marrying indigenous magalasy will it help foreigner have ground?

Nope, but it will help the indigenous malagasy to buy the land with the money of her husband foreigner.

For the purpose of this report Vazaha  generally means foreigner and usually  white foreigner and in many cases further defined as French foreigner. When you marry a Malagasy it is easy to get a family reunification visa and resident. And after being married for ten years your resident and visa card is  supposed to be free though rules change with each new government administration.  Also you get a higher status in the community because when you marry Malagasy you have more of a direct association with the community and its culture and customs so you will receive  more respect. For example in the community as  a Vazaha couple you will always be known as Vazaha but in My case being married to Malagasy I am known by my nickname papa-Shanna ( not Vazaha which is considered outsider)  as I have closer ties to the community as my children are also  half-Malagasy.. If you are  an NGO worker or missionary or just a worker for a local company and especially a tourist  they will usually have to pay higher prices in the market, but being married to a  Malagasy I can get the local Malagasy prices Many Vazaha lack the skills to negotiate prices as they think it is beneath them but not realizing that negotiating prices is a part of the social structure of society and a means of getting to know your neighbor.  It is also  easier to navigate in the Malagasy society unless you are Fluent in Malagasy language and in the dialect in that part of the country you live as most Malagasy do not speak french or just know a few rudimentary words, and french numbers. Even Malagasy have a difficult time with language from a different tribe such as Sakalava Tribe and Antandroy tribe and even with the official language which is considered Merina Tribe, There are many nuances in the culture and some racism which is difficult to learn being a Vazaha/foreigner . Other than racism there is also something called colorism meaning that the Blacker you are the less of an advantage you have to get along in the country, ( not unlike what you have heard in Asia)  such as foreigners from Mayotte  and Comoros are called Black Vazaha.    In terms of business , you can buy and sell land at a profit under the name of your Malagasy wife or husband or buy land and build a house and turn it into rentals. .In many ways foreigners have an advantage to living here with an indigenous Malagasy because as a foreigner we see and learn more about the country and it rules than the locals do. Locals get stuck in a mind frame that they come to act out of routine whereas a foreigner ( including Chinese and Karanas --indians)  can see outside the box and understand the local rules and regulations because we have something to compare to from our country.  Comparison is a powerful tool to understanding the structure to how a society works. So yes it is very helpful in being married to a local and in my case my wife has over 800 family members I can learn from though I certainly do not know most of them only from the stories told which in itself is educational.  These are just a few of the basic thoughts for a foreigner to have ground. There are also disadvantages of which there are many but will express this to you in one word called the "honeytrap"   Many Vazaha have come to Madagascar and lost everything and have even been expelled from the country.

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ENGLISH please.

I'll give you a short version of what serge45 wrote.

You will get nothing from marrying a local woman. Land ownership is only for malagasy citizens.
The least you'll be able to do is buy land and put it in your wife's name. If you do so, you wife can kick you out of "her" property anytime she wants, and it's sadly what happens most of the time.
And I strongly advise you learn at least french and at best malagasy otherwise people will take advantage of you.

missounette wrote:

I'll give you a short version of what serge45 wrote.

You will get nothing from marrying a local woman. Land ownership is only for malagasy citizens.
The least you'll be able to do is buy land and put it in your wife's name. If you do so, you wife can kick you out of "her" property anytime she wants, and it's sadly what happens most of the time.
And I strongly advise you learn at least french and at best malagasy otherwise people will take advantage of you.

When you talk strictly about  land ownership, a vazaha can put the land  in his childs name and if he takes care of the child he can thus control the child and in a way he can own the land till the child is 18 years old and up till that point the vazaha can do what he wants with the land and in this way the vazaha keeps the land out of the Malagasy wifes  name should they divorce.  .   I am not familiar with divorce law but from what I have heard that a man  has a right to  keep his child if the child  is more than 7 years old.

Ya, your child is less likely to kick you out of his property but still he can do so (I take extreme position but i hope that such situation won't never happen). Moreover, imagine that in case of divorce, the judge decide to designate the mother as the tutor of your child... she can manage his properties.
Thus if u wanna get married to "indigenious" Malagasy woman just for the land, u will be disappointed.

