Help with Visa requirements

hello Sarah.

Welcome to Expat.com!

In meantime, you can go through the various threads on Visas on the Mauritius forum.

Thank you,
Aurélie

You should apply for an Occupation Permits with the board of investment.

Occupation Permits

An occupation permit allows a non-national to reside and work in Mauritius. It is both a work and residence permit. An investor, a professional or a self-employed person may be eligible under the following conditions:

Investor: The business activity should generate a turnover exceeding MRU 4 million annually with an initial investment of USD100,000 or its equivalent in freely convertible foreign currency. If there is more than one investor in the same company applying for an Occupation Permit, the turnover criteria should apply in respect of each applicant (i.e MRU 8 million for two applicants, MRU 12 million for three applicants, and so on)

Professional: Basic salary should exceed MRU 45,000 monthly. However, the basic salary for the category Professional in the ICT Sector should exceed MRU 30, 000 monthly.

Self-employed: Income from the business activity should exceed MRU 600,000 annually with an initial investment of USD 35,000 or its equivalent in freely convertible foreign currency.

The dependents of an occupation permit holder may also apply for residence permits.

Guidelines and Application forms : http://www.investmauritius.com/Resources1.aspx

good luck

Thanks for your replies.  I'm still a little confused.  I know we need a residence permit but we don't fit any of the categories:  We will not be investors, we will not be self-employed (we'll be working for UK companies) and we are not a professionals seeking work from a Mauritian sponsor.    I've just spoken to the BOI who have said we must come in as tourists and then convert our entry visa into a residence permit.  I'm skeptical about uprooting my family, taking my kids out of school here with the danger that we may not get permission to stay!

SLB999 wrote:

Thanks for your replies.  I'm still a little confused.  I know we need a residence permit but we don't fit any of the categories:  We will not be investors, we will not be self-employed (we'll be working for UK companies) and we are not a professionals seeking work from a Mauritian sponsor.    I've just spoken to the BOI who have said we must come in as tourists and then convert our entry visa into a residence permit.  I'm skeptical about uprooting my family, taking my kids out of school here with the danger that we may not get permission to stay!

may be the information from this blog will be helpful:

http://mauritiusinsider.blogspot.ca/201 … clear.html

In you case you want the residence permit  and only two options are offered to you:

1. Being on  the retiree scheme and bringing in $40k annually to cover your living expenses  ( may NOT be applicable to you since IMHO you are not 50 y.o or over)
2. Being very wealthy and buy either an IRS or RES and you can carry on with your  current work (you are NOT  taking away jobs from the Mauritian people and, hence, do not  need a work permit )

Note: edit to correct URL

Hey Exernal!

Thanks for that.

As it happens, I turned 50 this year.  I'm leaning more and more to applying under this option and having my husband and children as dependents.   

What are your thoughts about arriving on a tourist visa and then converting?  Is that the usual way of doing things?

External: I am getting an error message on your link?
OP: I don't think you will be able to do that.
I just got residency by virtue of being married to a Mauritian and I also own property jointly.
Even my application took a while to sort out and thats supposedly easy - actually it was after I finally figured out the exact documents that were required and police checks, apostilled certificates etc.
Good luck.
Daisymay

Hi Daisymay

You need to cut and paste the link into your browser then it works.

So coming in as a tourist and converting to residence permit is not advisable in your opinion? 

Argh! I'm going mad!

Any idea where I can get a straight answer about all this?  BOI say one thing, MU immigration say another.  So much is at stake here we need to get it right.  Cant risk being sent away cos we got it wrong.

Know how you feel and mine was eventually straightforward, but in the beginning when asking for information no one seemed to know what they were talking about - the Immigration office at Sterling House said one thing and the MRU HC in London another.
No one knew what a "Morality Certificate" was (one of the documents I needed to get) and in the end my local police force in Derbyshire in the UK told me I just needed a certificate from  the Criminal Records Office to say they checked me out on the  Police  National Computer in the UK. (This was accepted with no problems by Immigration.
We have had people come on tourist visas and had to leave after their visas expired and re enter so I'm really not sure how you would go about it.
Try ringing the HC in London if you havent already done so?
The government website has some info:
www.gov.mu
You can try emailing the relevant department via that website.
Maybe someone else may be able to give you more help, but I am just speaking from personal recent experience.
As I said my personal circumstances are different and much more straightforward and I was running round in circles at the beginning of the process, so good luck!
Daisymay

Thanks DM, appreciate your response.   Glad to hear its not me!

