Y.D Aasha Juddoo, experienced lawyer of Citilaw, and founder of Golden Verdandi Ltd and Insight Experts Ltd, entities specially set up to assist investors interested with the Mauritius offerings – walks us through the main residency permits made available to foreign nationals.
A wealth hub for business owners and investors
These range from real estate investment schemes to the latest immigration offering tailored for remote workers and digital nomads – the Premium Visa. Mauritius offers an array of incentives, residency permits, wealth management and succession planning solutions well suited for affluent investors and family offices.
A former French and British colony, Mauritius, initially discovered and visited by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century and then occupied by the Dutch, now with a diverse and multicultural population, has for many decades been known as a luxury destination, with many leading, world-class and award-winning luxury resorts located on this island found in the Indian Ocean, so tiny it is almost invisible on the world map, located close to Madagascar and to South Africa, which both appear as giants in comparison.
The country boasting of emerald seas, golden sand beaches and volcanic mountains is a destination visited time and time again by paradise get-away seekers, families and honeymooners alike. Superb golf courses feature amongst the world’s top 100 and offer exceptional experiences with spectacular sunsets and rainbows in the background.
Mauritius: Business, residency, investment
But Mauritius is also a well-known business jurisdiction, with an open economy and a thriving International Financial Centre, served by solid and renowned national and international banks and service providers and trusted by institutional and other investors.
The island is known for its ease of doing business and favorable tax laws, including the absence of capital gains and withholding taxes, all of which renders Mauritius very attractive to foreign investors.
It is a gateway for investment into countries with which it has tax treaties and investment promotion agreements. Interesting wealth and succession planning possibilities allowing for negation of forced heirship rules by non-citizens and many incentives are given to those investors and wealthy individuals or families that select Mauritius as their business and / or investment migration jurisdiction. Recently promulgated rules provide that family offices set up by foreigners in Mauritius can benefit from a tax holiday of 5 years.
An open investor-friendly island
The Mauritian government promotes openness to foreign investors, talents, know-how and foreign retirees and has implemented interesting residency by investment programs in special schemes, designed to facilitate ownership of dedicated, high end real estate by non-citizens in the highly coveted island, well known for its political stability, rule of law, multi-cultural aspects and above all, its quality of life.
Mauritius Permanent Residence
Foreigners can thus avail of Mauritius permanent residence permits under special schemes namely the Property Development Scheme (PDS) scheme, the Invest Hotel Scheme (IHS) and the Smart City Scheme as well as under two previous schemes i.e the Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS) and the Real Estate Scheme (RES), (both of which have now been discontinued and replaced by the PDS, although existing owners under those schemes can still transfer their investment).
Depending on the scheme chosen, permanent residence permits can be issued for an extended period of 20 years and remain valid and effective so long as the investment is not disposed of. Rental income from the real estate investments under the different schemes can be transferred out of Mauritius without any restrictions.
The spouse or common law partner of the permanent residence permit holder or their biological, stepchild or lawfully adopted child, under the age of 24 or his/her wholly dependent and unmarried next of kin (provided that the number of dependents does not exceed 3) can also have the status of resident. For retired residents, only the spouse or partner shall benefit from the permanent residence permit.
The Property Development Scheme in Mauritius
A non-citizen is eligible for a residence permit against an investment of at least USD 375,000 and payment of registration duty of 5% for the purchase of a villa or apartment or other unit under the current PDS scheme. This scheme relates to the development and sale of luxurious residences that provide high quality public spaces and commercial amenities, high-class leisure and other facilities intended to enhance the value of the residential units together with day-to-day management services to residents including security, maintenance, gardening, solid waste disposal and household services.
Special PDS for Seniors developments cater for foreign nationals above the age of 50 years wishing to retire and live in Mauritius under a Retired Residence Permit that is normally issued for a maximum period of ten years, renewable thereafter as per established criteria. However, as an added incentive to such retirees, they and their spouse or common law partner who acquires the status of resident can benefit from a 5-year tax holiday.
