Our Plan B

Mauritius Nationality Act - Time for a revisit

Citizenship and Nationality Acts for much of the world is a relatively recent phenomenon primarily due to colonialism and empires having control over citizenship. The British Nationality Act 1948 changed the status of British subjects who had a connection with the United Kingdom or a remaining colony to Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC). 

After gaining independence, the Indian Ocean Island nation introduced its Citizenship Act and passport. The last time the Act was revisited in detail was 1995, over 25 years ago.

In 2022, how can a person be Mauritian, and what potential changes might be interesting to allow more people to claim citizenship?

Mauritius Independence and Citizenship Act

The breakdown of the British Empire post-WWII started with India in 1947, and subsequently, each of the significant Dominions began to create their Nationality and Citizenship Acts. 

Mauritius gained independence in March 1968. The new constitution conferred nationality on any CUKC born, naturalised, or registered in Mauritius as citizens. The citizenship act was passed on 14 December 1968. Mauritian nationality is typically obtained under jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth in Mauritius or abroad to parents with Mauritian nationality.

Future citizens born on the Island were issued Mauritian citizenship as long as one of the parents was Mauritian. Those born outside of Mauritius to a Mauritian father could acquire citizenship by descent. A wife of a Mauritian citizen was eligible for citizenship if they did not pose a threat to the country.

As one can see, there were significant gender discriminatory issues in the original 1968 citizenship Act. The maternal line could not confer citizenship as the paternal male line could. So in 1995, there were a few changes to try to rectify specific discriminatory requirements. 

 The 1995 Citizenship Act included changes that allowed the acquisition of citizenship at birth for a child born in Mauritius if either parent was a Mauritian citizen. The same applies to those born abroad to a Mauritian mother or father for one generation only. Additionally, applications have to be made in Mauritius personally by the applicant.

For some reason, there is an exception to this rule for adoption. An adopted child will only be Mauritian if the adopted father is Mauritian. However, the citizenship is unclear if the biological father is Mauritian and the adopting father is not. 

The 1995 Act removed citizenship by marriage and now requires four years of physical presence in Mauritius before being eligible to apply. The changes do rectify historical discrimination regarding the maternal line. However, the adoption rule is bizarre as it maintains the paternal transfer of citizenship. 

United Kingdom Opening Doors for Citizenship by Descent

The United Kingdom recently approved several changes to the Nationality and Borders Bill of 2022. The Act will make many more generous changes to the nationality law, including for the first time a general discretionary power to register adults as British citizens. The Act tries to deal with the issues of historical unfairness in British nationality laws. 

The Act has changed to rectify the past; in 1981, 2002, and 2006 were, various changes in nationality laws confer citizenship by descent. Specifically speaking, the more recent change effectively allows citizenship by descent from a UK born grandparent and, in some cases, great-grandparent. 

Criteria for citizenship by double descent and including the maternal lines largely depend on each generation's date and place of birth. The UK is quite clearly open to making changes to the laws that allow citizenship where there is a logical injustice from historical laws.

Residency Programs in Mauritius

The Mauritian citizenship by descent in its current form allows it to pass to one generation for those born outside of the territory. The Mauritian Government introduced a diaspora program to attract foreigners with a Mauritian parent or grandparent to obtain permanent residence and enjoy various tax benefits if they want to come to live on the Island. 

The program is similar to the UK's Ancestral Visa for Commonwealth citizens who had a grandparent born in the UK. Uptake, however, has been slow, and the program has not been as successful as hoped by the Mauritian Government.

There are numerous residence by investment options or Permanent Residence Permit (PRP) programs available for those who can enjoy long term residence and not have to be physically present to maintain residence for an investment of at least $375,000.

However, this does not lead to citizenship unless the person is physically present for five years if they are a commonwealth citizen or seven years if they are not. The applicant needs to be physically present in the country for twelve months before applying.

A somewhat exciting note is that the Citizenship Act includes an option for fast track naturalisation. Part II, Clause 9 (3) states that an investor who has two years of continuous residence and has invested more than $500,000 is eligible for citizenship. There are cases of citizenship awarded in the early and mid-2000s, but more recently, it seems like this route is not actively approving citizenship.

