This article details how we (EU passport holders) obtained our 90-day tourist visa extension in Mauritius. This was in addition to our original 90 days for a total of 180 days. To skip over our experience and find out what documents you need + the address, click here. If you’re looking for info on how to get the 1-year premium visa, read the dedicated article. This article also has a Russian 🇷🇺 translation: «Как продлить туристическую визу на Маврикии (90 дополнительных дней!)»
Contents
- 1 How to Get the First 90 Days in Mauritius?
- 2 Failed Attempt! How to NOT Get a Tourist Visa Extension
- 3 Tourist Visa Extension SUCCESS!
- 4 TL;DR How to Get the Tourist Visa Extension in Mauritius
- 4.1 Address of the Port Louis Passport and Immigration Office
- 4.2 List of documents needed for tourist visa extension in Mauritius
- 4.3 Can I extend my Mauritian tourist visa in Rodrigues?
- 4.4 Can I get 180 days upon arrival at the airport in Mauritius in one go?
- 4.5 All of this sounds rather serious, can I just cancel my booking after getting the visa extension?
- 4.6 What are the consequences of overstaying my tourist visa in Mauritius?
- 4.7 What if COVID-19 makes a comeback? Can I overstay without consequences?
- 5 Good info? Consider buying me a double espresso!
- 6 Share or save for later? Fabulous idea!
How to Get the First 90 Days in Mauritius?
Read this before you travel to Mauritius!
It’s actually not straightforward to obtain the first 90 days in Mauritius. First of all, check on the visa policy of Mauritius Wikipedia page for how long your nationality can stay in Mauritius without extension. Most countries in Southern Africa, Europe, and South and East Asia can stay for 90 days. Central Asian, West African, and West South American nationalities can stay for 60 days. And a handful of other nationalities can only stay for 14 days in Mauritius.
Once you have an idea, verify how long you can stay with another resource. You can do so by asking a person of your nationality who has recently traveled to Mauritius. Or you can Google an additional resource, such as the Mauritius Passport and Immigration Website. For EU nationals such as myself, there was a lot of information out there, so I had no doubts it was 90 days.
The issue is passing immigration in Mauritius. The immigration officer will decide how many days you’ll get in Mauritius, which is based on your return/onward ticket and the accommodation you’ve booked. They’re very serious about this, so make sure to do it right.
Once you book your ticket to Mauritius, make sure to go over my checklist of entry requirements into Mauritius here. (The information about COVID-19 will be outdated soon.) Especially make sure to book accommodation in Mauritius (such as a hotel) and your return/onward ticket from Mauritius. Print out this information before you fly to Mauritius.
The return/onward ticket departing Mauritius should be ~90 days after your arrival in the country. For example, we entered Mauritius on the 3rd of December, 2021 and we had an onward ticket to Paris for the 1st of March, 2022. That’s 88 days. The lady rounded up our total days to 90 as indicated in the stamp:
Upon arrival, we had to show our onward ticket to Paris and stated our intention to stay in Mauritius for 90 days. The immigration officer didn’t like that our accommodation booking was only for 14 days in Mahébourg, but when we said we’ll extend there if we like the home, she accepted it.
If you don’t have a return/onward ticket or if your ticket departing Mauritius leaves in only 30 days, you will only receive 30 days. That’s the experience of our friend with also an EU passport. Try to prevent this, because she has traveled to the immigration office in Port Louis way too many times.
Failed Attempt! How to NOT Get a Tourist Visa Extension
Tuesday, 8th of February 2022
We were staying in Quatre Bornes when we visited the Passport and Immigration Office (PIO) of Mauritius for the first time. We took the pleasant and convenient Metro Express from our neighborhood to Port Louis and walked from the station. Upon arrival, we had to sign in with our names and passport number. We were a bit confused about which floor we had to go to, but someone said that the tourist visa extension is on the mezzanine floor.
Once upstairs, the waiting room was quite full on this Tuesday. There were quite some other people fumbling with papers. Several signs pointed out that extending the tourist visa is free of charge. We filled in the date and signature on our already filled-in visa extension forms that we had printed out the day before. We shifted slowly to the seats right in front of the immigration office. There was a big sign saying our COVID-19 vaccination proofs would be checked, so I had it ready in my hands. After about a 40-minute wait, it was our turn.
