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Moving to Mauritius from South Africa

By Rory Phillips · Updated October 2026

Anyone moving to Mauritius from South Africa has two jobs to run side by side: getting permission to live on the island, and telling the South African Revenue Service (SARS), on form RAV01 through eFiling, that your tax residence there has ended. A South African passport needs no visa before a visit, but the officer at the border sets each stay, so living there takes a residence route such as the Premium Visa or an Occupation Permit. A tax treaty between the two countries has been in force since 28 May 2015.

This page is for South African citizens and residents planning the move. It sticks to what changes because you are leaving South Africa: your passport at the Mauritian border, how SARS ends your tax residence, what the treaty says, and the flights, car, dog and household goods that go with a move. Each topic has its own guide, linked as we go.

Getting in on a South African passport

South Africa is on the Passport and Immigration Office’s list of countries whose citizens need no visa before they travel. That does not fix how long you may stay: the office publishes no figure for each nationality, and the officer at the airport sets the period on every visit. The ceilings we found are 180 days in a calendar year, from the Economic Development Board (EDB), and up to six months a year decided case by case, from the immigration office. Treat both as limits on what an officer can grant, not as something you are owed.

Officers check for a passport valid beyond your stay, a return ticket, the right to re-enter South Africa, adequate funds (no amount is published), confirmed accommodation or a sponsor, and no plan to work without a permit. A health declaration has been required before boarding since 9 June 2026, and an Ebola advisory of 11 June 2026 restricts entry for foreigners recently in listed countries, so read its current list before you fly. Our visa requirements guide covers extensions, the forms and the digital travel authorisation, for which we found no start date.

Choosing a residence route

A visit does not let you settle, so a move needs a residence route. South Africa is among the 114 countries on the EDB’s Premium Visa list. The table matches your situation to a route and its guide.

If this is youRouteRead
Your income or business is based outside MauritiusPremium Visa: an e-visa at no charge, for more than six months and up to a year, renewable. Not a work permit.Premium Visa guide
You have a job offer, or you will invest or work for yourselfOccupation Permit: a Professional needs a basic salary of at least Rs 50,000 a month, an Investor USD 100,000, a Self-Employed applicant USD 50,000 (services only).Occupation Permit guide
You are 50 or over and retiringRetired non-citizen permit, for up to 10 yearsRetiring guide
You plan to buy a homeThe property route, which has its own conditionsBuying property guide
You want to settle for the long termPermanent residence permit, valid for 20 years. It is a later step: most routes need five years on a lower permit first, such as an Occupation Permit or the retired non-citizen permit, and a money test.Permanent residence guide

Not sure which row fits? The visa checker asks a few questions and points you to a route.

Get the free Mauritius move checklist

Seven steps in a sensible order, from choosing a residence route to your first month on the island. Free, by email.

Ending your South African tax residence

Moving abroad and ceasing to be a South African tax resident are separate steps, and you declare the second to SARS. You do it on form RAV01 through eFiling, entering the date your residence ended. SARS treats that date as the day you become a non-resident, opens a case and writes to ask for documents.

Every declaration needs a signed statement of the basis you rely on, a letter of motivation setting out your facts and circumstances in detail, and a copy of your passport or travel diary, including all passport pages and the customs entry and exit date stamps. On the physical presence basis, SARS says those standard items are all it asks for.

That basis works on days. You cease to be resident once you have been outside South Africa for a continuous period of at least 330 full days, and SARS deems the change to date from the day you left. Because the period must be continuous, ask SARS or a tax practitioner before you book a trip home in the middle of it.

Ceasing to be resident also brings a deemed disposal for capital gains tax: you are treated as having disposed of your worldwide assets, excluding immovable property in South Africa, so tax can fall due depending on what you hold and where it is. A South African accounting firm, PKF, describes this as section 9H, with assets valued at market value on the day before residence ends and South African retirement fund interests left out. That is a secondary source from 2025, so have a registered tax practitioner confirm how it applies to you.

