How to get married as a non-citizen to a citizen of Mauritius?

[Martijn]

How to get married as a non-citizen to a citizen of Mauritius?
Are you a non-Mauritian and you want to get married with a Mauritian? This thread is dedicated to you. If you have any experience or you know people who are related to this topic, please do share your information.
Note that this thread is written in the year 2011. The Mauritius Immigration laws might have been modified depending on when you are reading this.

Mauritius immigration officer statement (rephrased):
“a non-Mauritian spouse of a Mauritian citizen may work in Mauritius and stay there as long as he/she wants”, “a non-Mauritian spouse of a Mauritian citizen has the same rights as a Mauritian citizen”, “by a divorce the spouse loses these rights and has to leave the country within the period of 6 months”.



It will not be said which exact documents you need to submit because these might be subject of change. This thread will purpose as a guide only. Find below the web links you need to obtain the necessary papers. If the links, due to changes, do not work any longer, please reply on this thread and I will post an updated one.

❖ 4 Principles - to makes things work
1. The passport and immigration, civil status, police or any other appointed officer is your friend. You might get frustrated when a officer does not want to submit your papers when a tiny little thing is missing or one of your papers is expired. It is unfortunate but the law is black on white, exceptions are not to be made. Do always stay friendly no matter the situation you are in. Desk officers might give you a unfriendly impression but know that those people have to maintain the law and often get allot of angry and frustrated people over the floor. Imagine how you would be having their job. Being angry and frustrated in front of a desk officer is surely not going to help you. Leave that for when you are in a private space.
2. Desk officers might not like your presence. They are busy and have allot of administration to do which might make them want you out of the door as soon as possible. Do not take this personally – think of it is all a game. It often happens that people think they got what they where looking for – but out of the office their mind is blank. Bring a notebook and pen and prepare the questions you have before hand. Go when you are in a good mood. Imagine yourself a detective and are looking for the right answers for your case. Be friendly, rephrase what the officer is telling you to make sure you got it and do not leave before you feel satisfied with the answers given. When you are meeting a officer, write down today's date, his/her name and phone number so that when later at home you still have a question, you can call. This note taking is also fortunate when another officer is contradicting another. Then you can tell them that on this day, "this officer said this...etc".
3. Desk officers do not know it all. When you are about to submit your documents, bring along a printed web page of the official government website saying which documents to submit. Always come with proof to back you up. Of course, the proof needs to be actual, recent and official. Do not bring information from random websites or non-official sources. It may occur that the desk officer is new or not updated of the latest law and regulations. Do the research before hand and present them the evidence in a kind way. You are a friendly detective.
4. Do not make decisions based on advice from friends and family. Your friends and family often come to you with advise with the best of their intentions. However, keep in mind that they are no specialists. They might sound convincing and true but often their reasoning is based on rumours and half truth. The law changes from time to time and the the gross of the public is not aware of the changes. Be bold! Go on the internet, take the telephone, set up meetings – do the research yourself! Everyone can google, bing or yahoo, which is probably the reason why you are reading this.

❖ Personal experience

For one year I have been married to a Mauritian citizen. I live and work in Mauritius and enjoy the same rights as a Mauritian citizen which includes free hospital care and a free ticket on Sundays to the
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden of Pamplemousses.

I came in Mauritius with a tourist visa with a return ticket to Reunion island which is 180 km away from Mauritius. After 7 days my wife and I went to the central Civil Status Office in Port Louis to publish our proposed marriage. After 10 days we we went back to the central Civil Status Office in Port Louis to get married. A few weeks later we did a wedding ceremony with friends and family on the beach. Later I went to the Passport and Immigration Office in Port Louis where I submit the papers for a spouse dossier. When my papers were approved I got a temporarily residence permit for 6 months. 1 or 2 months later the Passport and Immigration Office told me my application for a residence permit has been approved. The next day I fetched my residence permit which is valid as long as you are married to a Mauritian citizen. The next day I had to register myself at the regional police station.

❖ Good to know

• For when you want to legalize your Mauritian documents: You can get a Mauritian Apostille at the Prime Minister's Office, New Government Centre, 4th Floor which is FREE OF CHARGE.
• For Publishing Marriage > Documents to submit no. 6: The Mauritian citizen among you needs to get an affidavit to “attesting that he/she is in gainful employment or, alternatively, has sufficient means to maintain himself/herself”. Costs are around MUR 4000.
• When you gather the required papers from your home country, make sure you submit your papers as soon as possible to the Mauritian authorities, before they expire!
• For Residence Permit > Documents to submit no. 11(last): The bank statement you need to show must be from a Mauritian bank. Get a Mauritian bank account!
• 'Same rights as a Mauritian' does unfortunate, not include local fees at the University of Mauritius(UoM).
• When you got your Residence Permit, go as soon as possible to register at the regional police station.

❖ Web links

⇨ Offices of matter:
Mauritius Passport and Immigration Office
Mauritian Honorary Consuls Overseas
Honorary Consuls and Embassies in Mauritius
Mauritius Civil Status Division (Head Office)
Public Complaints Bureau
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Mauritius Police Force
Defence and Home Affairs

⇨ Visa:
Documents to be submitted for visa application
Documents required for extension of stay / visa

⇨ Civil Marriage:
Marriage of a non-citizen to a citizen of Mauritius

⇨ Residence Permit:
Application for residence permit - to stay as a male spouse of a Mauritian citizen
Application for residence permit - to stay as a female spouse of a Mauritian citizen

⇨ Legalisation of Documents(Apostille)

⇨ Forms in PDF format:
Visa form
Extension of visa form
Application to Enter Mauritius form

If you have any question relating to this topic or you have information which would add to the value of this post, please reply.

[Dietmar]

THIS POST/ARTICLE IS AWESOME!!! Thanks Martijn for informing us about the steps one must follow and also of your personal experience. I am sure many will find this article very helpful. I hope more people will post about their experiences and way of life how its like to be married to a mauritian and living in Mauritius

[Melanie]

Hi Martijn,
Thas really a great Post/Article. If I had had this article three years ago, I would have had far fewer complications and difficulties. I would probably also some days less running in Port-Louis, if I would have been so well informed. ;-)
Me too I'm married to a mauritian citizien and for me these days in the offices in Port-Louis for all the application wasn't enjoyable.
I hope a lot of other peoples can now benefit of this article so that they will have less comlications and problems than me. :-)

[Martijn]

@Dietmar, @Melanie. Thank you for your positive feedback. I hope this article and the value added by personal experiences will be helpful to future cases.