The second we walked in, we knew it was a no. He just didn’t have the energy of someone who was going to help us. But we still had to find out what we did wrong before even opening our mouths.
We sat down and I kept quiet. Jonas put all the papers on the desk and said we’re here for the tourist visa extension. The officer flicked through our papers and found out that our booking for our current accommodation in Quatre Bornes was only for another 10 days. “This is not good. I need a confirmed booking for your entire stay in Mauritius.” Then he checked our passports and saw that our first 90 days would expire in about three weeks. “You’re here too soon. Come back when your visa is about to expire.”
So there are zero rewards for having your shit together and doing things well on time. Nay, apparently we need to be living on the edge with the chance our tourist visa extension would be rejected, and then we’d have to scramble for a flight out.
I was ready to walk out, but Jonas wanted more information. He tried to explain that we were traveling around Mauritius and staying in different parts of this beautiful island. But that wasn’t a legitimate thing to do, in bureaucratic terms. We could have the entire 13 other accommodations for the extra 90 days booked in Mauritius and he’d write down 13 different addresses, but there’s no space for spontaneity—or cyclones. It must be booked, confirmed, (and presumably paid). What an outrageous request if there’s no guarantee of a visa extension.
I was internally fuming, but Jonas wanted more info. When would we be able to come back? The man said something about three days before our visa expires. That’s… veritably insane. So the requirement is to plan for two scenarios:
- You assume you’ll obtain the visa extension, you have a booked flight 90 days into the future. You’ve booked the entire extra 90 days’ worth of accommodation.
- At the same time you also assume you won’t get the visa extension. You get ready to leave the country on very short notice despite wanting to stay longer. All of this might cost you a lot of money.
Well fuck, it’s Schrödinger’s visa extension.
[Yes, I know this is how obtaining a Schengen visa is for many nationalities. And yes, I also find that outrageous.]Jonas was a little perplexed by this too and I just tried to stay quiet because I know nothing good would come out of my mouth. I managed to say a very controlled “Let’s go, Jonas” before walking out with him coming in behind me. I was furious. We walked out of the immigration office without a tourist visa extension. What a wasteful day—though there are some nice restaurants in the vicinity that might cheer you up: The Higher Taste (~300 meters on foot) is a pure vegetarian restaurant where you can get a nice thali to either curse the tourist visa extension or celebrate it.
Our mistakes:
This is an inconclusive list, you might get screwed by something else.
- Going too soon. They do not want to help you until ~5 days of the expiration of your tourist visa
- Not booking accommodation for the entire stay. They need to know where you are in Mauritius till the day you leave
- Going on a Tuesday, when this guy works
Tourist Visa Extension SUCCESS!
Friday, 25th of February 2022
So, after making these mistakes the first time, we made sure we’d get the tourist visa extension the second time. Meanwhile, we had moved from Quatre Bornes to Flic en Flac, but we were still renting an apartment from the same (amazing) hosts. They had helped us with getting our COVID-19 booster vaccine in Mauritius and they were also willing to help us with the 90-day tourist visa extension and the 1-year premium visa (we tried to cover all bases).
For the tourist visa extension, they provided us with an electricity bill of the place we’re renting and a copy of her Mauritian ID card. And the booking confirmation looked a lot more legit now, till the 31st of May 2022. Our flight to La Réunion would depart on the 30th of May, but the one-day discrepancy can be explained by paying for a late checkout since our flight would be in the evening.
On Friday, we took the bus from Flic en Flac to Port Louis and hopped out once our bus pulled up to a copy shop within walking distance of the immigration office. I was thoroughly depressed on the bus because of the war Russia started in Ukraine the day before on the 24th of February—that turned into a genocide the following day on Saturday the 26th. And I wasn’t positive that the visa extension would work this time.
Knowing the drill, we went to the passport and immigration office, checked our names in the book, went up to the mezzanine, and waited in the small Friday queue. It was surprising that it wasn’t so busy. I filled in the fresh application form we had just printed out at the copy shop. I barely finished in time before it was our turn.
