Moving to Mauritius from the UK
UK government advice says a full British citizen passport lets you visit Mauritius without a visa for up to 60 days, but moving to Mauritius from the UK also needs a residence route: the retired non-citizen permit from age 50, the Premium Visa if your income comes from outside the island, or an Occupation Permit for work or investment. On the UK side, GOV.UK lists Mauritius among the countries where the UK State Pension usually gets a yearly increase, the 1981 tax treaty has its own rule for pensions paid for past work, and an online claim or form P85 tells HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that you have left.
The UK end of this move is mostly pensions and tax: whether the State Pension keeps rising, what the 1981 treaty says about pensions, and how you stop being UK resident. Entry and residence routes get short sections first, and health cover, shipping, your licence, a pet and flights follow. Where the official sources go quiet, we say so.
Visiting on a British passport
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) says that people travelling on a full British citizen passport can visit Mauritius without a visa for up to 60 days. A border official stamps the end date, and the passport must be valid for the whole stay with one blank page, alongside proof of onward or return travel. Mauritius lists the UK among its no-visa countries but publishes no stay for each nationality, so the officer’s stamp decides. Staying longer or working needs one of the residence routes below.
Before you fly, complete the Mauritius All in One travel form online and print the copy with the QR code; the FCDO says that without it you fill in a disembarkation card at the airport. The Passport and Immigration Office also has an Ebola advisory (11 June 2026) barring foreigners who were recently in the countries it lists, with exceptions, and the list may change, so read it shortly before you travel. Regulations in force from 9 June 2026 require a health declaration before you board. Extensions and what officers check on arrival are in the visa requirements guide.
Residence routes, briefly
People aged 50 or over who plan to retire can apply for the retired non-citizen permit, which lasts up to 10 years and can be renewed; retiring in Mauritius has the rules. The Premium Visa suits people whose business or income stays outside the island: it is an e-visa, issued without charge for a period of over six months, up to a year, and renewable. The UK is on the Economic Development Board’s list for it, but the visa is not a work permit.
Working or investing takes an Occupation Permit. A home purchase can also bring a residence permit, on conditions set out in the property guide, and the visa checker narrows the routes down from a few answers.
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The UK State Pension abroad
You can claim your UK State Pension if you retire in Mauritius, according to the FCDO’s guidance for Britons living there, which also says to answer any life certificate request promptly because payments may be suspended. Whether it keeps rising is a different matter: GOV.UK says the pension only increases each year if you live in the EEA, Gibraltar, Switzerland or a country with a social security agreement, Canada and New Zealand excepted. A separate GOV.UK list says people living in the countries on it, Mauritius included, will usually get an increase every year, but it dates from 2014, so confirm your own position with the International Pension Centre. What tax applies to the pension once you live in Mauritius is not something this page answers, so ask HMRC.
What the UK and Mauritius tax treaty says about pensions
The two countries signed their double taxation convention on 11 February 1981, and it came into force on 19 October 1981. It was amended in 1987, protocols took effect in 2003, 2011 and 2018, and GOV.UK also publishes a 2021 synthesised text. We read the articles below in the amended text.
Article 18(1) says that, subject to Article 19, pensions and similar pay for past employment, and any annuity, paid to a resident of one country are taxable only in that country. Article 19 deals with government service: a pension paid out of UK public or local-authority funds for that service stays taxable only in the UK unless the person is a Mauritian national and not also a UK national.
Article 23, headed Limitation of Relief, covers income that one country relieves under the treaty while the other taxes it only on what is remitted or received there; relief then applies only to that part. 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) counts a pension for past work as foreign income, so on the treaty’s wording a pension you leave in the UK could still be taxed there. We have not confirmed how HMRC applies these articles in practice, or how the treaty treats the UK State Pension, so check both with HMRC or a tax adviser. The Mauritius tax guide covers the Mauritian side.
Leaving UK tax residence and telling HMRC
Residence is decided for each UK tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April. GOV.UK gives two conditions for being UK resident: you meet an automatic UK test or the sufficient ties test, and you meet none of the automatic overseas tests. One automatic UK test is 183 or more days here in the tax year, and the sufficient ties test weighs your UK days against ties such as work and family. You are usually non-resident if you spend fewer than 16 days in the UK (46 if you were not UK resident in the three previous tax years), or if you work abroad full time and spend fewer than 91 days here, no more than 30 of them working. GOV.UK has a residence status checker, and HMRC publishes Statutory Residence Test guidance.
