Mauritius · Retirement
Residence Permit — Retired Non-Citizen
Reformed
Last verified July 2026
Open. The Finance Act 2025 raised the permanent residence qualification from 3 to 5 years of permit-holding and set the PR threshold at USD 200,000 transferred over the 5-year period. An application fee of USD 50 has applied since 1 December 2025.
At USD 24,000 a year of transfers — money you keep and spend, not a fee — this is one of the cheapest retirement residences anywhere in a jurisdiction with no capital gains, inheritance or wealth tax. For a retiree living off already-taxed foreign capital, the remittance basis can make the effective rate close to nil.
Qualifying routes
$24k
Retired non-citizen aged 50+
initial transfer of at least USD 2,000, then annual transfers totalling at least USD 24,000 a year into a Mauritian bank account
The facts
- Qualifying figure
- $24k
- Total landed cost
- USD 24,000 a year transferred (which remains the retiree's own money, not a fee), plus USD 50 application fee and modest legal costs. Living costs in Mauritius for a couple run roughly USD 3-5k a month for a Western standard of living.
- Timeline
- 1–3 months — EDB processing on the National E-Licensing System is fast when the file is complete
- Physical presence
- None prescribed, but the annual USD 24,000 transfer requirement must be met and evidenced every year
- Family
- spouse or common-law partnerdependent childrendependent parents
- Permanent residency
- 20-year Permanent Residence Permit after 5 years holding the permit (raised from 3 years in 2025), subject to having transferred at least USD 200,000 over that period
- Citizenship
- Naturalisation after 7 years' residence, or 2 years at ministerial discretion with USD 500,000 invested
- Language test
- adequate knowledge of English or another language current in Mauritius
- Dual citizenship
- Not permitted — you would have to renounce
- Requirements
- aged 50 or overinitial transfer of USD 2,000 and annual transfers of at least USD 24,000Mauritian bank accountclean criminal recordmedical certificateundertaking not to engage in employment or business in Mauritius
What can go wrong
- Hard age floor of 50 — there is no discretion, and the Premium Visa is the only alternative below that age.
- The USD 24,000 must actually be transferred into Mauritius each year and evidenced; it is a remittance test, and remitted income is exactly what the Mauritian remittance basis taxes.
- The PR qualification moved from 3 to 5 years and now carries a USD 200,000 cumulative transfer test — anyone who planned around the old 3-year rule needs to re-plan.
- The permit prohibits work. Running any business or taking employment in Mauritius requires an Occupation Permit instead.
- Healthcare is adequate but not world-class; complex or acute care means evacuation to South Africa, Réunion or Singapore, and private insurance for over-70s is expensive and sometimes unobtainable.