To my happy surprise, a different guy manned the tourist visa extension desk today. We walked into the room and immediately we knew it would work this time even before saying Bonzur. Jonas had his separate stack of papers and I had mine. We handed them over with our passports and the man started leafing through them and typing away. We had copied the electricity bill and booking confirmation twice, in case we’d need to have one each, but the officer handed mine back over since we’re clearly traveling together. Being overprepared is a Good Thing™.
I just sat there quietly while he went over our stacks of papers. Our onward flight to La Réunion was now booked for the 30th of May, 2022. Then the magic *stamp stamp* sound happened for Jonas, followed by some manual detailing. Same story for me. Then we quietly left the office headed back into Port Louis.
We received our tourist visa extension in Mauritius and now we can stay till the 30th of May. Great! We don’t have to leave the southern hemisphere while we’re watching the onset of World War III (feat. nukes) unfold on our screens!
One week later on the 3rd of March, 2022, we received our 1-year premium visas. It took them three weeks to process this request, but at least it can be done completely online and doesn’t involve a trip to the PIO. Now we can even witness the end of the world from Mauritius.
TL;DR How to Get the Tourist Visa Extension in Mauritius
Address of the Port Louis Passport and Immigration Office
Opening times: Monday to Friday from 9:00 till 14:30. Saturday from 9:00 till 11:30. Closed on Sundays.
Here’s the address of the Passport and Immigration Office in Port Louis. It’s in a building called the Sterling House. Once you’ve signed in inside the building, you have to travel half a floor up to the mezzanine. There will be signs that say where you can do your visa extension. There’s an elevator.
There was no method of making an appointment for our tourist visa extension in Mauritius for a specific date and time. We just showed up. They were about to implement a ticket system during our last visit, so prepare to draw a number. Extending your tourist visa in Mauritius is free of charge.
Important: the official will not help you unless your Mauritian tourist visa expires within 5 working days. Also, in 2022, it’s best to not go on a Tuesday since that’s when the unhelpful guy works there.
List of documents needed for tourist visa extension in Mauritius
Before you travel to the Passport and Immigration Office (PIO), make sure to visit a copy shop and print out these documents. There are a few copy shops within walking distance from the PIO (and one onsite), though I recommend doing this before going. Bring the following to
- Passport
- Pen (optionally: hard surface to write on)
- Copy of passport ID page + page of your Mauritian entry stamp
- This form printed out (put it on a USB stick and visit a copy shop—this is easy and cheap. There’s also a copy shop inside the PIO, but I don’t know their prices)
- Proof of return/onward flight
- Booking confirmation for the entire duration of your stay:
- If it’s a hotel, a printout from Booking.com/Airbnb should be good enough. It should mention the full dates and the address
- If it’s an apartment you rent from people, you’ll need to provide a utility bill (e.g. electricity bill) and a copy of the ID card of the person you’re renting from. It must mention the address. The officer might ask for their telephone number, so have that on hand as well
- Proof of sufficient funds (i.e. bank statement). The minimum amount is not exactly clear, but for the premium visa it’s €1300 per extra month of stay per person so we concluded that’s also a good amount to show for the tourist visa extension. For example, our individual bank statements showed we had at least €3900 each. Online, the PIO does ask for a bank statement of the last three months, but in practice, it can be from yesterday. As long as it’s recent.
- Proof of vaccination against COVID-19. Though they never checked ours, any officer in a bad mood can decide to ruin your day if you don’t carry it with you.
Can I extend my Mauritian tourist visa in Rodrigues?
No, you can’t extend your tourist visa in Rodrigues. Generally speaking.
I asked Birgit from Insel Rodrigues about this, who has experience with helping people in this situation. Only under extenuating circumstances (e.g. broken sailing boat, severe illness, or cyclone), this would be possible in Port Mathurin. But you’ve been warned: do not rely on this. These kinds of higher-level bureaucracy are all accomplished in Mauritius and chances are they’ll tell you to fly back to MRU and come back after a visit to Port Louis.
Can I get 180 days upon arrival at the airport in Mauritius in one go?
