Mauritius Investor Visa

The threshold is a residential property priced at not less than USD 375,000 or its equivalent in another hard convertible currency, in the words of the Immigration Act 2022 and the current PDS guidelines; the January 2025 guidelines and the Smart City guidelines say exceeds USD 375,000.

The exchange rate used for the USD equivalent is not consistent across the texts either. The Act and the January 2025 guidelines use the selling rate in force at the time the title deed is signed, while regulation 13 of the Property Development Scheme Regulations, as consolidated by the Economic Development Board, uses the rate in force on the date of the application.

But more telling than the figure is the question of who may buy, because the guidelines go far wider than the usual assumption.

The purchaser may be a non-citizen, a citizen of Mauritius, a foreign company registered under the Companies Act 2001, or a company incorporated under that same Act including one holding a Global Business Licence.

It may also be a société whose deed of formation is deposited with the Registrar of Companies, or a trust whose trusteeship services are provided by a qualified trustee licensed by the Financial Services Commission.

Where the buyer is an entity, residence does not simply flow to someone: an individual must be nominated as main applicant, and the guidelines prescribe the exact nominating instrument for each form — a company by a resolution of its secretary or director nominating a shareholder, executive director or chief executive.

A trust by a letter from the qualified trustee nominating a non-citizen who is also a beneficiary of the trust. A société by a letter from the gérant nominating an active member.

Above that threshold sits a second layer about how the money is paid, and it blocks the use of leverage to reach a dearer house:

Where the property price exceeds USD 750,000, the non-citizen must pay the first USD 750,000 from their own funds and may contract a loan for the remainder only from a local bank, that loan being repayable in a hard convertible currency.

This USD 750,000 loan mark replaced the previous USD 500,000 mark; according to the Board's FAQ, the new mark applies to all letters of authorisation issued by the Board from 13 December 2024, and to valid letters issued before that date where the sales deed has not been signed. The thresholds attaching to each acquisition route in the Immigration Act, including joint purchase and apartment purchase, are recorded in the dependants cell of this table.

What is received is a residence permit with no fixed term that is instead attached to the asset: it remains in force for as long as the non-citizen holds the property under the scheme, so selling the property means losing the residence.

But the guidelines set out two routes to losing it rather than one, and the second is the one the corporate structure opens:

The permit remains in force until the person no longer holds the property, or until the individual nominated by the company secretary, director, gérant or qualified trustee informs the Economic Development Board to terminate that residency.

Anyone entering through an entity therefore holds their status at the pleasure of the entity, and termination requires no sale at all.

The moment the right arises is also defined precisely rather than by the date of signature: the property is deemed to be acquired and registered following payment of the relevant registration duty to the Registrar-General.

And that has to be reported upwards: the scheme company must inform the Board by letter addressed to the Chief Executive Officer once the immovable property is registered, enclosing a notary certificate attesting that the deed has been duly registered and transcribed and stating the price of the property, or a copy of the title deed.

Between completing the purchase and holding the permit there is therefore a step the seller must take.

The real timing ladder on this route sits not in the residence procedure but in the construction progress, because the money is called up stage by stage rather than paid at once.

The guidelines for the IRS, RES and PDS schemes, both the January 2025 text and the current PDS guidelines, print all five stages: on signing the deed 25%; on completion of the foundation works 10%; on completion of the roofed-in phase 35%; on completion 25%; and on availability of the premises 5%.

That is the Board's schedule for those three schemes, not a general rule of this residence route: the Smart City guidelines print 30%, 5%, 35%, 25% and 5%. Both sets of guidelines cite Article 1601-30 of the Mauritian Civil Code, but that article sets only cumulative ceilings on payments: at most 35% of the price on completion of the foundations, 70% once the building is weathertight, 95% on completion, with the balance due when the premises are handed over.

The amounts are called up gradually as the works progress in accordance with the modalities stipulated in the deed of sale, so the buyer payment calendar is locked to the developer building calendar.

Three further hard marks, one on each side. On the notarial side: the deed drawn up by the notary must be registered with the Registrar-General within eight days of the date of the deed, and the registration duty must be paid in USD, EUR or another hard convertible currency.

On the later seller side: anyone intending to sell or transfer the property must give written notice to the Chief Executive Officer of the Board within thirty days prior to the sale, with a copy to the scheme company.

On the residence file side: the medical certificate and the morality certificate each carry a validity of six months, so preparing too early means doing them again.

