Visa policy of Maldives explained

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 exemption

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

90 days India^[2] Sri Lanka 30 days China^[3] Guyana Mongolia^[4]

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.)^[5]
• 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 Maldives Immigration.^[5]
• Have entry requirements to their onward destination; for example, the visa and passport validity.^[5]
• Have Traveller Declaration filled in and submitted by all travelers travelling to and from Maldives, within 96 hours to the flight time. The form has to be submitted electronically via IMUGA.^[5]
• Have Carte Jaune proof of a yellow fever vaccination, if applicable. Children under 1 year of age are exempt from the yellow fever vaccination.^{[5] [6]}

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.
• 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.^{[7] [8]}
• However as of 18 June 2024, the ban is postponed.^[9]
• 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
Kazakhstan^[10]	All	9 May 2022
Cambodia^[11]	All	16 January 2023
Ghana	All	14 March 2023
Burundi	All	26 April 2023
Rwanda	All	5 May 2023
Serbia	Diplomatic, official	8 May 2023
	All	11 June 2023
Japan	Diplomatic, official	29 July 2023
	All	19 September 2023
Honduras	All	19 September 2023
Togo	All	19 September 2023
Andorra	All	20 September 2023
Guyana	All	22 September 2023

Visitor statistics

Most visitors arriving to the Maldives were from the following countries of nationality:^{[12] [13]}

Country	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
	284,029	283,116	306,905	324,326	359,514
	166,030	90,474	83,019	66,955	52,368
	136,343	105,297	88,867	71,202	65,616
	131,561	117,532	112,109	106,381	105,132
	126,199	114,602	103,977	101,843	92,775
	83,369	70,935	61,931	46,522	44,323
	59,738	50,476	42,365	40,487	42,024
	54,474	42,901	39,180	32,589	29,308
	44,251	42,304	41,133	39,894	39,244
	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

External links

• Maldives Immigration

Notes and References

1. Web site: Tourist Visa. Maldives Immigration, Republic of Maldives.
2. Web site: FAQ in Visa Services . 27 March 2024 . Ministry of External Affairs . English.
3. News: 17 February 2023 . 《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 . 27 March 2024 . Xinhua . Chinese.
4. Web site: D. . Oyunsan . 2 January 2024 . Visa-Free Travel with Maldives to Take Effect from January 12, 2024 . 27 March 2024 . Montsame.
5. Web site: Entry Requirements . 27 March 2024 . Maldives Immigration.
6. Web site: List of Yellow Fever Endemic Countries . 27 March 2024 . Maldives Immigration.
7. Web site: 2024-06-02 . Maldives bans entry of Israeli passport holders: 'In Solidarity with Palestine' . 2024-06-02 . India Today . en.
8. Web site: i24NEWS . 2024-06-02 . Maldives to ban Israelis amid rising public anger over Gaza war . 2024-06-02 . I24news . en.
9. https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/06/17/maldives-postpones-israel-passport-ban-cites-concerns-blanket-law-keeping-out-palestinians/
10. Web site: Ministry of Foreign Affairs . Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Maldives) . 9 May 2022 . Maldives and Kazakhstan Sign Visa Waiver Agreement . 27 March 2024 . Government of the Maldives.
11. Web site: Cambodia, Maldives agree on visa waiver.
12. Web site: Tourist arrivals by nationality - Ministry of Tourism . www.tourism.gov.mv . 11 April 2018.
13. Web site: Tourism Yearbook 2019 . . 29 December 2019.