When you move out of the UK, the tax year is usually split in two, and you pay UK tax on foreign income only for the part you lived here. GOV.UK calls this split-year treatment. You do not get it if you live abroad for less than a full tax year before returning, and other conditions apply.
As a non-resident you pay UK tax on UK income, not foreign income, and usually pay Capital Gains Tax only on UK property or land, or if you return to the UK. UK rent, savings interest and wages generally stay taxable here, though a double taxation agreement can give relief if your new country taxes them too.
To tell HMRC you have left or are leaving, GOV.UK points you to an online claim or form P85, which is also how you claim back tax paid through UK employment. You can use it if you lived and worked in the UK and may not come back, or if you work abroad full time for a full tax year or more. No form is needed if you send a Self Assessment return for the tax year you leave, and if you have not yet left you print and post the claim. HMRC asks for your P45 or, if you have none, a reason (retirement is its example), and suggests keeping a UK bank account open until any repayment arrives, to avoid fees.
Before you ask anyone about tax: list each source of income with its type and where it is paid from. The treaty sorts income by type, so a list like that turns a vague question for HMRC or an adviser into a specific one.
Health cover after you leave the UK
FCDO advice for Britons living in Mauritius says that Mauritius has no reciprocal health agreement with the UK, that foreign nationals using a public hospital would be expected to pay, and that UK travel insurance will not generally cover healthcare costs once you live overseas. It calls public hospitals of a reasonable standard but not often equipped for serious illness. The 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. Anyone on regular medication is told to keep a supply or be sure they can get it there, and to consult their GP about alternatives, because some medicines, including major UK brands, may not be available and you may be prohibited from taking them in. The travel advice also says common medicines for your own use need a copy of the prescription. The healthcare guide covers public and private care.
Shipping your belongings and a car
Whether your furniture comes in free of duty and VAT depends on what counts as taking up residence. The MRA’s traveller page speaks of taking up permanent residence, while the legal text of item E9 says taking up residence; both also cover a non-citizen coming to work, and the MRA asks to see the permit. Neither says whether a Premium Visa qualifies, so write to the MRA before you ship. The goods must also have been bought abroad, not be meant for sale, and reach the island within six months of your last arrival. Selling, transferring or putting them to another use within four years needs written notice first, and the MRA says a breach makes the full duty and taxes due with a penalty of up to 50% and interest. The shipping guide has the paperwork.
A car pays customs duty of 0% and VAT of 15%, with excise on top that climbs with engine size, reaching 100% above 2,000 cc for petrol and diesel. A used car’s taxable value is cut by 9% for the first month of use and by 1% for each month after, to a maximum of 50%. Second-hand cars are also barred if they are younger than 18 months or older than four years at shipment, counted from first registration, apart from the first vehicle an individual importer brings in. Ask the MRA whether that exception reaches you, as we could not find its current definition of the term. The sources we read give newcomers no concession, and the driving guide has the full excise bands.
On the UK side, tell the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) when a vehicle leaves for 12 months or more: complete the permanent export section of the V5C, send that part in, and keep the rest of the log book, which you need to register the car abroad. With no V5C, get one before you leave, as DVLA cannot send one outside the UK.
Your licence and your pet
Under FCDO advice a UK photocard driving licence can be used in Mauritius, where traffic keeps left as in the UK, and a paper licence may need updating to a photocard. How long you may keep driving on a UK licence once you are resident is not stated in the sources we read. The police Traffic Branch’s Licensing Office (Line Barracks, Port Louis) can answer, and the driving guide describes converting it. The British High Commission cannot issue or renew a UK licence, so contact DVLA, including for a letter validating yours.
An imported pet is quarantined at Réduit for at least five working days or at least a month, depending on the country it comes from, and no official list places the UK. Allow for the longer stay: it is charged at Rs 15 a day per animal, plus Rs 25 a day for food if you do not supply it. The import permit costs Rs 500 per animal and veterinary clearance is another Rs 500; the pets guide walks through the process.
Flights from London and a few basics
Mauritius airport’s winter schedule runs from 25 October 2026 until 27 March 2027, and London Gatwick is the only UK city on it. Two operators fly the route, one five days a week in most weeks (four in some) and the other three days a week. Mauritius is on GMT+4 and UK clocks stay on GMT until 28 March 2027, so the island is four hours ahead throughout. Allowing for that gap, the printed local times work out at roughly 11 hours 40 minutes to 11 hours 55 minutes out and 12 hours 30 minutes to 12 hours 45 minutes back (our own sums; the timetable is indicative, so confirm days with the operator).
