enter.

Thanks all for your advice,
Maja

this kind of marriage is illegal  here?why to get marry n to stay in mauritius?poor local boy here they are just abusing on mauritian for white marriage?

Maja,
Do you have all this in writing?
We were issued with a paper stating what we need.
Re your no 4: You also need a marriage certificate and you need to have marriage and birth certificate apostilled as well as a
morality certificate.
After reading your post it seems more of a muddle than ever......
Incidentally, 900 days in a calendar year?
How many days are in a year?
365?
Daisymay

hi im rishi i will give u a very simple way ............

im a mauritian and i have married a tanzanian lady which i suggest your boy frend to come to new zea land and get married there and then u return back in mauritius where it will be easier for you.

coming to mauritius on tourist visas an get married here the law has change now they will not allow you to do so....

please get your marriage certificate seal form ministry of foreign affair and morality certificates.

any information u most welcome.

rishi .u can call me if u want on ***

post

hi all
I hope it is not too late. Please check out this link
isla-mauricia.com/forum/mauritius-island-indian-ocean/359-how-get-married-non-citizen-citizen-mauritius.html

I am a Mauritian and my wife an Indian. she came here on a tourist visa. we got married at the Central Civil Status Office of Mauritius and from this date, visa is not required for spouse of a Mauritian citizen. I am now in process to gather all the required docs for her PR permit.
I must add, YES, the officers there are not at all kind, welcoming or helpful. I got most info from friends, lawyers and other contacts..there, they just gave the easiest solution for u is go and come back..!@#$@#$% let me tell u that for these kinds of problems, visa extension, marriage not permitted etc etc, you can apply for a derogation from the Prime Minister's Office. However, this is done to the attn of the PMO but at the passport office itself. buy some time like this and this could be helpful later..in the meantime, apply for the missing docs. also, you can do these at your embassy here. for me, the Indian embassy requires her to be my wife first to allow for distance application of documents.
Anyways, the solution is to get civil marriage soonest. then look for PR. Hope that this is helpful to you. :-)

Hi Maja,

I'm also from NZ and my wife (British/Mauritian) and I got married in Mauritius in 2006. The law was changed in 2006 to allow non resident Mauritians to get married in a civil service the same as tourists. Not many people were aware of the change in law but it allows Mauritians living outside of MRU that have partners to marry in their home land like a tourist then return to their country of residence.
My wife and I with our toddler and soon to be new baby (due next month) intend on moving to MRU with my business in the next few years.

OK so where can we find this change in law in writing?
It would be nice if its easier now. It always seemed so unfair that tourists had very few problems if they wished to wed and we had endless red tape and obstacles at every corner.
How does this affect you when you try to apply for a residence permit though?
I applied for residency here the other week and it takes three months from them receiving the application, complete with all the complex paper work..... police checks in the UK, apostilled birth and marriage certificates, references etc. Not sure if theres a new law ? 2006  is not so new - 6 years old if you are right.. will that affect residency rights?
Daisymay

Sorry daisymay. I've got no idea where you can get it in writing. I remember at the time (in 2006) it was even on the news in MRU that the rules had changed to make it easier for non resident Mauritians to get married in MRU.

Thanks for your reply but after all the red tape I've gone through in the past few months (including the fact that the MRU authorities themselves can't even agree if we need a CRB or police check  as part of the residency application lol) I have my reservations, sorry!
I would want it in black and white!
Good luck with your move!
Daisymay

Thanks, I've still got my old lap laptop from 2006 and I did get a number of emails from the Prime Ministers office. I'll see if I can get it started and dig out the old emails. I remember at the time my wife had to proove that she was not resident in MRU but that was simple enough by showing our UK mortgage and tax stuff and It allowed us to get married at the Residence with about 50 MRU family in attendance.

If you will be coming to the ndia for a short time, and you plan to leave the india soon after the ceremony, you must obtain a visa as a visitor for marriage or civil partnership. f they suspect you intended to marry *and* you entered on a tourist visa, that would be a fraud of some sort. but you can try to adjust status as long as your visa does not expire or the safer route is to marry then you return home and he files for a spousal visa.

Hello everyone.  I'm a Mauritian student who is studying in Ukraine.  I got married to a Ukrainian citizen last month and we are planning to come back and live in Mauritius after my studies.
Can you please help us with the necessary information needed to show at the airport and to apply for residence permit?