And the start of assessment is defined by completeness rather than by the date of filing: an application is considered ready for processing on the date by which all information, particulars and documents have been duly submitted and considered complete by the Board.

There is one purchase route that looks like an entry route but is not: a serviced plot of land within a project. The January 2025 guidelines allow a non-citizen to acquire one serviced plot in a PDS project where they already hold a residence permit under the scheme, an occupation permit or permanent residence, require a residential property to be built on it within five years of purchase in accordance with the architectural guidelines, and allow neither a residence permit application nor a sale or transfer of the plot before construction is finished.

The texts now in force have closed that route to non-citizens. The Property Development Scheme Regulations, as consolidated by the Economic Development Board, allow a PDS company to sell one serviced plot to a non-citizen only where the transfer is made on or before 30 June 2026; the current PDS and Smart City guidelines list only citizens of Mauritius and members of the Mauritian Diaspora as eligible buyers of serviced plots. The texts examined show no extension of the 30 June 2026 cut-off.

Serviced land has therefore never been a route to residence status, and for transfers after that date it is no longer a route even for non-citizens who already hold status. On living there in fact, the guidelines set no minimum days of presence, and they permit something many property-linked routes forbid: the owner is allowed to rent out the property, though only through a set channel. The current PDS guidelines and regulation 14 of the scheme permit letting only through the scheme company or a property management provider appointed by it; the January 2025 guidelines set the same channel for IRS and RES, while the Smart City guidelines state that there are no restrictions on rental or resale.

What stands in place of a presence obligation is holding the asset, together with the two routes to losing it recorded in the outcome cell of this table.

The residence permit documents are filed in hard copy and apply to the main applicant and dependants alike: certified true copies of the passport and birth certificate for each applicant.

Two passport size photographs each; a medical certificate and, for those over eighteen, a morality certificate. The notary certificate; and in the case of a couple a certified true copy of the marriage certificate, or a certificat de concubinage, or an affidavit — whichever applies.

A Unique Identification Card form goes with it.

The Immigration Act 2022 does not set out a separate family regime but attaches the dependant clause directly to each property route, and all three routes sit in section 8(1).

Paragraph (d) is the purchase, alone, of an immovable property under the Integrated Resort Scheme, Real Estate Scheme, Invest Hotel Scheme, Property Development Scheme or Smart City Scheme at a price of not less than USD 375,000, the exchange rate being the selling rate in force at the time the title deed is signed.

Paragraph (e) is a joint purchase with other persons under those same schemes, provided that the individual contribution to the purchase price is not less than USD 375,000.

Paragraph (f) is the purchase or acquisition of an apartment used or available for use as a residence in a building of at least two floors above ground floor, again at not less than USD 375,000.

All three paragraphs carry an identical sub-clause at (ii): a residence permit also goes to the spouse, dependent child, parent or other dependent of a person falling under (i) — with one exception written into all three, that this does not apply where the person under (i) is a young professional.

The definition of a dependent child sits in the interpretation section: a dependent child means a child, stepchild or lawfully adopted child of a person who is wholly dependent on that person, not over 24 years of age, unmarried, and not engaged in any gainful activity, all four conditions together.

The age condition was inserted by the Finance Act 2025 with effect from 1 December 2025; the Economic Development Board's current Property Development Scheme guidelines likewise refer to a child up to the age of 24, while the scheme's regulations as consolidated by the Board and the Smart City guidelines say under the age of 24, so the texts do not align exactly at the age of 24 itself.

Dependency in Mauritius is therefore measured by both age and actual circumstances: a child over 24 is no longer a dependent child, and a child who takes up paid work loses that status before reaching that age.

The same set of relatives — spouse, dependent child, parent or other dependent, other than a young professional — is also given a residence permit by section 8(1)(g) and (h) where the principal holds a residence permit as a retired non-citizen or holds an occupation permit

The status this programme grants, whether a visa or a residence permit, does not replace the holder's passport. The holder still travels on the passport of their own country, so the figure below belongs to the Mauritius passport and becomes the holder's only once they are issued a Mauritius passport.

According to the Passport Index of Prosperous Intelligence, on data dated 30 September 2026, the Mauritius passport reaches 163 destinations without applying for a consular visa in advance. The figure combines three forms of entry and does not count an e-Visa that must be obtained beforehand:

It is therefore a measure of how easily the holder travels, not a count of visa-free countries in the narrow sense.

For comparison, on the same source and the same method of counting, the Vietnamese passport reaches 44 destinations. The two lists of destinations do not nest inside one another, so the difference is an indication rather than a list of places newly opened.