Thank-you for this information.
It is very helpful
My wife is Malagasy and I'm hoping to move with her to be near her family in Andapa
I'm trying to learn as much as possible about the customs and culture to help me.
Thankyou

Richard Ablett wrote:

Thank-you for this information.
It is very helpful
My wife is Malagasy and I'm hoping to move with her to be near her family in Andapa
I'm trying to learn as much as possible about the customs and culture to help me.
Thankyou

Is that in the Sava region? and is your wife Tsimihety or Sakalava?

Salama
Yes it is in the  Sava region
I apologise I'm not sure about what the wife ordinates people wise Sakalava or Tsimihety
I will message her and find out then post the information
I hope this helps
Regards Richard

Richard Ablett wrote:

Salama
Yes it is in the  Sava region
I apologise I'm not sure about what the wife ordinates people wise Sakalava or Tsimihety
I will message her and find out then post the information
I hope this helps
Regards Richard

It would be good to find out which tribe because each one has different customs , My wife is Sakalava and she cannot eat Pork.  Both those two tribes have tromba which means the person who has tromba  may have extra meal restrictions such as no chicken or eggs or food cooked with eggs like cake.  Also with tromba if they have the "gift" they can go into trances and talk with the dead kings of the past and each person can have more than one tromba.  Some trombas mean that you cannot travel on Tuesday and I think Sunday.  Also you cannot buy/shop or work and bury the dead  on certain days of the week.   etc.....

Hello
Thankyou for the information.
It is a great help.
I appreciate the information and eventually when I move to Andapa I will have a good understanding of the people and customs/culture which will make life a little easier adapting to my new life
Regards Richard

It might be useful to note that the Malagasy law does, more or less, allow foreigners to hold land in their own name.  You must get the freehold title in the name of your Malagasy partner, and, then you get a notary to do a contrat de bail emphytéotique in your name.  The standard term of an emphyteutic lease contract is 99 years, but, you can add the clause "with tacit reconduction" avec reconduction tacite which means that when the first 99 years of the lease is over, it automatically rolls over for another 99 years.  For most people, 99 years would be enough. An emphyteutic lease contract has it's own value and can be sold, rented, left to someone in your will, etc, without the permission of the freehold land owner.  Important points to remember are:  All land sales over 15 million ariary must be managed by a notary.  You should not delay to get the land transferred to your name, do it the same day that you buy the land in the name of your Malagasy partner if possible.  There are double taxes to pay using this system.  You pay stamp duty and various other fees that add up to around 10% of the value of the property to register the act of sale.  Then you pay a similar but slightly less amount for the notary fees and various registration fees for the lease contract.  I have done dozens of these and can assure you that they work perfectly well and are protected under Malagasy law.  So, even if you do ultimately divorce you wife (god forbid), she will still own the freehold but you will have 100% authority over the property for your life.  With regard to wills, also note that Malagasy law says (this is highly simplified) that if you die without a will, all of your goods go to your children (not your wife) and if your children are minors, their guardian (your wife?) can decide what to do with the property (supposedly for the good of the children but that can include outright selling) so, it is important that once you have ownership of important things in Madagascar, you also write a will and this really must be done with a notary.  If you have a will, your will must be obeyed first and takes precedence over all other rules, so, you can leave what you want to who you want, noting that the guardianship rules will still apply if you leave things to your children.  In every case here it is always best to use the services of a notary to represent you, it costs a little but the security is invaluable.

The idea looks brilliant so i look forward to get an opportunity to get a job offer there.Kindly assist.

@TropicAlex fascinating! I have an idea of what the "honey traps" are, but please share some examples. I'm hoping to be able to move to Madagascar before the end of the year, and I think I should know about the honey traps, before then.lol

@Richard Ablett  hey I was reading your post and I have question. I too am thinking about moving to Madagascar to be near my fiancée. She is Malagasy woman and am curious how the process was for getting married Madagascar? What documents did you need?