The second would offer full Mauritius citizenship and passport for a $1 million donation and $100,000 additional for each dependent. It was unclear if Mauritius could issue an "Honorary Citizenship" vs full citizenship.

This program never got off the ground and did not ever move towards being taken to parliament for approval. However, the PM mentioned that it could be positive for future programs at a budget meeting.

The success of several Caribbean CBI programs and the tens of millions of dollars contributing to the Island's GDP could further sway the Mauritian Government to introduce a similar citizenship program.

Make an enquiry with Our Plan B, and an expert will quickly determine if you should proceed with an application. 

Citizenship by Descent

Citizenship by descent broadened to applicants with a Mauritian born grandparent and created a Foreign Births Registry. Anyone registered as a citizen may continue to pass on citizenship to future generations, so long as the registration occurred before the next generation is born. 

The application for citizenship by descent can be made at the nearest Mauritian Embassy or Consulate to the applicant. 

Citizenship by Investment

There is a demand for Mauritius to develop a Citizenship by Investment program. The Island hosts many attributes that contribute to a successful program if the criteria for citizenship compete with similar programs. 

Mauritius would need to consider other existing programs in terms of pricing the CBI. In terms of value, the Mauritian passport, although ranked amongst the "Tier B" Caribbean counterparts, the Indian Ocean Island offers unique visa-free access to certain countries, which "Tier A" passports typically have. 

Mauritius has the second strongest passport in Africa (behind Seychelles) and ranks amongst the strongest Caribbean CBI passports. The Mauritius passport has visa-free access to 146 countries, including the United Kingdom, Europe's Schengen area, Japan, New Zealand, China, and Russia. 

No other CBI country has access to this group of visa-free access with their passport. Not even Malta can provide visa-free access to all of those countries.

Base costs for Citizenship by Investment could look something like the below:

• Government Contribution (Non-refundable Donation): $175,000 for a single applicant and $250,000 for a family of four. Additional dependents may be added for $25,000 for those over 18 and $15,000 below 18 years old. 

• Real Estate Investment: $500,000 minimum investment into Government approved real estate. There is an additional $35,000 Government fee for the principal applicant, $20,000 for a spouse or other adult dependents and $10,000 for any children, regardless of age. 

• Investment Fund: Investment of $750,000 into a Mauritian Collective Investment Scheme or another alternative investment fund. Government fees to apply as prescribed above. 

• The applicant cannot sell their investment within five years. 

• One of the most significant sticking points with existing CBIs is due diligence. Mauritius needs to introduce a stringent and exhaustive due diligence process to ensure that their new potential investors and their funds are legitimate.

Some of the Indian Ocean Islands' attractive features include:   

• There are incredibly favourable tax rates for individuals and companies operating on the Island, and individuals can have an effective tax rate as low as 3%. There are no capital gains taxes and no taxes on global income. 

• At present, there are no binding guidelines on cryptocurrency, making the Island a tax haven for HNWI trading of holding cryptocurrency;

• There are world-class financial institutions that have made the Island their place of headquarters and banking infrastructure to suit any needs for local and international means;

• There is a relaxed island lifestyle, with hundreds of incredible white sand beaches, turquoise waters, and a dense forest interior;

• Mauritius is a member of the Commonwealth and Southern African Development Community (SADC), which allows for several business and personal benefits;

Citizenship might be viewed as an essential political commodity and bring negative connotations to their political campaigns. Possible alternatives include offering an Honorary Citizenship by Investment which affords the investor the Mauritian passport but does not give full citizenship rights. 

If a CBI program is entirely out of the question, then Mauritius might look to Portugal's Golden Visa Program. The primary benefit for investors looking for a clear pathway to citizenship is Portugal's limited physical presence requirements over five years to be eligible for citizenship. 

Suppose the program was to process 1,500 applicants per year. In that case, the Government could increase their annual revenues anywhere between $150m - $300m, representing between 5-10% of the Government's annual collected revenue, which was $2.6bn in 2021/2022.  

Citizenship by investment and having two types of "citizenship" were mentioned in the Prime Minister's 2018/2019 budget speech. Time will tell if the Government investigates developing a program in the future.