Mauritius · Residency by investment
Occupation Permit — Investor Category
In force at USD 50,000 under the Finance Act 2025. The Budget 2026-27, delivered on 19 June 2026, raises the minimum initial investment to USD 100,000 and resets the turnover tests to MUR 5m from year 3 and MUR 8m from year 5 for renewal. Those changes require the Finance Act 2026, and they had not yet been enacted as of 15 July 2026. Applicants in the window should confirm which regime applies on the date they file.
This is the cheapest credible residence permit you will find in a jurisdiction with zero capital gains tax, zero inheritance tax and a real treaty network. Unlike most African programmes, it is run by a competent agency that actually issues permits within weeks. The catch is that this is a genuine business permit, not a passive investment. The turnover tests have real teeth, and the June 2026 Budget doubled the entry price while making the tax outcome materially worse.
Qualifying routes
Transfer within 60 days of issue. MUR 1.5m turnover in year 1, rising to MUR 20m cumulative by year 5. MUR 5m per year from year 6 to renew.
MUR 5m turnover from year 3, MUR 8m from year 5 to renew. This is pending the Finance Act 2026.
There is no minimum capital requirement if the company registers with the EDB as an innovator and spends at least 20% of its operating expenditure on qualifying R&D.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $50k
- Total landed cost
- Plan on USD 50k-100k in invested capital, plus roughly USD 8-15k for EDB, legal and corporate set-up fees for a family of four. Ongoing Mauritian company accounting and substance costs run roughly USD 5-10k a year. The application fee is USD 50, non-refundable, since 1 December 2025. A further USD 1,000 is payable on approval.
- Route type
- Residency by investment
- Timeline
- 1–4 months (The EDB targets a few weeks on the National E-Licensing System once the file is complete. The real bottleneck is company incorporation and opening a bank account. Mauritian bank onboarding for non-residents has slowed materially.)
- Physical presence
- None is prescribed for the permit itself. But spending 183 days in a tax year, or 270 days across three years, makes you Mauritian tax-resident. That is the point for most applicants, and residency now costs 35% at the top rate.
- Family
- Spouse or common-law partnerDependent children, with no practical age cap for those who are unmarried and dependentDependent parents
- Permanent residency
- A 20-year Permanent Residence Permit becomes available after holding the OP for 5 years, up from 3 years before September 2025. It requires MUR 15m in annual turnover for each of those 5 years, or MUR 75m in aggregate over 5 consecutive years.
- Citizenship
- Naturalisation is possible after 7 years of residence, made up of 5 years aggregate in the preceding 7 years plus 12 months continuous. At ministerial discretion, that can drop to 2 years where at least USD 500,000 has been invested.
- Language test
- Adequate knowledge of English, or of another language in current use in Mauritius
- Dual citizenship
- Not permitted. You would have to renounce.
- Requirements
- Clean criminal recordMedical certificate, including an HIV testA Mauritian company registered with the EDBTransfer of the qualifying capital into a Mauritian bank account within 60 daysA business planA passport valid beyond the permit term
- The turnover tests are the real trap here, not the capital. A USD 50k investment is trivial. Producing MUR 20m (roughly USD 430k) of cumulative turnover by year 5 from a genuine Mauritian business is not. The EDB reviews compliance in year 5 and can revoke the permit.
- The Budget 2026-27 replaced the Fair Share Contribution with a permanent 35% band above MUR 12m of chargeable income. Mauritius's famous 15% flat rate is gone. The low-tax island pitch that most advisers still use is simply out of date now.
- Dividends from Mauritian resident companies count toward the MUR 12m threshold. An owner-manager paying themselves out of a local company can hit the 35% band faster than expected.
- Naturalised Mauritians must renounce their other nationality unless they obtain special ministerial approval. The 2-year investor naturalisation route is not a safe way to simply add a passport.
- Mauritius exited the FATF grey list in October 2021, but it faces an ESAAMLG mutual evaluation in 2027. A relisting would hit banking access hard, and local commentary through 2026 has been openly worried about backsliding.
- Opening a Mauritian bank account as a non-resident, ultra-high-net-worth client is slow, and banks are increasingly declining the request outright. Do not assume the permit itself delivers a bank account.
- Expect full CRS reporting. Mauritius is a transparent jurisdiction, not a secrecy one.