HI DAVID

TO APPLY FOR RESIDENCE PERMIT YOU NEED LOT OF DOCUMENTS LIKE CIVIL MARRIAGE CERT , BIRTH CERTIFICATE PASSPORT AND ALL THE COPIES SHOULD BE "APOSTILLE" FROM THE MINISTRY. YOU ALSO NEED POLICE CLEARANCE CERTIFICATES . LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED ANY MORE ASSISTANCE.

REGARDS
RISHI

Hi Rishi,

Can you please please avoid posting in caps lock, this tend to make your text harder to read.

Thank you,

David.

If you have valid, authenticated (Apostilled) and original marriage documents from Ukraine, your wife will get a 'Spouse' stamp on her arrival.  I've seen many spouses of Mauritians, get their arrival stamp as 'Spouse' as it is their legal right to stay in the country as 'Resident' once they are married to a local (and this is proven by official documents)- irrespective of whether they already have the REsidence Permit issued by Passport Office.. Once on our soil, they can proceed with the application for a Residency Permit.

From there you can start doing her Residency permit at the Passport and Immigration Office (Spouse Section), Sterling House, Port Louis. To avoid any surprise, you can also give a call to the Spouse Section on 2109312-97.  Ask them how to proceed - they are usually very helpful.


You might also want to give a call to the Ukraine Consultat in Mauritius (I have the contact details, if you need).

my  dear  ,  never worry  a single  bit ,   and  never  think that  it is easy  if  u  will go  back  then  u will re enter on marriage  basis as spouse , the best and easiest solution is  ,  u  must get marry  , while  your  this stay  here  , and  never  leave  country without marrying ,  if u  need  any  help , i m ready to help  u ,  it is allowed  to get maeey on visit visa,   but  if u go back  then  re  enter is  a long procedure

Rehan, are you Mauritian ?  I'm curious to know :-D

no

If you are coming to Mauritius as an expat to a Marry a Mauritian citizen. When you enter the country, on arrival you must tell them you are here to get married. They will then make you fill out a paper where as you have 30 days to get married (if this isnt the plan dont say anything, you have 3 months in the country via your visa... then you can leave and come back, no problem).

This isnt it. To get married and become a resident... There is much more. There is a check list of about 12 different things you need, including:
- Valid Birth Certificate (3 months old max)
- Certificate Morality (the country you come from, the police must write a letter saying you arent a criminal)
- Proof of financial means
- Death Certificate and or Divorce certificates
etc

Once you have all this, and you get married Civilly (where you need the same documents, so make sure you take photocopies) you bring all the documents along with you Marriage certificate to the Sterling House, 2nd floor and hand them in.

In 3 months or less in my case you will have your residency permit, and then you can work legally and live here with no problem.

If you do not plan to get married within the month, when you arrive, do not tell aduan you are here to get married. You will then be legal here for 3 months, you exit the country and enter (NO PROBLEM AT ALL, fly to Rodrigues) and when you return if you plan to get married within the month then tell them, upon entering you are here to get married, if not repeat the process.

Thanks for your responses.@Nadeem can u give me me all the questions that I need to ask the consulate?

hi,

I am a Mauritian citizen. got married to an indian girl who came to Mauritius on a tourist visa. I have already conducted my civil marriage and informed immigration office about it. now that my wife is here for 3months, we are planning to visit her family.
my question is : is she allowed to enter immigration without any restriction or will there be any document or additional papers to be produced?

hi all,
i want to know whether an indian man  with a work permit in mauritis is allowed to marry a mauritian lady and if yes what are the procedures and documents needed?
thnks
Neha

Up to now he can, but it appears that very soon this won't be allowed... The Prime Minister has tables an Immigration Amendment Bill, if I'm not wrong, in that sense.  Correct me knowledgeable people :-)

can a marriage visa be extended in mauritius?

Hi there;me too same situation as you;just show legal Apostilled  Legal  Marriage Certificate Ukrainian,like for me Indian and Mauritian Marriages Certificates.

Allowed;he must be able to draw salary R30000- R45000 and >.Make sure your parents are ready with this alliance like for me I went into a lot of trouble.

on safe case  marry conduct an indian marriage also.

This is correct,as for we men;we tend to be indecisive sometimes