Medical Tests for Retirement Permit

Hi Chris you can have your medical test done at Lancet clinic in S.A

I would ask u if u are applying to renew your licence or if U want to have an international licence?

Its best to renew your drivers licence whilst you are in SA. For international licence you can still use your S.A. however you can go to The AA and get your international licence for R75 and they give it to u immediately

Thank you for your response, however, I am driving with a UK/international license. Unfortunately, I don't have a permanent residency in South Africa, only been waiting for 6 years for Home Affairs to make a decision, so I can't exchange it for an SA license, and at the same time, I don't have a permanent resident in the UK so they won't renew it. Hence my UK driving license will shortly expire and yet I can't get it renewed.

In terms of the medical tests, some of them (X-Ray/HIV etc.) must be done in Mauritius according to the documentation I have read. Hence looking for a Mauritius clinic.

Chris

Chris 

@karibi

The Grand Bay clinic responded to my query within a day. We have an appointment in January which is when we will be back in Mauritius.

Someone else on the forum used the Port Louis clinic.

So far the retirement permit application process has been straightforward. We have not needed an agent.

Thank you Ross, extremely helpful information.

Chris

Hello

If you go to clinic de Nord opposite La croissett in Grand Baie, they will give appointment next day morning and results will be known next day.

For Driving license please visit police headquarters in port Louis, show them your existing license , they will help you to get Mauritius license. But getting license can be initiated after getting residence permit. If you are ready to do some efforts, go to EDB office in ebene and immigration office in port Louis, the guys are very helpful to get your entire documents.

If you hire an agent he will charge around 500 to 1000 USD for all the things required by you.If you move yourself, you can save this expense.

Best regards

Ahsan

Thank you Ahsan, very good information.

Chris

Just a quick update. Eventually, we got the medical certificate from the Clinic de Nord.

Day 1: Had the blood and X-ray taken

Day 2: Had to return with stool samples

Day 4: Returned to collect the report

Cost Rs7000 per person.

Struggled a little bit with the bank account:

(a) Absa - We bank with Absa in South Africa so thought this might be a bit easier. They wanted a minimum opening balance of $10K. This had to be maintained at all times. They also required lots of certified paperwork.

(b) MCB - Non resident foreigners are limited to private banking only and require

a.      An immediate investable asset of USD 500,000 ready to be invested with MCB

b.      USD 25 monthly service fee

(c) AfraAsia - We had a meeting with them when on the island. They seemed to be more helpful and flexible.  However, the account is not open yet so we will have to reserver judgement.

Chris

Hi Chris,

We currently live in the UK but hope to retire to Mauritius early next year.  Your questions were at the top of my thoughts as well.

Did you get anywhere with the medical insurance/cover? As this is something we will also have to arrange.

Kind Regards

Paul

Hi Paul,

This depends on your age. My understanding is that if you are less than 65 you can take out medical insurance  with a number of local companies. However, if you are >=65 then there is only one local provider and they have a two year exclusion period.

You can almost certainly take out an international plan but these typically start at about £600 PCM for two people. I believe some of these costs can be offset against local income tax. The problem I have with these is that they typically cover you for the first year, once you renew the plan the condition will become pre-existing and hence cover for that condition is excluded. We actually live in South Africa, and retired here about 6 years ago. Here we have first class medical cover, via Medical Aid, which is similar to medical insurance but without age-related price increases and exclusions around pre-existing conditions.

Our current thoughts on this is to simply pay as you go. Medical costs appear to be similar to South Africa. Thus: GP will be about £25, Dentist will be similar. Hospitalisation can be expensive so currently we pay circa £3K to our medical aid so we would just pay this into our 'hospital bank account' and bank it for when we need it. My understanding is that if you are a Mauritius resident then you have access to the public hospitals but you then have the option of going private.

Sorry, but I don't have a good answer for you. I would also be interested in understanding how your pension will be taxed in Mauritius. I believe that:

(a) State pensions/UK government pensions are taxed in the UK, so I am assuming that you get the usual UK personal allowance

(b) All other income is taxed in Mauritius, I believe that you get an allowance of about £7K.

