What does Permanent Residence mean in Mauritius?

I get a lot of emails from people thinking of moving their families to Mauritius, particularly from South Africa. These emails invariably display some confusion. So here is my attempt to clarify things a bit.

Emigration: Migration from your home country in order to settle in another.

What this means is that you move your permanent residence to Mauritius. In South Africa, it has another twist, in that it is the only way that South African Exchange Control lets their captive population take all their assets out of South Africa. Unfortunately it also involves a tax of 10%.

A common myth is that Emigration involves losing your nationality. Not true. Just because you change your place of permanent residence does not mean you have to change your passport. It is entirely possibly to be a permanent resident of a country but be a citizen of another.

The focus of Emigration is that it involves leaving your home country - it does not involve an equal and opposite Immigration in Mauritius. We Mauritians give you a menu of options as to how you can settle on our precious Island.



The Mauritius Menu of Residential Options

Starter

• Occupation Permit without the option to convert to Permanent Residence

Main Courses

• Occupation Permit with the option to convert to Permanent Residence
• Retirement Residential Permit with option to convert to Permanent Residence
• Right to Occupation Permit due to ownership of an IRS unit.
• Permanent Residence

Desert

• Citizenship
• Tax residence
  

Occupation Permit without the option to convert to Permanent Residence

This is the closest thing to the old combination work and residence permit. It is issued for a period of three years, and can be renewed on application, indefinitely. The minimum requirement is that the bread winner earns a salary of more than Rs30 000 per month. This is a little more than $1000 per month. The breadwinner and his dependent family may work and live in Mauritius. As soon as a child turns 18 and is not a student, they need to get a job or get out. That job also has to pay more than Rs30 000 per month.

Other ways to qualify for this permit are to

• have a company with turnover of Rs3 million ($110 000 at time of writing)
• be self employed and earn Rs600 000 p. a. ($22 000)

Occupation Permit with the option to convert to Permanent Residence

In order to have the option to convert to Permanent Residence, the holder must achieve the following minimum levels for three consecutive years and then apply:

• have a salary of over Rs150 000 per month ($5, 500)
• have a company with turnover of at least Rs15m p.a. ($555 000)
• be self employed and earn at least Rs3m p.a. ($111 000)

Retirement Residential Permit with option to convert to Permanent Residence

A retiree may acquire a residential permit (that does not permit him to work, obviously because he is retired!) by depositing $40 000 per annum into his personal rupee account in Mauritius. He may then spend this amount as he sees fit. This requirement refers to only one individual in the family.

After three years, the retiree may apply for Permanent Residence.

Right to Occupation Permit due to ownership of an IRS unit

The owner of an IRS (Integrated Resort Scheme) unit may acquire an Occupation Permit that entitles him to live and work in Mauritius. After three years this may not be converted to Permanent Residence - this is a common misunderstanding. If the IRS is owned by a Company, then this company can nominate one individual to be the 'resident' who then gets the occupation permit.

Permanent Residence

What's so great about Permanent Residence? The main benefit of being a Permanent Resident is that you may apply to purchase a home anywhere in Mauritius. This is a much cheaper option than purchasing a home in an IRS, unless you want a house on the beach. In this case, I refer you to my blog on property.

The finer details of permanent residence are still being thrashed out by the government and we eagerly await clarification on a number of issues. Of particular interest is the the question of how long this 'permanence' is. When the dispensation was first described, it set the term for ten years. Some have said that implicit in this ten year threshold, is the ability for the permanent resident to apply of citizenship. Watch this space.

Citizenship

A person may apply for citizenship by Naturalisation if one has lived 'continuously' in Mauritius for 5 years. The law is vague and the application thereof highly discretionary. The Prime Minister administers this and citizenship is a privilege. If someone has been living in Mauritius for over five years (aggregate having subtracted all the times of absence) they may start the application process. It may be declined or it may be successful. I don't know of any magic formula that can guarantee success. Perhaps it will be easier for permanent residents to apply for citizenship in the years ahead. I hope so.

Tax Residence

Tax residency has got nothing to do with any type of permit or citizenship or residence status.

You have to reside in Mauritius for 182 days per year in the first two years, and 91 days each year thereafter to qualify for tax residency. When you have stayed in Mauritius for the first 182 days that year, you may apply to the Mauritius Revenue Authority for a tax residence certificate. Once this is in your possession, it is possible that you may not be taxed in other countries that have tax treaties with Mauritius (including UK and South Africa).

Extinct Scheme for Residence

Please note that the Permanent Residence Scheme whereby an investment of $500 000 in Mauritius gave one permanent residence status is now, like the Dodo, extinct.

For more detailed information on any of the above schemes please go to http://frontfin.com/prs