UK citizen wanting to move to Mauritius

Hi Selina,

Welcome to Expat.Com

Do you qualify to acquire citizenship ?
http://dha.pmo.govmu.org/English/Mandat … NSHIP.aspx

Any of your parents Mauritian by any chance ? Are you married to a Mauritian ?


Bhavna

Hi Bhavna

Thank you for your response and welcome.

No I don't think that I do qualify for citizenship as my parents are not Mauritian and i'm not married to a Mauritian. Do you have any advice on steps to working and moving there please?

Many thanks

Finding work from abroad is complicated, however it is not impossible. What is your field of work ? Perhaps you could tell us a bit more about your qualifications and experience ?

I'm currently a reception manager and have the skills/experience of a building manager. I also work for two other companies and help them with their book keeping and accounts. My highest qualification is a BA honours degree in Business. I have many different skills and qualifications throughout my work history so I have the ability to adapt and do many different roles.  I can forward you my CV if this helps.

So would you recommend me coming to Mauritius and finding work once i'm there perhaps?

Many thanks.

May be reading the following will help you understand the reality about employment, work permit and residence permit on the island for a foreigner:
https://www.expat.com/en/guide/africa/m … itius.html

Hi
That's very kind thank you for sending this over.

Hi. I dont want to put you off, but trying to get permission to live in Mauritius is a total nightmare. I'm british born, as is my wife,  but her parents are born and bred in Mauritius. My wife has full Mauritian citizenship, passport and ID card. We tried to get permission for me to obtain citizenship through being married to my wife, but the rules change with every new government. In fact, the rules even change whilst the same government is in power. I have personally experienced immigration officials telling me complete different things as even they don't know the rules. Neither of us want to work there, we are approaching retirement age and only wish to retire there. I won't bore you with the details of our numerous attempts at gaining entry, but the bottom line is that due to the huge corruption in Mauritius, unless you are prepared to pay a large sum of money under the table to an immigration official, you can forget your dream. They don't want people migrating in unless you are very very very wealthy.
We have now actually given up trying.

We tried to get permission for me to obtain citizenship through being married to my wife, but the rules change with every new government. In fact, the rules even change whilst the same government is in power.

As far as I know , you can't get citizenship w/o living on the island for 4 years under the conjugal roof They won't give it to you whilst you are still in the UK.
That  rule has NOT changed with revolving doors at  government House.

Ditto , applying as a Commonwealth citizen - you have to be in situ on the island for 5 years before you can apply for Mauritian citizenship.

So how am I supposed to live on the island for 4 years , when the Immigration Dept tell me I am not allowed to stay in Mauritius for that length of time ?!? That makes no sense.

I am British, married to a Mauritian citizen.  We moved here last year.  I have obtained a residence permit based on my marriage to a citizen.  After I have lived here with him for 4 years, I can apply for citizenship.  My husband is a naturalised British citizen through his marriage to me.  He was able to apply for citizenship only after we had lived together for 5 years in the UK so the rules are very similar to those in Mauritius.  Nothing unusual I think.

matt4509 wrote:

Hi. I dont want to put you off, but trying to get permission to live in Mauritius is a total nightmare. I'm british born, as is my wife,  but her parents are born and bred in Mauritius. My wife has full Mauritian citizenship, passport and ID card. We tried to get permission for me to obtain citizenship through being married to my wife, but the rules change with every new government. In fact, the rules even change whilst the same government is in power. I have personally experienced immigration officials telling me complete different things as even they don't know the rules. Neither of us want to work there, we are approaching retirement age and only wish to retire there. I won't bore you with the details of our numerous attempts at gaining entry, but the bottom line is that due to the huge corruption in Mauritius, unless you are prepared to pay a large sum of money under the table to an immigration official, you can forget your dream. They don't want people migrating in unless you are very very very wealthy.
We have now actually given up trying.

Many people obtain their residency permit to live in Mauritius every year and none had to pay large sum of money to get it. I don't know where this corruption thing comes from.

If your wife has Mauritian citizenship and you are both coming to stay in Mauritius, then you only need a spouse resident permit which will allow you to live in Mauritius for the 4 conjugal years needed to apply for citizenship. It's that simple.

Hi Matt

Thank you for the information that you have provided. I'm sorry to hear about your situation but I hope and pray that your dream will come true for you and your wife.

Many thanks for all the advice and I guess anything worth fighting for is always worth it in the end.

Good day to you.

Hiya

Thank you for the information that you have provided. The next time I fly out I will hopefully get to speak to someone about this.

Many thanks and wish me luck.
Have a great day.

Hi
I'm really happy to hear about your story and that you managed to live in the UK as well as Mauritius.  Hopefully being on my own I will be able to fulfill my plans to work over there.

Many thanks for your help.

matt4509 wrote:

So how am I supposed to live on the island for 4 years , when the Immigration Dept tell me I am not allowed to stay in Mauritius for that length of time ?!? That makes no sense.

If you move to the island , and having a Mauritian wife, you are ENTITLED to a spouse permit. Look up the laws.

Like they say on the island; You can't eat a banana at both ends  meaning you can't have your cake and eat it too!

To gain citizenship you have to reside on the island for four years ( it is the law of the country )
Only certain nation-states allow the spouse of their citizens to gain citizenship while overseas -  France is an example but I doubt the UK or India or the US  allows this.

Hi Selina,
I lived in the Uk for past 19 years and now setup my own company in Mauritius. Could you please let me know what field are you and what are you looking for. Look forward to hear from you.

Hi

I hope you're well.

That's great news. I am currently looking for something Monday to Friday and mainly office type of work. As long as the wages are enough for me to survive I am happy with that.

Many thanks in advance.
Selina