Application for a passport is done at the Passport and Immigration Office which is located at the Sterling House (9-11 Lislet Geoffroy Street) in Port Louis. There are six other sub branches located in the main districts of Mauritius namely at Rose Hill, Moka, Rose Belle, Curepipe, Flacq and Piton where it can be made. The Passport and Immigration Office is a branch of the police force that enforces immigration laws as well as deals with the relevant documentation for visits and naturalisation of non citizens.
Services offered by the passport office include provision of passports and travel documents, provision of visas to non citizens who need legal permits to enter the island, provision of residence and occupation permits and controlling the entry and exit processes onto the island.
All people of Mauritian origin are eligible for a Mauritian passport.
The application form can be obtained at the nearest police station, the main passport office or downloaded from the government of Mauritius website at http://passport.govmu.org.
Documents needed to obtain a passport include IDs, birth certificates, two recent passport size photographs (against a white background plus signed by two witnesses at the back), certificate of citizenship if applicable, previous passport if applicable, police certificate if applicable, marriage certificate if applicable and divorce decree if applicable.
For minors, additional documents to those above include IDs, birth certificates and judge’s order (if applicable) of the parents. All documents must be submitted in duplicate copies and originals must be produced for verification. In addition, two witnesses, who have known the applicant for at least two years and must be in either legal or religious profession, must countersign the application form.
The validity of the passport is for 10 years for adults and 5 years for children under 16 years. The identity of the applicant must also be certified by the police from the nearest police station before submission of the document. Passports are delivered within 7 days after payment.
Passport fees are at Rs700 for adults, Rs400 for minors, senior citizens and disabled persons (with relevant documents from the social security office). On the first loss of a passport (or damage), a fee of Rs5000 must be paid; on the second loss (or damage), Rs15000 must be paid while on every other subsequent losses a cumulative fee of Rs15000 must be paid.
Working hours of the head office are from 9am to 2.30pm on weekdays, 9am to 11am on Saturdays (to noon for other businesses than passport application) while the sub branches operate from 9am to noon and 1pm to 2.30pm on weekdays only and from 08.30am to 9m and 2.30pm to 4pm for other businesses that passport applications.
Amendments to the passport regarding change of name, profession or extension of the normal validity can be done for a fee of Rs100, a filled endorsement form from the immigration office and documentary evidence of the stated change.
For a mauritian passport renewal, that is if your current passport has expired, a fee of Rs700 will be charged (similar to application for a new passport).
In case of loss, it must be reported immediately to the police and a certificate of loss is given which must be presented to the immigration office for the application of a new passport. Any person who commits an offence regarding passport procedures makes an offence under the passport act and shall have to pay a fine of not more than Rs1000 and may be subject to imprisonment for not more than 1 year.
I'm a Software Developer and the co-founder of Clever Dodo. Born in Mauritius and now living in the UK, I usually blog about fitness, music, spirituality and driving topics to pass on my knowledge.