No, unfortunately, they will not give you more than 90 days upon arrival. One way or another, you must visit the Passport and Immigration Office in Port Louis to jump through some hoops.
If you want to immediately stay 180 days or longer, you can apply for the Mauritius Premium Visa. This one is valid for 365 days.
All of this sounds rather serious, can I just cancel my booking after getting the visa extension?
Yes, you can do that. Generally speaking, no one will come to your accommodation to check if you’re really living there unless you’ve overstayed your visa. Whatever you do, please don’t overstay your visa.
What are the consequences of overstaying my tourist visa in Mauritius?
From experience, I have no clue. Also, I do not want to fuck around and find out. Your best option is to just leave before your tourist visa expires.
What I did find from some Googlin’ is that you risk deportation after a quick manhunt – the island is not that big – by the PIO. My guess is that they won’t come to break down your door after your visa is five minutes past expiration, but who knows, maybe they’re really bored and will immediately come to notify you’ve overstayed your welcome in Mauritius. There might be a travel ban upon entering Mauritius in the future and perhaps the PIO will put your name on a naughty list. If you love Mauritius enough to stay for nearly 180 days, I think you shouldn’t risk a travel ban.
What if COVID-19 makes a comeback? Can I overstay without consequences?
In the case of a new COVID-19 wave, I recommend contacting the PIO to ask them if they intend to make an exception to overstaying tourist visas. They’ve done so in the past, but that’s no guarantee they will do it again in the future.
Do you have another question you don’t see answered in this article? Comment below and I’ll get back to you!
Good info? Consider buying me a double espresso!
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Hey,
I couldn’t find the premium visa article mentioned in this post, is there a link to it?
Also, how did you find flic en flac as a place to live? I am considering moving to there or grand Baie and I wouldn’t have a car.
Thanks,
Matt
Hey Matt, it’s published and linked now 🙂 “How to Get the 1-Year Mauritian Premium Visa – Digital Nomad Special!” I liked Flic en Flac for the easy beach access (for swimming) and the nearby restaurants. I only went shopping in Grand Baie, but lived between Mont Choisy and Trou aux Biches and that was probably one of my favorite places to live because there’s beach + sailing school + regular buses/easy hitchhiking. I’ll probably return to that area instead of Flic en Flac after Rodrigues. I’d say living carfree in those two areas of Mauritius is more than doable. Food delivery from places that were just too far to walk was also available in both. Enjoy Mauritius!
Hello there I am considering coming to Mauritius but for over 90 days but less than 180 days. The FAQ of this website (see below) indicates that 180 days is given upon arrival even though I know coming from Europe it is 90 day visa free.
” A premium visa is required for those who intend to stay in Mauritius for a period exceeding 180 days in a calendar year. For those staying for less than180 days, a tourist visa is granted on arrival to Mauritius. ”
https://residency.mu/live/mauritius-premium-visa/
Do you think they would have given you 180 days upon arrival had you booked accommodation for the duration of your stay and a ticket out of the country ?
By the way did they confirm you on your first trip to the PIO that if you book your accommodation and flight that you would get the vis extension ? it seems that they didnt
Lastly I find it crazy having to go to the PIO when less than 180 days but being able to do the Premium visa online… but it is what it is.
Thanks
Hey Hope!
I’m confident the information on that website is wrong. I have never heard of anyone getting 180 days directly on arrival. We only received 90 days on arrival because our original exit flight departed after 90 days. Our friends who wanted to stay 180 days only received 60 days on arrival for some reason, but they managed to extend it to a total of 180 days. A visit to PIO is unfortunately mandatory. It seems that the staff at PIO has the ultimate authority, not the airport immigration staff. Yes, it sucks to go there, but not everything in Mauritius is fantastic. I’d consider getting the premium visa for more than 180 days with a refundable flight and then staying shorter just to avoid having to go to PIO.
As to your question about our first visit to PIO, he made a promise that we’d get the visa extension if we 1) showed up one week before expiration and 2) had the accommodation (more important than the flight!) booked for our entire extended stay. But as always, I’d take promises from immigration officers anywhere with a bucket of salt.
Happy travels to Mauritius and may the immigration officers be in a happy and generous mood 🙂