Visa policy of the Maldives

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]

Entry and exit stamps of Maldives issued at Velana International Airport.

Visa policy map

Visa policy of Maldives

  Maldives

  Visa not required (90 days)

  Visa not required (30 days)

  Free visa on arrival

Visa exemption

Citizens of the following countries can enter the Maldives without a visa:

90 days  India[2]  Pakistan  Russia  Sri Lanka 30 days  Cambodia  China  Guyana[3]  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Mongolia

Date of visa changes
Nationals of Pakistan[4] never needed a visa to enter Maldives March 1979: India[5][6] 25 July 2019: Russia[7] 02 September 2019: Sri Lanka[8] 14 September 2022: Kazakhstan[9] 17 February 2023: China[10] 4 May 2023: Cambodia[11] 20 August 2023: Kyrgyzstan[12][13] 12 January 2024: Mongolia[14]

Entry requirements

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

• 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

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

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

• Visa requirements for Maldivian citizens

References

1. "Tourist Visa". Maldives Immigration, Republic of Maldives.
2. "FAQ in Visa Services". Ministry of External Affairs. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
3. "Guyana".
6. "India Visa Waiver Agreements".
7. "Russia". foreign.gov.mv.
8. "90-day visa free deal between Sri Lanka and the Maldives".
9. "Kazakhstan". foreign.gov.mv.
10. "《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.
11. "Cambodia". foreign.gov.mv.
12. "《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.
13. "Kyrgyzstan". foreign.gov.mv.
14. D., Oyunsan (2 January 2024). "Visa-Free Travel with Maldives to Take Effect from January 12, 2024". Montsame. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
15. "Entry Requirements". Maldives Immigration. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
16. "List of Yellow Fever Endemic Countries" (PDF). Maldives Immigration. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
18. "Maldives bans entry of Israeli passport holders: 'In Solidarity with Palestine'". India Today. 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
19. 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)
20. Algemeiner, The (June 17, 2024). "Maldives Postpones Israel Passport Ban, Cites Concerns Over Blanket Law Keeping Out Palestinians - Algemeiner.com". www.algemeiner.com.
21. "Key agreements exchanged between the Maldives and Seychelles". The President's Office.
22. "Tourist arrivals by nationality - Ministry of Tourism". www.tourism.gov.mv. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
23. "Tourism Yearbook 2019" (PDF). Ministry of Tourism (Maldives). Retrieved 29 December 2019.

External links

• Maldives Immigration