I have contacted the Embassy in London who said they only dealt with tourist visas.   Can't imagine that they are very busy as you dont need a tourist visa to get into Mauritius from the UK!!

A couple of questions:

Did you get your visa in the UK before travelling? If so did you deal with the Mauritian embassy and if so do you have any contact names/numbers that we could use?

Did you have to get anything apostilled?  And if so what?

I tried emailing the Gov.Mu site and had no reply.  I'll write to them both (Gov and BOI) explaining my predicament.  Its weird, when I call, the person who answers is the one who helps me out(no putting me through to a different deparment etc) giving the impression that they are very small and unofficial.

Thanks again for your thoughts and knowledge

Sarah

Hi Sarah,
No I always travelled without a visa - they just used to stamp my passport on arrival in Mauritius like everyone else. (That is effectively the visa and it states the length of time you can stay in Mauritius)
You fill landing card in before arrival on the plane and have to put a reason for visit, where you are staying and duration.
For tourists that's straightforward.
I had to get both marriage and birth certificates apostilled here by the FCO - and they were very quick. Think it cost £30 per document. (sorry lost the receipts) I only contacted the HC in London to ask about what they meant by a morality check - and got no definitive answers.
I needed a character reference from my husband as well and name of another referee in Mauritius who they could contact if necessary, though I dont thinkthey did contact them.
Have you been to Mauritius before?
Sorry I can't be of more help.
I know how frustrating it is trying to get info from officialdom!
Daisymay

I feel the same way Sarah. My children are grown and I'm on my own now but before I move to another country I have to believe I'll be able to do things like sign a lease or buy things I'll need for more than a short term stay. When I leave the U.S. I don't intend to return but it appears I may be limited to one to six months in any country. Of course, I could do what so many people do here, just over stay their visa. But there must be a better way. Perhaps a twice yearly trip to Reunion would fulfill the requirements.
Sorry I can't offer any answers for you but at least you're not alone with this problem.

[Moderated: No free ad on the forum]

I would ignore that last posting - joined today - offering to arrange visa etc. Looks like import/export business. Will probably just be after money and give wrong information to boot.

Hi Sarah,
I think it is going to be difficult to do. You say you are not an investor, not sponsored by a local company, and not self employed so these are all ruled out. The system appears to be set up to prevent people who are not adding anything to the local economy from working in Mauritius, which is fair enough for a small island.
You cant retire, because you cant take your children with you (as far as I know), and you are not supposed to work on a retirement visa. I dont think there is a min. age limit on the retirement visa of 50 years. 
You could set up a offshore company GBL1 where you and your husband are both employed. This company could provide IT services to your current employer and be billed by your current employer. Of course you would have to check if this was ok with the company. However, to qualify for a Occupational Permit (so you can live in Mauritius) you would need to be an investor in this company and provide a business plan to the BOI, which wont be possible as you would only have 1 client (your employer). So i dont think this would work either.

Very interesting Andrew!  Thanks for your thoughts

I think we would be adding value, as we would be bringing money into the country, contributing to the economony and not taking jobs off local citizens.  However I do see your point.

From my research I see that retired non citizens can take in dependents - also on another route my husbands mother was born in Mauritius but does not have citizenship. 

Maybe we should come as vistors, extend for 3 months then leave and come back and do that for another 6 months.   My husbands family are in South Africa so we'd probably be making the odd trip back there...     Only problem with that is we want to put our children into one of the independent schools and I think you have to have residence pemits to do that?  Thats a pricey solution too.

Hmmm - any other ideas?

