Happy New year to all readers.  Here we are, with our first 2017 article.

Lots have been going under the sun, in Mauritius. But the island is, fortunately, still maintaining its strategy to attract foreign investment and expertise.

We will try to have a quick look on the different residency permits schemes that are available in Mauritius and update you on new rules and regulations.  Yes, some slight changes have been brought to Occupation permit schemes without, however, affecting the core program. Before going into details, let us have a look at the different categories of permits available for who want to invest, work or retire in Mauritius.

Occupation Permit categories & their criteria

Investor Permit: an investor is a shareholder and director in a company registered and domiciled in Mauritius. The shareholder is required to show a minimum investment of USD100,000 & the company should be able to generate an annual turnover of at least MUR2 million for the 1st year & cumulative turnover of at least MUR10 million for subsequent two years.

Professional : a foreigner working in a Mauritian company to deliver professional services. He should earn a basic salary exceeding MUR60,000 per month. However the basic salary for professionals in the ICT sector should exceed MUR30,000 a month.

Self-Employed: a self-employed person is a foreign engaged in a professional activity; working exclusively for his own account. The applicant should be able to show a minimum investment of USD35,000 and his activity should generat an annual income of MUR600,000 in the first 2 years and thereafter MUR1.2 million .

Retired Non-Citizens: a foreigner, aged over 50 years and able to transfer at least USD40,000 per year to cater for his own expenses or USD120,000 at the time of application. 

Notice the slight changes in turnover criteria for Investors and Self-Employed. Globally the performance requirements are the same, though. Eg: the Investor was previously required to generate a turnover of MUR4 million a year, for three years. This equals to the global condition of MUR12 million for the first three years. Similar principle applies to Self-Employed category.

How to apply ?  The changes brought to procedures

There were certain incoherence in the previous Application procedures and we did highlight them from the very start.  Previously, an investor would be required to incur certain costs even before having a minimum comfort on his permit outcome. For instance, he would have needed to create his company, open the bank account, transfer his investment and travel down to Mauritius to submit his application.  Even while so doing, he had no guarantee that his Occupation Permit would be approved. The same inconveniences would apply to other categories: Professional, Self-Employed  & Retired non-citizens.

A new option is now available. Applicants may choose to apply for an Approval in Principle. prior to travelling down to Mauritius and incurring any expenses. Once the approval is obtained, the applicant has 90 days to register his business in Mauritius, transfer the funds, undertake his medical tests  and submit his application to the Board of Investment.

Now, the challenge lies in completing all these (including travelling) in 90 days. For instance, to open a bank account, every business requires a Trade License, issued by the local authority where the business is situated. This in itself can take weeks to achieve, despite government’s affirmed willingness to shorten the delay (this is an acknowledgement that the delay is long).

There are several other ‘logistics’ constraints that needs to be taken care of. If the investor has children, for example, he has to cater for school admission.  90 days, honestly, can vanish like a burnt matchstick. Still, the change in application procedure is a positive sign.

To be able to optimise on success possibilities, it is always available to hire the services of a professional.

There is obviously an additional cost to hiring a professional, but it provides an additional comfort (and a sort of guarantee) to have the intervention of someone who masters local laws and regulations.

A professional has built a network of trust (if he is good) with officers at various levels.

This facilitates many things, like ensuring efficient and quick communications or enhance collaboration for the success of the application.

A professional will also be able to guide you through the ‘DoS’ and ‘Donts’, eliminate possible obstacles & bugs on the application file.

We have been assisting those who want to invest, work and retire in Mauritius for the past decades. We have travelled through various laws and changes througout time. Our track record : +20 years of experience, +100s of projects realised and +1000s of smiles earned

Unlock the doors of Mauritius, paradise-island. 

(c) http://www.gibsonandhills.com