Start the travel diary on day one: SARS asks for a passport or travel diary showing every border stamp, and the 330 days must run without a break. Note each departure and return from the day you leave, and photograph the stamped pages as you go. The same record will answer SARS now and the Mauritian day counts later.

What the treaty between the two countries says

The current agreement was signed in Maputo on 17 May 2013 and entered into force on 28 May 2015, replacing one from 1996. Mauritius applies it to income years beginning on or after 1 January 2016, and South Africa uses the same date (Article 28(2)). It continues indefinitely unless one country gives notice (Article 29).

On pensions, Article 17(1) says a pension arising in one country and paid to a resident of the other may be taxed in the country it comes from. A public social security pension is taxed only by the paying country (Article 17(3)), as is a pension for government service unless you are both a resident and a national of the other country (Article 18(2)). South Africa therefore keeps the right to tax a South African pension paid to you in Mauritius. Whether Mauritius taxes it as well turns on the remittance rule explained below and on the treaty’s relief article. We found no article that deals with the remittance basis, so we cannot say how the two interact for a South African pension. A tax adviser with the treaty and your pension’s terms in front of them can say how they fit together.

Becoming tax resident in Mauritius

Mauritius counts you as resident for an income year if you spend 183 days or more there in that year, or 270 days or more across that year and the two before it, or you are domiciled there and your permanent home is not abroad. For a resident, income that arises outside Mauritius is taxed when it is received in Mauritius, or dealt with there in your interest or on your behalf (section 5(3) of the Income Tax Act). Income that stays abroad is not taxed in Mauritius. The Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) lists a pension for past services as foreign income, and we found no exemption for foreign pensions in the Income Tax Act as amended by the Finance Act 2026.

For 2026-27 resident rates run from 0% on the first Rs 500,000 of chargeable income to 35% above Rs 12 million, and our Mauritius tax guide has the full table. The two residence tests are separate: your South African residence ends on the SARS rules above, and your Mauritian residence starts on the day counts here.

Moving your money across the border

The Bank of Mauritius says its Exchange Control Act was suspended by July 1994, which gave full capital convertibility; we could not confirm a formal repeal. South Africa has its own exchange control, which the South African Reserve Bank administers day to day, with registered banks appointed as authorised dealers. We have not researched what it allows for a move like yours, so ask the Reserve Bank, or an authorised dealer, what applies before you move savings out.

Non-residents can apply for a Mauritian bank account, and the central bank’s anti-money-laundering guideline sets steps for them, but it rates them higher risk, so expect extra questions. The guideline says banks may consider extra checks such as verifying your income, funds and wealth, and each bank sets its own policy. Our guide to opening a bank account in Mauritius covers the paperwork.

Flights from South Africa

The airport’s winter schedule, from 25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027, lists three operators on the Johannesburg route: one daily, one daily except Wednesdays (with a few Wednesday flights in December, January and March) and one on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with extra flights at peak times in December and January. Cape Town also has three operators, on different days, so check the weekday against your date. We found no Durban flights in the schedule.

By our reckoning from the scheduled local times, the flight takes about four hours from Johannesburg (four and a half back) and about five from Cape Town (six back). Mauritius is two hours ahead of South Africa. The schedule is indicative, so confirm the days with the operator before you book.

Your household goods, car and dog

Household effects can come in without customs duty or VAT under item E9 of the Customs Tariff Act, if the Director-General of the MRA accepts that you are taking up residence, or if you are not a citizen and are coming to work in Mauritius (the MRA asks to see the permit). The goods must be bought outside Mauritius, not meant for sale, and landed within six months of your last arrival, or later if the Director-General accepts a just or reasonable cause. If you mean to sell, transfer or put items to another use within four years, you must give written notice first. The MRA says a sale made without breaching the conditions is charged in proportion to the time left, while a breach, or another use, makes the full duty and taxes due with a penalty of up to 50% and interest. No page we found says what proves you are taking up residence, and a Premium Visa is neither a residence nor a work permit, so ask the MRA in writing before you book a container. Our shipping guide has the steps.