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Sarah

Hi,
If the government made it easy then many people would come to Mauritius to live as you want to and the island would/could become overcrowded. I was wrong on the retirement age it is 50 and above and includes dependents.

www.investmauritius.com/DownloadPDF/Def … px?ID...RP

I think your best and possibly only bet is 3 month tourist visa, extend to 6 months and renew. But then I dont think you would be able to send your children to local schools otherwise that would ring alarm bells with the authorities (could be wrong here).

I honestly don't rate your chances here Sarah.
Some people have come on 3 month visas then done a visa run to Reunion - they very rarely give 6 months now from what I've heard.
They make it hard for people to get residency - even I nearly gave up depsite owning property here and being married to a Mauritian (with all the red tape)
Good luck anyway.
Daisymay

just wondering what is the age limit for non-citizen retirement with a residence permit - I have the following quote from InvestMauritius (BOI website):

A residence permit for retired non-citizens allows an eligible person to reside in Mauritius for three years. To be eligible, the retired non-citizen irrespective of age and nationality”must undertake to transfer to his/her local bank account in Mauritius at least USD 40,000 annually, or its equivalent in any convertible foreign currency so as to meet his/her own living expenses in Mauritius. The applicant must make an initial transfer of USD 40,000 at the time of application.

This states 'irrespective of age and nationality'

However, on the same website, under the downloadable documents and the Passport and Immigration Office - Occupational Permit section it states:
To be eligible for a residence permit, a retired non-citizen should be 50 years of age or above and must undertake to transfer to his/her local bank account in Mauritius, at least 40,000 US dollars annually, or its equivalent in any freely convertible foreign currency. The applicant should make an initial transfer of at least USD 40,000 or its equivalent in freely convertible foreign currency when first settling in Mauritius.

This states ' should be 50 years of age or above'

anyone know which is correct!!!!!!

Hi Andrew

I think you have to be 50 or over but thats not an issue as I am 50 this year.   I was trying to find a good point about being 50 and hadnt up to this point.

It also says you have to have proof that you have retired which might be more of a challenge!

If we are going to do this, I think this is the best way to come in.

where does it say you have to have proof of being retired?
thanks

Page down on this page and see Document requirements list

http://www.investmauritius.com/Resources1.aspx

hadn't spotted that small detail!
Must refer to a letter from your last employer stating you have retired. but what if you are/were self-employed - you'd have to write it yourself!
If you follow this route you know you have to transfer $40k at the start of each year for your living expenses and you are not allowed to send it back after it has arrived at the Mauritian bank. Mind you with a family you'll probably have no problem using this all up!

I got a tickle from thinking about "proof of retirement". Let's see; Living in Mauritius with no job? No income even though we're expected to transfer $40,000 a year? But then having income doesn't mean we're not retired. Or perhaps laying on the beach and shopping as primary activities. I guess the wealthy are born retired.

In the UK most 'normal' people wont have a pension of anywhere near $40,000 per year. You would need an annuity sum of around $1.2m to get that as annual pension income based on the current low interest rates, probably much more if you retired at 50. Had you retired in the early 90's you would have only needed a pot of $400,000 or so to get the same annual income (as interest rates were much higher)! The retirement package offered by Mauritius is definitely aimed at the wealthier retirees.

Was reading an article in todays Independent about corruption in the BOI - 5 people are under investigation with the latest arrest being yesterday and they are looking at more arrests. Something to do with residence and occupational permits...so I would be wary of their advise at the moment and listen to the Immigration people here Sarah.

Hiya

I get the independent sent to me online and had read this article. It appears that people were accepting cash for permits 100,000 Rupees a time... But good point about not trusting their advice!
Thanks for thinking of me

Sarah you're welcome.
Daisymay:)

HI THERE,

NEED HELP PLEASE.......

I AM PAKISTANI LIVING IN BAHRAIN ON WORK VISA.I AM MARRIED TO A MATURATION LADY IN UK.

I NEED TO KNOW WHETHER I NEED A VISIT VISA TO TO GO TO MAURITIUS AS MY WIFE IS LIVING THERE.

OUR MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE IS ATTESTED FROM UK.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW ......

THANKS,