VisaMauritius Premium Visa and tourist extensions have different stay limits
This current guide explains the renewable long-stay Premium Visa, ordinary visitor limits and the documents needed to seek an extension before existing permission expires.
Official source date: 2026-10-29
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Choose the permission matching the intended stay
Mauritius offers a renewable one-year Premium Visa for eligible long-stay visitors, retirees and professionals working remotely. The Passport and Immigration Office confirms that the visa is free. This is a current guide to an existing route, not a new October announcement. A plan to remain for most of a year should be assessed against that route rather than assuming an ordinary tourist admission provides the same permission.
The Economic Development Board’s Premium Visa FAQ describes stays exceeding six months and up to one year, with multiple entry during validity. It requires the main business or income source to remain outside Mauritius and says applicants must not enter the local labour market. Those conditions matter to employees, freelancers and accompanying families alike. Someone seeking a conventional Mauritian job needs to identify the relevant occupation or residence permission.
Check nationality and entry conditions separately
The Immigration Office visa-requirements page distinguishes visa exemption from the length of stay granted at entry. It lists exemptions including Mauritian citizens, qualifying residents and European Union passport holders, alongside other specified categories. Other nationalities must check the country-specific requirements. The page specifically says Guyanese nationals should obtain a visa before travelling.
An entry visa does not guarantee admission: the immigration officer determines admission and the authorised stay after examining the traveller. Ordinary tourist permission may reach six months in a calendar year on a case-by-case basis. Business visits have a different ceiling of 120 days annually and no more than 90 days per trip, without remuneration in Mauritius. These ceilings should not be treated as automatic entitlements or combined indiscriminately.
Prepare the Premium Visa evidence before applying
The EDB checklist requests the online form, passport biodata, travel arrangements, insurance for the intended period, accommodation evidence and recent financial records. It identifies monthly support of USD1,500 for each adult applicant and USD500 for each dependent child. Use the detailed checklist to prepare the records supporting that calculation, rather than treating an unsupported declaration as sufficient.
Family applications have additional relationship and consent evidence, including marriage or birth certificates as applicable. The FAQ also distinguishes eligible nationalities applying from abroad from other applicants who may apply during a lawful tourist stay. That distinction does not remove an entry-visa requirement. Check the entry route first, and retain the issued Premium Visa and its dates rather than assuming that submitting an online request extends existing permission.
Use the ordinary extension checklist for an existing visitor stay
The Immigration Office’s separate extension service asks for a signed form, copies of the passport biodata and arrival-stamp page, a ticket reservation, three months of bank statements and confirmed accommodation. A confirmed ticket must be produced upon approval. Applicants should attend personally, and the office states that the extension is free.
Where a local person sponsors the stay, the checklist requires a sponsorship letter with contact and relationship details, identity evidence, a utility bill, the applicable lease and the sponsor’s recent bank statements. Business extensions need a local company or sponsor letter. A minor’s extension requires parental or guardian consent, a birth-certificate copy and parental passport copies. Use this checklist for a visitor extension; it is a separate application from the Premium Visa.
Allow time for a visa decision and avoid assuming an extension
For people requiring a visa before travel, the ordinary application guidance directs submission through the relevant diplomatic or consular office, or the stated alternative where none is available. It requests a signed form, photographs, passport copies, applicable foreign residence permission, travel reservations, financial and accommodation evidence. Documents must be translated into English or French.
The office recommends applying at least one month before travel and describes issuance, as far as practicable, within 12 working days after complete requirements are submitted. It tells applicants to await the outcome before travelling. For illustration, a traveller approaching the end of an authorised tourist stay must resolve the extension or appropriate long-stay permission before relying on a later departure date. Neither the maximum tourist allowance nor a pending Premium Visa request is a published automatic extension.