The Ministry of Tourism gives the supply as 220 V and 50 Hz, with three-pin plugs in most hotels and two-pin also used; World Standards, a secondary reference site, lists Type G, the UK-style plug.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a British passport holder stay in Mauritius without a visa?
UK government advice says up to 60 days on a full British citizen passport, with the end date stamped at the border. Staying longer or working needs a residence route.
Does the UK State Pension still go up each year in Mauritius?
A GOV.UK list of countries where the annual increase is paid includes Mauritius and says you will usually get an increase every year. The list dates from 2014, so confirm your own position with the International Pension Centre.
What does the UK and Mauritius tax treaty say about pensions?
Article 18(1) says pensions for past employment, and annuities, paid to a resident of one country are taxable only there, subject to Article 19 for government service. Article 23 limits relief where a country taxes income only when it is brought in, so on the wording of the treaty a pension left in the UK could still be taxed there. We have not confirmed how HMRC applies this in practice, or how the treaty treats the UK State Pension, so check both with HMRC or a tax adviser.
How do I tell HMRC I am leaving the UK?
Use the online claim or form P85, which tells HMRC you have left or are leaving and claims back tax paid through UK employment. If you are sending a Self Assessment return for the year you leave, no form is needed. Your residence status is a separate matter, decided by the Statutory Residence Test.
Can I use my UK driving licence in Mauritius?
UK government advice says you can use a UK photocard driving licence, and that a paper licence may need updating to a photocard. The sources we read do not say how long it stays usable once you are resident, so ask the Licensing Office in the police Traffic Branch.
Sources, checked 28 October 2026
GOV.UK and HMRC pages cover the UK side, and Mauritian government pages and the airport schedule cover the rest. Two sources are marked secondary: an airline timetable and a reference site for plug types.
- Visa requirement country list, visitor stays, Ebola virus disease travel advisory and Quarantine Health Declaration Form Regulations 2026 (Passport and Immigration Office): the UK on the no-visa list, who sets the stay, the entry restriction of 11 June 2026 and the declaration required before boarding.
- Entry requirements, Health and Safety and security in the Mauritius travel advice, and Living in Mauritius (GOV.UK, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office): the 60-day visit and passport rules, the travel form, hospitals, private care and evacuation, insurance and medicines, the UK photocard licence, and claiming the State Pension in Mauritius.
- Premium Visa and Retired non-citizen (Economic Development Board): the country list, validity and the age rule.
- Mauritius tax treaties, the 1981 UK-Mauritius double taxation convention, as amended, the synthesised text (GOV.UK) and Double Taxation Relief Manual, DT13100 (HMRC): the in-force dates, the protocols and Articles 18, 19 and 23.
- Income Tax Act and Foreign income (Mauritius Revenue Authority): foreign income taxed when received or dealt with in Mauritius, and pensions for past services counted as foreign income.
- Countries where we pay an annual increase in the State Pension (Department for Work and Pensions, 2014) and State Pension if you retire abroad (GOV.UK): the list that names Mauritius, the general rule on yearly increases and the International Pension Centre.
- Tax on foreign income, Tax on your UK income if you live abroad and Get your Income Tax right if you’re leaving the UK (P85) (GOV.UK and HMRC): the residence tests, split-year treatment, UK income and the P85 claim.
- Taking a vehicle out of the UK and When do the clocks change? (GOV.UK): the V5C permanent export step and the 2026 and 2027 clock changes.
- Arrivals and departures, winter schedule 2026-27 (airport operator), and the winter timetable (Air Mauritius, secondary): the London route and days. The journey times are our own sums from the published local times.
- Allowances: household and personal effects and Customs Tariff Act, Part II exemptions (Mauritius Revenue Authority): item E9 and its conditions.
- Motor vehicles, prohibited and restricted goods and tariff information (Mauritius Revenue Authority): car duties, excise bands, the used-car reduction and the age limit.
- Importation of pet animals (Division of Veterinary Services): the permit, fees, quarantine and kennel charges.
- Licensing Office (Mauritius Police Force, Traffic Branch): where to ask about a foreign licence.
- Tourist information (Ministry of Tourism) and Mauritius plugs and voltage (World Standards, 2025, secondary): the time zone, the supply and plugs.
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.