Mauritius diaspora in New Zealand: an island kinship evolves

Several factors augur well for a Mauritian diaspora in New Zealand and vice versa. For one, Mauritius and New Zealand have many striking similarities as island-nations.

The two countries are notably both popular travel destinations, with beaches and other natural features as their main tourist draws. Mauritius and New Zealand also experience a healthy exchange of tourists because of the good air connectivity between the two countries. They also have a mutual visa waiver programme facility that allows convenient entry of their citizens in each other’s territory.

School gateway to Mauritian diaspora in New Zealand

New Zealand and Mauritius in recent years have also been strengthening their people-to-people links. The government of New Zealand, for instance, is encouraging more Mauritian scholars to pursue higher studies in the country. Significantly, international students in New Zealand can apply for local jobs under the Skilled Migrant Category.

With a job under this category, a Mauritian student expat in New Zealand can already apply for a Permanent Residency (PR) visa. This PR visa is also open for the applications under the Partner Category and the Business and Investment Category.

The Kiwis of New Zealand, on the other hand, can avail of similar schemes in Mauritius to live and work in the island. The Mauritian government grants an Occupation permit (OP) to foreigners under three categories:  Investor, Professional, and Self-Employed. The Mauritian OP already combines a work and residence permit.

New Zealand nationals can also get a permanent residence permit in Mauritius through a real estate purchase under some foreign investment programmes of the Mauritian government. These include the Property Development Scheme (PDS). Permanent residency status is granted to foreign buyers of residences in a PDS project, provided the purchase price is at USD375,000 or over.

Vibrant areas of interest

The commonalities between Mauritius and New Zealand also arise from the membership of both countries in the 54-nation Commonwealth. Through this union of former dependencies of Britain, its members have access to an economic network to boost their trade and development potential.

Besides their Commonwealth multilateral linkage, Mauritius and New Zealand are also pursuing bilateral cooperation in several mutual areas of interest. Being both island states, these areas include fisheries and ocean economy. Renewable energy, civil service, and public sector management are likewise within the sphere of cooperation between the two countries.

Looking at how potent these sectors are, so much remains to be achieved in the Kiwi-Mauritian relations. A surge in Mauritian diaspora in New Zealand and more Kiwi interests in Mauritius loom possible as current developments evolve.

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