Immigration Act: what has changed
Here are the changes made by the government of Mauritius in favor of foreigners who wish to settle in the territory Persons who are resident in Mauritius now include a person who holds immovable property under the integrated resort scheme, real estate scheme, invest hotel scheme, property development scheme or smart city scheme, the purchase price of which is not less than 375,000 US dollars. The investment threshold for (i) an investor and (ii) a holder of an immovable property under an existing scheme, to obtain a permanent resident permit is now 375,000 US dollars. Persons who are permanent resident in Mauritius includes a person who invests 375,000 US Dollars in any activity specified in part IV of the schedule to the Investment Promotion Act. An investor or self-employed non-citizen who is the holder of an occupation permit will not have to wait until the expiry of the period of 3 years of his permit to apply for the status of permanent resident. The non-citizen may now, within the 10-year occupation permit period, upon satisfying the criteria set out in the schedule to the Investment Promotion Act and on application made, be granted the status of permanent resident. A person who has been a holder of an occupation permit or residence permit for a period of 3 years immediately before 1st of September 2020 and who satisfies the criteria specified in part III of the first schedule to the Economic Development Board Act 2017, may now, on application, be granted the status of permanent resident. The validity of a permanent residence permit will now be extended to 20 years (previously: 10 years) An investor or a self-employed non-citizen can now apply for an occupation permit for a period of 10 years. An occupation permit which has been issued for a period of 3 years will now be extended for a period of 10 years as from the date of the expiry of the occupation permit in the case of an investor or self-employed non-citizen provided that the permit is valid on 1 September 2020. The holder of an occupation permit as professional or the holder of a residence permit as a retired non-citizen may now: hold shares in a business in which he is employed if he is not a majority shareholder of that business; invest in any business if he : is not employed in that business; does not manage that business; and does not derive any salary or employment benefit from that business
