The Mauritius investment immigration program has seen a surge in interest from wealthy South Africans following the decision to end the 18-month travel ban on visitors from the country.
Despite being a much smaller economy, Mauritius is popular for golden visa investors from South Africa for many reasons.
Mauritius has a stable and diversified economy, low unemployment, multiple business platforms, and low crime rates. The latter is particularly significant as crime is a chronic issue in South Africa.
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Located just four hours away, Mauritius is easy to access and the twin advantages of low investment requirements and prospects of attractive returns on investments make it the first choice of many South African investors.
Living in a country dotted with beautiful beaches and bathed by tropical sunshine is a significant plus as well.
Investment Requirements in Mauritius
The Occupational Permit is a combined work and residence permit. To qualify, an investor must transfer US$50,000 (reduced from $100,000) and setup a business in Mauritius that must have a turnover of 2 million Mauritian rupees in the first year and 10 million rupees in the subsequent two years. The validity of the OP has been extended from three to ten years.
An OP investor who has lived and worked in Mauritius can apply for permanent residence by fulfilling these conditions.
- The annual income of the investor’s company is more than MUR 15 million in the three years preceding the application.
- Turnover is more than MUR 45 million for any consecutive period of three years.
An investor seeking direct permanent residence must invest at least US$375,000 (reduced from $500,000) in a qualifying activity in Mauritius, which include
- Agro-based industry
- Audio-visual
- Cinema and Communication
- Banking
- Construction
- Education
- Environment-friendly and green energy products
- Financial Services
- Fisheries and Marine Resources
- Freeport, Information Technology
- Infrastructure
- Insurance
- Leisure
- Manufacturing
- Marina development
– Tourism and Warehousing
- Initial Public Offerings.
Validity of the permanent residence permit too has been extended to 20 years.
Rising Demand for Investment Immigration among South Africans
Despite the significant potential, the South African economy has struggled with stagnant growth and the destruction of wealth. Frequent policy changes related to immigration and taxes haven’t helped matters either.
Recently, South Africa decided to impose a three-year lock-in on retirement funds with effect from March 2021. As per the new rule, a South African can liquidate retirement savings through lump-sum encashment prior to maturity only if he/she has been a non-tax resident of South Africa for three consecutive years.
Further, becoming a non-tax resident is not an automatic process. One has to submit a formal declaration and objectively prove the intent to remain abroad for the required period.
The immediate effect of this rule change is that investors don’t have the option of liquidating retirement funds to finance their golden visa applications. Mauritius’ DTAA with South Africa becomes, post this rule change, an added plus that allows investors greater leeway to arrange to finance for their permanent residence application.
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