You’ll need a visa in any case! Here’s a summary of visas for non-citizens in Mauritius.
Visa list
1. Tourist visa
Conditions applying to Euro Zone nationals:
- Free entry visa
- Valid passport with expiry date beyond the intended period of stay
- 90 days max on site, i.e. 3 months (extendable 1 time only)
- Possibility of staying a maximum of 6 months per year as a tourist
- Return ticket required
- Reservation of hotel or rental accommodation on site
- Local contact: name of hotel or contact of Mauritian person welcoming you
2. The premium visa: for digital nomads
The easiest one (apart from the tourist visa). Some people can start with this visa for an expatriation project and then switch for another one.
Plus, this one is free.
- Visa valid from 6 months to 1 year, renewable
- Free visa
- Not working in the Mauritian market
- Have a minimum income of USD 1,500 per month per adult and USD 500 per child (attached to you) and coming from outside Mauritius
→ For a family of 2 adults and 3 children, a minimum monthly income of USD 4,500 is required.
- Health insurance covering the entire duration of your stay
- Mandatory return ticket
3. Occupation permit Professional: for employees of a company based in Mauritius
My first permit when I arrived was an occupation permit professional.
- To be employed by an international or Mauritian company under an employment contract
- Minimum salary of RS 30,000 per month
- Permit valid for a minimum of 9 months and a maximum of 10 years, depending on the duration of the employment contract.
- Permit renewal possible
- Paid visa: from USD 300 to USD 1,000 for a maximum of 10 years
- Application submitted by employer
- Preliminary medical tests required
→ Company permit: if you change employer, you’ll need a new permit!
My advice: negotiate with your employer to cover the cost of your permit (up to USD 1,000).
4. Occupation permit Self-employed: for auto-entrepreneurs and freelancers
This is my current permit.
- Minimum investment of USD 35,000
- Permit valid for up to 10 years, renewable
- Visa fee : USD 1,000
- Sales target of RS 800,000 to be reached from the 3rd year of registration.
- Visa for self-employed workers: no hiring possible
- 2 letters of intent from potential customers
- Full business plan required
- Preliminary medical tests required
5. Occupation permit Investor: for setting up a business in Mauritius
- Minimum investment of USD 50,000
- Permit valid for up to 10 years, renewable
- Visa fee : USD 1,000
- RS 4 million sales target to be reached from 3rd year of registration onwards
- Possibility of hiring employees
- Full business plan required
- Preliminary medical tests required
6. Retired residence permit
- Minimum age 50
- Minimum monthly income of USD 1,500 or contribution of USD 18,000 per year to be repatriated to a local bank account in Mauritius
- Permit valid for a maximum of 10 years, renewable
- Visa fee : USD 1,000
- Not working on the Mauritian market
- No criminal record
- Preliminary medical tests required
- Full business plan required
- Preliminary medical tests required
7. Real estate investor permit
- Purchase of a property with a minimum value of USD 375,000
- This entitles you to a permanent residence permit
- Permit fee: between RS 10,000 and RS 20,000 depending on property type
- RS 10,000: IRS, ERS, Smart City Scheme
- RS 20,000 : PDS
→ Spouses and children under the age of 24 are also granted a residence permit.
→ Holders of this permit are exempt from the requirement to hold an Occupation or Work Permit to invest and work in Mauritius.
8. Trainee visa
- Be a Master’s level student
- Have a signed tripartite internship agreement (company, school, student)
- Duration of internship must not exceed 180 days (6 months)
- Internship visa required before entering Mauritius.
9. Dependent permits
- For all permits except the Tourist Visa, you can attach spouse and child to your residence permit for a period not exceeding that of the holder of an Occupation or Resident Permit.
- Visa fee : USD 400 per dependant
- Details for children:
- children of the couple,
- children from another marriage or
- legally adopted children,
- under 24 years of age
- Specification for spouse :
- married spouse
- PACS
- cohabiting partner
10. Useful information
A. Other visas
There are also other visas and permits, such as :
- student visa
- residence permit – marriage to a Mauritian national
- innovation residence permit:
- for an innovative project with an R&D allowance of at least 20%.
- Valid for 10 years, renewable
- Visa fee : USD 1000
- No minimum investment required
- All permits are available on the Economic Board of Development (EDB) website.
B. Do you need assistance?
Would you like assistance with your expatriation plans to Mauritius?
Smart Traveller can help you with all the administrative and visa procedures.
Take advantage of a 5% discount on all their services with my promotional code SMART-FPTM.
I hope my site helps you with your project.
If you found it useful and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee.
Thank you 🤍
