Renewal of occupation permit - new process?

What industry are you in?

The company is in private security consulting.

I am in Finance and Administration and my husband is in Technical/Engineering.

From the PMOs point of view they're both "good" industries, so not sure why it's been referred. There have been some fringe industries of late that the government have viewed with indifference.

Hope it goes well, optimistically speaking of you haven't heard from them it hasn't been rejected either

Yeah, I also figured that " no news is good news".

Will keep you updated as soon as I have anything new.

The PMO is now part and parcel of the whole application and renewal procedure. Every case is referred to them first - well, this is what I learned from our dealings with the authorities.  The whole process is much longer now as the PMO monitors every application / renewal.

Thanks Nadeem

I read that just after I posted this question, but still wasn't sure. I guess with a change in Government, there is always a change in the rules and regulations.

Just an update

It has been 5 weeks now and still no reply from the BOI. Everytime we call/email them, as per their request, they have some reason why the applications are not concluded yet.

The problem is, now we received a letter from Passport and Immigration Office, requesting that we leave the Country by next Friday (11/12). Upon calling PIO, I was informed that we should leave, even though we are still waiting the decision of our permit applications. As soon as we have an answer, we may return to Mauritius to do needful.

This is turning into a very stressful application.

Is there someone who is experiencing something similar, or is it just us?

Elzaan

Hi there

Yes this is quite a stressful situation. It's known that the application and renewal procesures are much longer.  The best way to handle these is to seek appointment with higher officials at the BOI (the main office, not Sterling House).  From there the PMO might be plugged in to help sort the problem.

We had a similar situation with a client sometimes ago and this is how we dealt with it.

Hope this helps.

All the best

Thanks Nadeem

Is there someone specific that we need to speak to at the BOI Main Office?

Yes. I know 2 ladies that may be of help here. But I can't give their names one public forum.

Nadeem wrote:

Yes. I know 2 ladies that may be of help here. But I can't give their names one public forum.

Off course, you can mail me privately.

Elzaan

Please send your email add to ronel@shalesh.co.za. See you also live in Tamarin and from RSA. Just received my new permit.

Elzaan. What's your email address ?

Hi

So, last update on this matter from my side.

We did, at long last, get our permits, but not without hiccoughs. We had to leave Mauritius on the 11th of December, as per Immigration's request, while the BOI said it was not necessary. However, on the 11th, our permits were still not approved or finalised, so we departed that afternoon. A week later, we received news that our permits were approved by the BOI.  We contacted Immigration immediately after this, and they advised us to stay in SA until permits were actually issued. However, it took another 2 weeks for the PIO to issue the permits.

After multiple calls to Immigration (at the airport side), to confirm whether the permits were ready, we managed to enter Mauritius without the physical permits (everything was on the system by then) and without needing to answer a million questions as to why we wish to enter Mauritius after leaving 3 weeks ago.

Moral of the story: it is going to take some time for everybody to get used to the system. Plan well in advance for the renewal. 15 Days (as suggested by BOI) are clearly not enough.

Thanks to all for their comments and suggestions. I hope someone can learn from this to make their applications easier.