Prosperous Intelligence dates its data and advises checking with the destination’s official authorities before travelling.

The Immigration Act 2022, the statute under which a property purchaser is granted a residence permit, does not use the word tax once in its full text; the tax content sits in the Economic Development Board guidelines, in a section of its own headed Duty and Taxes.

That section attaches tax to the transaction rather than to the person. On the purchase of residential property from the scheme company: land transfer tax of 5% of the value of the property, payable by the scheme company on registration; and registration duty of 5% of the value, payable by the purchaser on registration.

On the purchase of land for the project: land transfer tax of 5% payable by the vendor of the land, registration duty of 5% payable by the project company.

On a resale of residential property: land transfer tax of 5% payable by the seller, registration duty of 5% payable by the purchaser.

The section carries exactly one exclusion: no duty and taxes shall be payable on a deed witnessing the transfer of residential property to a person holding a registration certificate under the Mauritian Diaspora Scheme.

Property is deemed acquired on its registration and payment of the fixed duty of 5% of the value to the registrar general.

On the residence permit, under Regulation 13 of the Property Development Scheme Regulations 2015 a permit under the Immigration Act is granted to a non-citizen who purchases residential property for not less than USD 375,000 or its equivalent, and the permit remains valid for as long as the person holds the property.

One exclusion is worth stating because it closes a route many assume is open: A purchaser of a serviced plot of land is not eligible for a residence permit until the residential building on that plot is completed.

As to the project company, the guidelines state that the income tax payable by it, as well as the exemption from income tax on dividends paid to shareholders, is in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Act as amended — that is, no separate regime.

The tax position of the permit holder is settled by general law:

Under section 73(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1995 an individual is resident where they have their domicile in Mauritius unless their permanent place of abode is outside it, or are present for 183 days or more in the income year, or are present for 270 days or more in aggregate across the income year and the two preceding years.

A resident is liable to tax on worldwide income, a non-resident on income derived from sources in Mauritius.

Read this cell within its scope: the guidelines state of themselves that they are neither intended to replace the provisions of the laws.

They cover transfer tax and registration duty attaching to the purchase, say nothing about the income tax position of the permit holder, nothing about inheritance or annual property tax, and do not say that the residence permit makes its holder a tax resident.

The thresholds and rules here apply to the Property Development Scheme only; the IRS, res, Invest Hotel and Smart City schemes have guidelines of their own

The first sum payable is not the price of the house but a non-refundable processing fee: MUR 25,000 for each application submitted under IRS, res or PDS, paid by cheque drawn in favour of the Economic Development Board or by bank transfer.

The guidelines publish the receiving account outright: SBM Bank (Mauritius) Ltd, account 610 101 0000 9842, IBAN MU28 STCB 1170 0101 0000 9842 000 MUR, Swift STCBMUMU.

The requirement to enclose an attestation of the opening of a bank account through which the purchase money will be transferred sits in the resale or transfer section of both the January 2025 guidelines and the current PDS guidelines, so it applies to a buyer on resale. For a first purchase from the scheme company under the PDS or the Smart City Scheme, the company's bank carries out the know-your-client exercise and opens an account for the buyer, called an escrow account in the PDS guidelines, before the application is submitted; a non-citizen's application encloses the bank's letter certifying that exercise, and under the PDS guidelines the deposit placed with the bank at this stage is at most 25% of the purchase amount.

On currency, since 13 December 2024, 85% of the purchase price must reach the promoter in Mauritius rupees and the remaining 15% in USD, EUR, another hard convertible currency or rupees. The buyer does not convert that 85% into rupees: the Board's FAQ answers that non-citizens transfer their funds from abroad in any hard convertible foreign currency, and the bank applies the exchange rate of the transfer date instructed by the notary and the promoter.

The FAQ states that the rule applies only to a first sale by a non-citizen and does not apply to apartments under the Ground+2 scheme. Because that question sets first sales against resales and the payment flows to the promoter, those words are read here as the first sale to a non-citizen.

One detail about the path the money takes that price lists usually omit: the consideration is transferred to the notary account in USD, EUR or a hard currency, and it is the notary who then transfers it to the promoter in that 85 and 15 split.

And the registration duty must be paid in hard foreign currency, not in rupees. Beyond the purchase price there is registration duty of 5% of the property value payable by the buyer; on a resale the seller bears land transfer tax of 5% and the new buyer pays the 5% registration duty.