Mauritius Tourist Visa
Mauritius has one of the most absurd and incompetent immigration and customs officials of any country I’ve been to in the world. Let me explain (if you want to skip my rant and just get the visa steps, scroll down to the bottom of the page).
Mauritius is a location where I spent two solid years of my life. This country is a beautiful, tropical island country located in the heart of the Indian Ocean several hundred kilometers east of Madagascar.
I liked living in Mauritius, but I despised the visa, immigration and customs processes. For a warm, tropical destination where most people are going on vacation/honeymoon, the reception you get when you land at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport is anything BUT warm.
After you get off the plane, you will be “greeted” by a bunch of disgruntled, grumpy customs officials lined up at desks side by side (about 10 desks in total). Seated at each desk are two customs officials per desk with one or two supervisors looking over the shoulder of each official with serious looks on their faces (I guess to make sure (1) the officials are doing their job and (2) to look important).
They will pester you for your return ticket…no, not your return ticket to leave Mauritius, but your return ticket back to your home country. Yes…you heard that right…back to your home country. Absurd!
After a long 20+ hour flight from the United States, my mother, who came to visit me during my days in Mauritius, spent 30 minutes at Customs trying to find her return ticket back to the U.S. (the one she had was from Mauritius to Kenya but didn’t show her return back to the U.S.). The whole scene was both illogical and comical.
Things are so bad upon entry in Mauritius that I filed a complaint in 2010 and personally met with the head of the Airport of Mauritius Co Ltd. and the Mauritius Revenue Authority. I commend both for hearing me out, but I’m not sure if any changes to the absurdity of the arrival process in Mauritius have been implemented since then.
Oh, and if you have traveled from a country where Malaria is present, be prepared for someone from the Mauritius Ministry of Health and Quality of Life (oh the irony in the name) to track you down on the island a day or two after you land in order to take your blood sample. Yes, you’re sipping your tropical fruit drink on the white, sandy beaches of the pristine, clear blue waters of the Indian Ocean, when someone pulls up on a scooter, sticks a needle into you, and takes your blood. This sure makes for a wonderful start to a vacation or honeymoon (sarcasm…)!
Ok, enough rant, I’ll break everything down for you below about how to go about getting the Mauritius Tourist Visa.
Visa required for U.S. citizens before you go to Mauritius: No, but make sure you have a local address where you will be staying in Mauritius when you arrive. They will definitely ask you for this.
Visa required for non-U.S. citizens before you go to Mauritius: Check this list.
Go to my Mauritius visa page to see information on how to get a different type of visa for Mauritius.
The best list of required documents is here.
Call up the embassy or consulate to confirm the fee amounts as they are always subject to change.
Submit your required materials from Step 2 and visa fee from Step 3 to the embassy or consulate you found in Step 1.
Congratulations! The Embassy of Mauritius will give to you your brand new Mauritius visa.
Don’t get sick! Check vaccination requirements here.
Further Reading
Want Professional Visa Help? If you are a U.S. citizen and want professional help with getting a visa, check out my post on the 4 Best Travel Visa Services in the United States.
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Worldwide Jobs Guide: Be sure to check out my posts on how to find jobs in any country in the world.
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About Addison Sears-Collins
Hey! I'm Addison Sears-Collins, the founder of Visa Hunter. You can learn more about me here. Connect with me by liking my fan page on Facebook, connecting with me on Twitter, or check out my website Automatic Addison where I build robots and embedded systems.
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