Foreign students meeting the eligibility criteria set out below are eligible to apply for a Young Professional Occupation Permit (YPOP) as provided for in Section 13 of the Economic Development Board Act 2017 and Section 12 of the Immigration Act 2022. The Young Professional Occupation Permit is granted for a maximum period of 3 years depending on the duration of the contract of employment. If an employer still requires the service of the foreign employee after the 3 years periods, the employer may apply for an Occupation Permit as Professional on behalf of the employee.

Eligibility criteria

The following criteria must be respected to be eligible for a YPOP:

1. The student must have completed at least an undergraduate degree in a tertiary education institution recognised by the Higher Education Commission.
2. The student must have completed an international recognized professional certification equivalent to at least an undergraduate degree dispensed by a registered institution in Mauritius.
3. The application must be submitted not later than 6 months after the date of publication of results.
4. Where a person holds a YPOP and intends to change employment or where at the expiry of the YPOP, provided not exceeding 3 years, the person is offered employment by another employer the condition at (c) shall not apply.
5. The application for the YPOP must be only in the fields listed in Schedule Section 2 of the Immigration Act 2022 which are as follows:
   1. Artificial Intelligence
   2. Architecture and Design
   3. Biotechnology
   4. Communication and Media
   5. Creative Industries
   6. Engineering
   7. Fintech
   8. Financial Services
   9. Information Technology
   10. Logistics and Supply Chain
   11. Robotics
   12. Travel, Tourism and Hospitality

For further information, please refer to the full supplement of the Young Professional Occupation Permit Guidelines.