A car is a separate calculation, and we found no relief for newcomers. Customs duty is 0% and VAT 15%, while excise depends on engine size: for petrol and diesel it runs from 0% up to 550 cc to 100% above 2,000 cc, and for electric cars it is 15% or 25%. The MRA’s list of prohibited goods bars used cars under 18 months or over four years from first registration at shipment, except the first vehicle of an individual importer, a term whose current definition we could not confirm.

A dog needs an import permit from the Division of Veterinary Services (Rs 500 per animal, plus Rs 500 for veterinary clearance). Quarantine at Réduit has a minimum of five working days or one month, depending on the country of origin, and no official list shows which applies to South Africa, so plan on a month. The MRA says live animals must arrive as manifested cargo, a rule it ties to Covid-19 but still states, so ask the Division whether it applies. For South African owners there is one more point: a US Department of Agriculture export form lists the Boerboel among eight breeds not allowed into Mauritius, and an undated copy of the agriculture ministry’s guidelines lists nine, though the Division’s own leaflet names none. Check your dog’s breed with the Division before you pay for anything. The pets guide has the steps.

Your licence and your health cover

Mauritius drives on the left. We found no official statement on how long a South African licence stays valid for a resident; ask the Licensing Office of the police Traffic Branch at Line Barracks, Port Louis. The driving guide covers the rest.

UK government guidance for Britons living in Mauritius says foreign nationals can attend a public hospital but would be expected to pay for treatment, and calls public hospitals of a reasonable standard but not often equipped for serious illness, with private hospitals better equipped. The Mauritius travel advice adds that good private healthcare is available but can be expensive, and that more complex cases may require evacuation to Réunion or South Africa. Ask your medical scheme what it covers abroad before you cancel it, and see our healthcare guide.

Frequently asked questions

Do South Africans need a visa for Mauritius?

South Africa is on the immigration office list of countries whose citizens need no visa before they travel. The officer at the border sets each stay and no figure for South Africans is published. Living on the island needs a residence route such as the Premium Visa, an Occupation Permit or the retired non-citizen permit.

How do I stop being a South African tax resident?

You report the date your residence ended to SARS on form RAV01 through eFiling, and SARS asks for a signed statement, a letter of motivation and a copy of your passport or travel diary. On the physical presence basis you cease to be resident after at least 330 continuous full days outside South Africa. A deemed disposal of your worldwide assets, excluding South African immovable property, follows for capital gains tax.

Is there a tax treaty between South Africa and Mauritius?

Yes. It was signed on 17 May 2013, entered into force on 28 May 2015 and replaced a 1996 agreement. Under Article 17(1) a pension may be taxed in the country where it arises. We found no article that deals with the remittance basis.

Are there direct flights from South Africa to Mauritius?

Yes, from Johannesburg and Cape Town. The airport winter schedule, from 25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027, lists three operators on each route, and we found no flights from Durban. Confirm the days with the operator before you book.

Can I bring my car and furniture to Mauritius?

Household effects can come in without customs duty or VAT if you are taking up residence, the customs director-general accepts that, and the goods land within six months of your last arrival. Cars pay 0% customs duty and 15% VAT plus excise that depends on engine size, and we found no relief for newcomers.

Sources, checked 28 October 2026

Official pages come first: SARS and the South African Reserve Bank for the South African side, GOV.UK for the health advice, and the Mauritian immigration, customs, revenue and central bank pages for the rest. Three items are marked secondary: an accounting firm’s note, a US Department of Agriculture export form and an airline timetable. An undated copy of an agriculture ministry document is mentioned in the text without a link.

General information only, not immigration, tax, legal or financial advice. Mauritius often changes these rules in its June Budget, so check the official pages above and speak to a qualified professional before you act.

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