Spouse Work Permit for a non-citizen

Welcome. Your question is a little unclear. If you are in Mauritius on a work/occupation permit, I think your spouse is permitted to join you for the duration. If your spouse wants to work too, he/she will need to be offred a job and the prospective employer should be applying for the permit as far as I know. I have not heard of a 'Spouse Work permit'. Please let us know where you have found relevant information.

https://empment-labour.govmu.org/Gnews/ … ews-1.aspx

    Welcome. Your question is a little unclear. If you are in Mauritius on a work/occupation permit, I think your spouse is permitted to join you for the duration. If your spouse wants to work too, he/she will need to be offred a job and the prospective employer should be applying for the permit as far as I know. I have not heard of a 'Spouse Work permit'. Please let us know where you have found relevant information.
   

Hello @Tookays,

He has a spouse residence permit and has been informed that he is allowed to live in Mauritius and not engage in any employment without a work permit. It seems there is a different work permit requirement for those married to a Mauritian citizen. This was surprising for me too.

Best regards,

MS

People, who got married after 2019, has to have work permit

@raghuram1232  that is a new one, although it is now 2024. If you are offered a job, apply for the permit. On the other hand, you may be able to get Mauritian citizenship by marriage -- but I am not an expert on this topic.

          Hello @Tookays,He has a spouse residence permit and has been informed that he is allowed to live in Mauritius and not engage in any employment without a work permit. It seems there is a different work permit requirement for those married to a Mauritian citizen. This was surprising for me too.Best regards,MS        -@Salman.Memon

Hello,

for any new recruitment, an employer wishing to employ a foreign spouse of a Mauritian citizen will have to make an application for a work permit under the Non-Citizen (Employment Restriction)(Work Permit) Regulations 2017.

https://www.ensafrica.com/news/detail/1 … -spouses-o

However , item #19 in the following link is misleading;

https://workpermit.mu/eworkpermit_wkp/w … gename/faq

Better call them or go down to Port Louis and ask someone at the Ministry sine there is no info on the actual amendments :

https://www.mcci.org/en/media-news-even … -exempted/

    @raghuram1232  that is a new one, although it is now 2024. If you are offered a job, apply for the permit. On the other hand, you may be able to get Mauritian citizenship by marriage -- but I am not an expert on this topic.
   

    -@Tookays

Hello

Unfortunately this is not the reality. There was a case ( an Air Mauritius pilot) back in 2018-2019 that led to this and now everyone ( spouse) has to apply for a work permit.

This goes back as far as 1981 with all these Mauritian women married to foreigners including a former politician

http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/undocs/session36/9-35.htm

@External  thank you for this very interesting link. However, there must be more recent legislation in this regard. If someone has gained Mauritian citizenship by marriage (and it takes time) then the need to apply for work permit is discriminatory. A Mauritian citizen should have equal rights as any other Mauritian citizen. In fact, the original bit was discriminatory on basis of sex anyway. I must study the 'citizenship by marriage' legisation now. I don't think it says anything about work/occupation permit.

@External according to this , article 19 should supercede. Interesting. If you are married to a Mauritian citizen, you may still not take up citizenship -- in which case work permit regulations may apply. If you are now a Mauritian citizen, it should not. Well, that is my take on it.

    @External  thank you for this very interesting link. However, there must be more recent legislation in this regard. If someone has gained Mauritian citizenship by marriage (and it takes time) then the need to apply for work permit is discriminatory. A Mauritian citizen should have equal rights as any other Mauritian citizen. In fact, the original bit was discriminatory on basis of sex anyway. I must study the 'citizenship by marriage' legisation now. I don't think it says anything about work/occupation permit.        -@Tookays

That case with respect to the pilot has opened a can of worms and the PMO is free to block anything or everything - even the application for citizenship !

The case of Lyndsey Collen is a good example

@External  unfortunately, many countries now are enacting similar legislation. The reasons are supposed to be very clear. However, challenging this in the courts as above seems to be the right way forward.

Having been mislead by the 19th point of the work permit official website FAQ, I now need to call back my potential employers to explain them I need work permit to be allowed to take the job. This is a really unconfortable situation...

So having a "residence permit for spouse" and being married to a Mauritian Citizen doesn't help at all in obtaining a work permit. It is just like you are a total stranger.

Welcome to Mauritius !

@DamoMango  this is a idiculous situation where an official govt site gives misleading information. The Mauritian citizen/spouse should take it up with their local MP urgently. Send them a screenshot of the webpage and ask for an explanation. Elections are coming soon, so it may be acted upon!

Best wishes.