This is not legal advice. This page is general legal information for Mauritius and does not replace a consultation with a lawyer who has the full context of your case.
My residence or occupation permit is refused, delayed or at risk. What can a lawyer do?
It depends on what has gone wrong, and why. A delay is usually the authority's own process. A lawyer can establish what is missing and put the file in order, but cannot make the authority decide faster. A refusal calls for its reasons. Some are met by a corrected or fresh application, and some decisions may be challenged in the Supreme Court. A permit at risk because a job, a marriage or an income has ended is where early advice changes most. Permit rules change often, and every figure is checked with the authority.
I have been dismissed, and my occupation permit depends on the job.
An occupation permit as a professional generally rests on a particular employment. When the employment ends, the permit's basis generally ends with it. The time to regularise or leave should be confirmed with the authority at once. Two questions then run at once, and they are not the same question.
As of October 2026, a professional occupation permit requires a basic salary of at least Rs 50,000 a month. An investor permit requires an initial investment of USD 100,000. Permits run for up to 10 years, a term the 2026 changes left untouched. The family occupation permit was abolished from 13 August 2026.
The first is the permit: whether a new employer, a different permit category or departure is the realistic route. The second is the dismissal. Whether it was lawful is a question under the Workers' Rights Act 2019, and the answer depends on the contract and the facts.
The order in which the two are handled matters. A spouse or child holding a dependant's permit through the employee may be affected too, and their position is checked at the same time. The dismissal itself belongs to the employment practice.
My marriage has ended. Can I stay in Mauritius?
Divorce can be an immigration event. For a foreign spouse, the right to remain in Mauritius may turn on the ending of the marriage. A permit granted as the spouse of a Mauritian, or as the dependant of a permit holder, may not survive the separation. The authority may ask that question before the family court has answered any other.
The two procedures run on different clocks. The divorce is heard by the Family Division of the Supreme Court; the permit is decided by the authority. A parent of a child who lives in Mauritius raises further questions, and residence, custody and access are considered together, not in sequence. The family law practice takes the divorce.
Papers cause trouble before a marriage too. Spouse permits can stall on foreign documents drawn up for another country's rules.
A retirement permit, a Premium Visa or a property-linked permit: what if the conditions are questioned?
Each of these carries conditions, and the conditions are the authority's. A retired non-citizen's permit rests on income transferred to Mauritius. Since 9 August 2025 the Finance Act 2025 has set it at USD 2,000 at the start, then USD 24,000 a year or USD 2,000 a month. Disputes usually turn on proof: which transfers count, in which currency, and whether a pension or rental income was accepted. Keep the bank records of each transfer.
The Premium Visa is still offered, and it is a separate instrument from a residence permit. Its renewal should not be assumed, so plan the next status before the current one expires. A permit linked to a property purchase depends on two files, the purchase approval and the residence permit. One can be granted while the other waits. The property practice takes the purchase.
The authority wants an affidavit, or the file has gone silent.
Permit files often turn on a sworn document: a statement of status, of support or of an undertaking. In Me Pertaub's words: “Normally, it will be the attorney who will draft the said affidavit and the barrister has to vet it before it is sworn on.” A sworn statement that is wrong in one detail can do more harm than a missing one.
A file that has gone silent is first a question of record. What was filed, when, under which reference, and what did the authority last ask for? A written enquiry that cites the file precisely is often the first useful step. Keep copies of everything sent and received, with dates, because the record is also the evidence if the matter goes further.
Some administrative decisions may be challenged before the Supreme Court by judicial review. The time to act is short and runs from the decision.
What the chambers does
Lex Aquila Advocates is a chambers of barristers led by Me Mokshda Pertaub, at the Mauritian Bar since 1998. Permit problems rarely arrive alone. They come with a dismissal, a separation, a purchase or an estate. Barristers advise, draft and litigate. Attorneys also advise and draft pleadings, besides conducting procedure, filing and service. Notaries advise and draft documents. Independent attorneys and notaries convene with the chambers on each matter.
The first conference establishes your status, its conditions, the dates and the event that put it at risk. Bring the permit, the letters and any contract or decree it depends on. The advice then separates what the authority decides from what a court can decide, and says plainly what cannot be promised. No one can promise a permit.
Clients abroad may settle the initial consultation in euros or US dollars, and the first conference can be held by video.