Visa policy of the Maldives
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| Politics of the Maldives |
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Entry and exit stamps of Maldives issued at Velana International Airport.
Maldives grants a free visa on arrival for 30 days to all citizens unless they are citizens of one of the visa-exempt countries.[1]
Visa policy map
[edit]
Maldives
Visa not required (90 days)
Visa not required (30 days)
Free visa on arrival
Visa exemption
[edit]Citizens of the following countries can enter the Maldives without a visa:
|
90 days 30 days |
| Date of visa changes |
|---|
|
Nationals of Pakistan[4] never needed a visa to enter Maldives |
Entry requirements
[edit]All visitors to Maldives must:
- Hold a passport or a travel document with a Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) with at least 1 months validity. (Passengers with an extended validity in their passports are not allowed to enter.)[15]
- Have a complete travel itinerary including confirmed return journey tickets, with a prepaid confirmed hotel booking at a registered hotel, or provide proof of financial means for sufficient funds to support the stay in the Maldives, or hold a pre-approved visa sponsorship approved by Maldives Immigration.[15]
- Have entry requirements to their onward destination; for example, the visa and passport validity.[15]
- Have Traveller Declaration form filled in and submitted by all foreigners arriving to the Maldives, within 96 hours (4 days) to the flight time. The form has to be submitted electronically via IMUGA.[15]
- Have Carte Jaune proof of a yellow fever vaccination , if applicable. Children under 1 year of age are exempt from the yellow fever vaccination.[15][16]
Admission Restricted
[edit]- As of 2 June 2024, entry and transit is refused to Israel citizens, even if not leaving the aircraft and proceeding by the same flight.[17]
- The decision was made by the Maldivian President's office which announced that it would ban all Israeli citizens from entering the country, in response to the Israel-Hamas war and domestic public anger until further notice.[18][19]
- However as of 18 June 2024, the ban is postponed.[20]
- As of 2 July 2024, it is completely unknown if there is still a ban on all Israel Citizens.
- Regardless of citizenship, Maldives does not allow entry for periods of less than 24 hours, even (especially) for transit purposes.
Future changes
[edit]Maldives has signed visa exemption agreements with the following countries, but they have not yet entered into force:
| Country | Passports | Agreement signed on |
|---|---|---|
 Seychelles
|
All | 12 June 2023[21] |
 Ghana
|
All | 14 March 2023 |
 Burundi
|
All | 26 April 2023 |
 Rwanda
|
All | 5 May 2023 |
 Serbia
|
Diplomatic, official | 8 May 2023 |
 The Gambia
|
All | 11 June 2023 |
 Japan
|
Diplomatic, official | 29 July 2023 |
 São Tomé and Príncipe
|
All | 19 September 2023 |
 Honduras
|
All | 19 September 2023 |
 Togo
|
All | 19 September 2023 |
 Andorra
|
All | 20 September 2023 |
Visitor statistics
[edit]Most visitors arriving to the Maldives were from the following countries of nationality:[22][23]
| Country | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 China |
284,029 | 283,116 | 306,905 | 324,326 | 359,514 |
 India |
166,030 | 90,474 | 83,019 | 66,955 | 52,368 |
 Italy |
136,343 | 105,297 | 88,867 | 71,202 | 65,616 |
 Germany |
131,561 | 117,532 | 112,109 | 106,381 | 105,132 |
 United Kingdom |
126,199 | 114,602 | 103,977 | 101,843 | 92,775 |
 Russia |
83,369 | 70,935 | 61,931 | 46,522 | 44,323 |
 France |
59,738 | 50,476 | 42,365 | 40,487 | 42,024 |
 United States |
54,474 | 42,901 | 39,180 | 32,589 | 29,308 |
| Japan |
44,251 | 42,304 | 41,133 | 39,894 | 39,244 |
 Australia |
39,928 | 37,254 | 27,360 | - | - |
| Total | 1,702,887 | 1,484,274 | 1,389,542 | 1,286,135 | 1,234,248 |
See also
[edit]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Maldives.
References
[edit]- ^ "Tourist Visa". Maldives Immigration, Republic of Maldives.
- ^ "FAQ in Visa Services". Ministry of External Affairs. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ "Guyana".
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ "India Visa Waiver Agreements".
- ^ "Russia". foreign.gov.mv.
- ^ "90-day visa free deal between Sri Lanka and the Maldives".
- ^ "Kazakhstan". foreign.gov.mv.
- ^ "《中华人民共和国政府和马尔代夫共和国政府关于互免签证的协定》生效" [The Agreement between the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Maldives on Mutual Visa Exemption takes effect]. Xinhua (in Chinese). 17 February 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ "Cambodia". foreign.gov.mv.
- ^ "《中华人民共和国政府和马尔代夫共和国政府关于互免签证的协定》生效" [Информационное сообщение МИД КР от 19 августа 2023 года] (in Russian). 19 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
- ^ "Kyrgyzstan". foreign.gov.mv.
- ^ D., Oyunsan (2 January 2024). "Visa-Free Travel with Maldives to Take Effect from January 12, 2024". Montsame. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Entry Requirements". Maldives Immigration. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ "List of Yellow Fever Endemic Countries" (PDF). Maldives Immigration. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
timwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Maldives bans entry of Israeli passport holders: 'In Solidarity with Palestine'". India Today. 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
- ^ i24NEWS (2024-06-02). "Maldives to ban Israelis amid rising public anger over Gaza war". I24news. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Algemeiner, The (June 17, 2024). "Maldives Postpones Israel Passport Ban, Cites Concerns Over Blanket Law Keeping Out Palestinians - Algemeiner.com". www.algemeiner.com.
- ^ "Key agreements exchanged between the Maldives and Seychelles". The President's Office.
- ^ "Tourist arrivals by nationality - Ministry of Tourism". www.tourism.gov.mv. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ "Tourism Yearbook 2019" (PDF). Ministry of Tourism (Maldives). Retrieved 29 December 2019.