It is a change in title, but this will give him access to more power. The post of Passport and Immigration Officer has been abolished following the implementation of the Immigration Act 2022, and thus, the Superintendent of Police, Narendrakumar Boodhram is now the Director General of Immigration.
He was appointed to this post by the Prime Minister’s Office on 27 July. Narendrakumar Boodhram, after having been the head of the Passport Immigration Office for 5 years, has been given more responsibility and power in his hands through this restructuring.
The new DG of the PIO proudly displays a BSc (Hons) Law and Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Masters in Security and Risk Management from the University of Leicester. He has been in the police force since 1990 and in 32 years of service, he has served in the Special Mobile Force (SMF), as a pilot in the Police Helicopter Squadron, and promoted to the rank of Superintendent of Police (SP) in 2021.
To date, he has full powers under the Police Act and the Immigration Act to conduct investigations at the PIO into marriages between Mauritians and foreign nationals, following the implementation of the Immigration Act 2022. The functioning of the Residence Permit and Immigration sections of the Immigration Office is being reviewed, namely the application for a residence permit by a foreign national, after two years of marriage and living together on Mauritian soil, is no longer relevant. The PIO is called upon to make a thorough investigation of the applicant. They are even entitled to assess the marital relationship, verification of the place of residence, joint and separate summonses and interrogations!