All of the above depends on the double taxation agreement between the two countries and this is just my interpretation.

Chris

@karibi

Hi

I wanted to reply to this message as not necessary the truth.

I work with clients on permit, and some of them bank with MCB and ABSA.

Like i work with people on retirement permit and even on investors and self employed, they did open their account with MCB and ABSA, and they are not necessary in the Private banking.

There are some clients who do choose to be part of the Private Banking but they are not forced by the bank to do so.

Unfortunately, my response from MCB (Miss. Sandrine Savrimoutou Relationship Associate) as:

"Please note that account opening for Foreign Non Residents are subject to specific terms and conditions.

Our offering for non-resident foreigners looking to hold a personal account is limited to Private Banking only. As such, this particular clientele can only apply for a Private Banking account, provided the below conditions are complied with:

a.      An immediate investable asset of USD 500,000 ready to be invested with MCB

b.      USD 25 monthly service fee

By way of introduction, MCB Private Banking International aims at welcoming high net worth individuals and families having a particular appetite for investment and/or looking to widen their investment horizon coupled with wealth management expertise. Our focus on pure-play wealth management, client-centric solutions, tailored financial advice, and access to international and local markets make the Private Banking a privileged environment for the foreign clientele."

The above criteria do change if you have local property.

From Absa (Vikram Ramdaursingh) I got:

"Qualifying conditions for the account opening:

(a) Minimum of USD10,000 or equivalent to be transferred within 30 days of account opening.  Same to be maintained at all times.

(b) Monthly service fee of USD15 applies per client and additional charge of USD10 per month will apply if the average balance per client falls below USD10,000."

I also required certified copies by (lawyer, accountant or Commissioner of Oaths, but not a banker) of:

Passport

Utility bill

Source of income - last 3 months payslips

Also, if self employed - income tax assessment

Source of funds - Sales of shares or investments: Legal sale and purchase document(s), share certificates etc.

This one was expected to be easier as I bank with Absa in South Africa.

Chris

Hi Chris.

I am South African bit from the UK and opened a bank account with Absa in August. I also have a Absa Bank account in South Africa, but this doesn't help anything. I was also helped by Vikram.

I didn't look at MCB but looking at what they are asking it's almost impossible to get an account there then, that's only for the really rich.

As for the Absa, they do ask for allot of certified copies, l did certify a few copies and sent it to them but required more things. We had a vacation booked there for end of July so I just took all my paperwork with and they certified it in the bank, needs to be original though, so I could have just taken all my paperwork over in the first place to get certified there.

One thing they don't tell you much about is the fixed deposit account. So I opened a current account and a fixed deposit account, I transferred the 10 000USD into the current account to get the accounts open. The fixed deposit account has got quite good interest rate, so I put the 10 000USD into the fixed deposit account for 6 months and just with the fixed deposit interest you get back pays for there charges per month and more.

The 10 000USD can be in either account the current or fixed deposit account. So if you put the money in the fixed deposit account for 6 months or a year at a time, it will pay for the account fees and you will make money from it too.

So my way of thinking was to leave that in the fixed deposit account and wait till I am over there to get a address so I can have a proof of address, which I understand, is then easier to open a bank account either with MCB or HSBC. So leave the 10K in the fixed deposit account till you got another account and until you need the money then take it out the Absa accounts and close the accounts.

Just another thing to note with Absa is that if you draw money from an ATM there is a 5USD charge, so this isn't very clear from the start so just beware of this.

If you need any more info let me know.

Regards.

Quintin.

Hi Chris just to clarify you already got the approval in principle letter from the EDB for the 10 yr retirement visa and you trying to open a savings account using this document and you encountering a problem?

I was on the island last week and managed to get the medical certificate. Currently waiting for a Police certificate before I can apply. I had hoped to set-up a saving bank account whilst on the island. Had a useful discussion with AfrAsia bank and presented them with lots of documentation. Currently waiting for feedback from their relationship manager.

You will not be able open a savings account without the approval in principle letter