The Invest Hotel Scheme in Mauritius
Under the Invest Hotel Scheme, investors can acquire a room, unit or a standalone villa in a hotel development project; they would be required to enter into a lease agreement with the hotel whereby the property so acquired is leased back to the hotel developer in return for rental income, subject to a 45-days free of charge occupation period by the investor or by any person on his behalf, over any period of 12 months.
There is no minimum required investment for the acquisition of a room, suite or other part of a hotel, but a minimum investment of US$ 500 000 is required for the acquisition of a standalone villa. Registration fees for the IHS units are calculated at 5% of the selling price for the room, suite or other part of the hotel but for standalone villas, the registration fees applicable amount to US$ 70,000.
Investments in both PDS and IHS may be made by an investor in his/her own individual name or through a locally incorporated company or through a limited partnership, trust or foundation locally registered or set up.
The Smart City Scheme in Mauritius
Through the Smart City Scheme, Mauritius offers the opportunity to global investors to share in the vision of Mauritius for creating intelligent, innovative, self-sufficient and sustainable cities of tomorrow that revolve around the work, life and play concept, incorporating mixed use developments with smart technology and pioneering innovation at their core.
The ‘Smart City Scheme’ requires the investor to make an investment of at least US$ 375,000 for the purchase of a luxury property. It provides an attractive package of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to investors alongside tremendous investment opportunities in a wide array of components relating to pioneering urban development.
Whether considering a second residence or a vacation /retirement home or simply an investment opportunity, the various residence schemes allow non-citizens to buy high end, luxury, free-hold residences with the possibility to have recourse to rental management services and thus derive interesting ROI from such investments.
Read more: How Citizenship by Investment trends reflect global HNWI investment priorities
Combined work and residence permit and retirement residence permits
Other routes to obtain a residence permit in Mauritius are via the Occupation Permit (Investor and Self-employed) and the Young Professional Occupation permit. The Occupation Permit (OP) is a combined work and residence permit aimed for Investors, Professionals or Self-Employed individuals wishing to work and live in Mauritius.
The OP is issued for an initial period of 10 years on a renewable basis as per established criteria. The minimum investment for obtaining an OP (Investor and Self-employed) has recently been reduced from US$ 100,000 to US$ 50,000. Spouses of OP holders do not need permits to invest or work in Mauritius and OP holders are now allowed to bring their parents to live with them.
To attract and retain foreign talents, investors and businesses, the authorities now allow OP holders as well as Retired Residence permit holders, investors holding permits under the IRS, RES, PDS or Smart City Scheme to acquire only one plot of serviced land not exceeding 2,100 m2 for residential purposes, within Smart Cities until 30 June 2022.
It must be noted that a non-citizen who acquires a plot of serviced land shall not be eligible to apply for a residence permit unless the construction of a residential property has been completed on that plot. The residence permit granted to the non-citizen will remain in force until such time the non-citizen shall hold the residential property under the scheme.
For the Investor Occupation Permit, an investor making investments in high technology machines and equipment and in one of the following qualifying activities would need to incorporate a company or any other entity in Mauritius and be a shareholder and director thereof:
- agro-based industry,
- audio-visual,
- banking, construction,
- cinema and communication,
- education,
- environment-friendly and green energy products,
- financial services,
- fisheries and marine resources,
- freeport,
- information technology,
- infrastructure,
- initial public offerings,
- insurance,
- leisure,
- manufacturing,
- marina development,
- tourism and warehousing.
The investor will then be eligible to apply for an Investor OP under two options:
- either by making an initial transfer of US$ 50,000 in the bank account of the company under which the application will be made; or
- in the case of existing and/or inherited businesses, by showing a net asset value of at least US$ 50,000 and a cumulative turnover of at least US$ 300,000 during the 3 years preceding the application.
Investors may also apply for an innovator OP with no minimum investment, where they submit an innovative project or where they register with an incubator accredited with the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council. This scheme applies to companies conducting R&D in qualifying sectors including but not limited to life and health sciences, technology, ICT, fintech, biotechnology, nano technology, light manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and design and the R&D expense component should constitute at least 20% of total operational expenditure during the research phase. Each application for an Innovator OP is assessed on a case-to-case basis.
An Investor Occupation Permit will be renewable provided the investor’s company generates a minimum gross income of US$ 100,000 per year as from the third year of registration. An investor who invests at least US$ 375,000 in a qualifying business activity is eligible to apply for the 20-year residence permit in the same manner as those investing in one of the real estate schemes.
Foreign students having completed at least an undergraduate degree in a tertiary education institution in Mauritius are eligible to apply for a Young Professional Occupation Permit (YPOP) in the following fields within 6 months after the date of their results:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Biotechnology
- Fintech
- Robotics
- Financial services
- Information technology
The YPOP is an OP valid for a maximum period of 3 years depending on the duration of the contract of employment. If an employer still requires the service of the foreign employee after the 3 years, the employer may apply for an OP as Professional on behalf of the employee.
Otherwise, foreign nationals employed in Mauritius by virtue of a contract of employment and registered as such with the Economic Development Board, earning a monthly basic salary of at least US$ 1,500 ( and at least US$ 750 for those in the information and communication technologies (ICT), business process outsourcing (BPO), pharmaceutical manufacturing and food processing sector) may apply for a Short-Term Occupation Permit for a period not exceeding 9 months, which permit may be extended only once, for a period not exceeding 3 months.
Generally speaking, OP holders can apply for a 20-year permanent residence permit after 3 years if they can demonstrate the below financial returns for a consecutive period of 3 years:
- a minimum annual gross income of at least MUR 15M (approx.US$ 375,000); or
- an aggregate turnover MUR 45M (approx. US$ 1.12m)
Professional OP holders will be entitled to apply for a 20-year permanent residence permit after 3 years where they can show that they derived a salary of at least Rs 150,000 (approx. US$ 3,750) for 3 consecutive years whilst self-employed who have held an OP for at least 3 years will need to show an annual business income of at least MUR 3,000,000 (approx. US$ 75,000) for 3 consecutive years.
Retired non-citizens can apply for an initial ten-year Retired Residency Permit and are required to make an initial transfer of at least US$ 1,500 to a local bank account in Mauritius at the time of issuance of the permit. Thereafter, they will need to transfer at least US$ 1,500 monthly or the aggregate of at least US$ 18,000 per year during the ten years’ validity of the residence permit. At the end of each year, they should submit the evidence of the transfer of funds into their local bank account to the Economic Development Board.
The Premium Visa for Remote Workers
Finally, Mauritius has introduced a Premium Visa for a period of one year, renewable, to allow eligible foreigners to come for a long stay in Mauritius. It targets:
- recurring tourists who had planned to retire and migrate in Mauritius before the COVID-19 pandemic;
- retirees from severely COVID-19 affected countries;
- investors/professionals who are able carry out their businesses or work remotely from Mauritius and wishing to get away from severely Covid 19 affected countries, together with their families; and
- parents of foreign children studying at tertiary institutions in Mauritius.
In order to qualify for the Premium Visa, the visitors must have proof of their long stay plans and sufficient travel and health insurance for the initial period of stay. Applicants for the Premium Visa should not seek employment in Mauritius and their main place of business and source of income and profits should be from outside Mauritius; documentary evidence in support of the application and of immigration procedures will need to be produced to the satisfaction of the authorities.
Mauritius is well connected by air and served by more than 20 airlines connecting to over 150 destinations world-wide, with direct service to Paris, London, Singapore, Dubai, Johannesburg, Nairobi, New Delhi, Mumbai, Perth.
A preferred destination for its pleasant tropical climate, warm hospitality, exceptional living environment but also a preferred business jurisdiction due to its dynamic economy, attractive tax regimes, political and social stability, competitive business environment, and investment opportunities, Mauritius is a great option for foreign nationals looking for a privileged destination to do business, invest, work, live and retire in.
For more information on the above insightful analysis on Mauritius as a budding jurisdiction for HNWIs and Family Office please email info@goldenverdandi.com or connect on https://www.linkedin.com/in/y-d-aasha-juddoo-53077b22/.
