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Maldives Visa for Indians - Different Types, Fees, and Documents Required

Team AckoMar 7, 2024

Thanks to the proximity to the Indian mainland, Maldives remains one of the favourite tourist destinations for Indian nationals and those who are traveling to India. Number of Indians traveling to Maldives is on the rise. There are different kinds of Maldives visa for various purposes such as Maldives tourist visa, Maldives work visa, Maldives business visa, Maldives dependent visa, and Maldives marriage visa.

Contents

Why is Maldives a popular travel destination for Indians?
Different Types of Maldives Visa
Do Indians Need Visa for Maldives?
Maldives Visa Fee for Indians
Documents Required to Obtain Maldives On Arrival Visa for Indians
Maldives On Arrival Visa process for Indians
Maldives Work Visa for Indians
Applying for Work Visa
Entry Requirements for Maldives Work Visa for Indians
Dependent Visa for Indians in Maldives
Maldives Business Visa for Indian Nationals
Long term Multiple entry Maldives business visa for Indian Nationals
Marriage Visa
Maldives Visa Application Centers in India
How to deal with Maldives visa rejection?
Travel Insurance for Maldives Visa
Maldives visa on arrival countries
Frequently asked questions

Why is Maldives a popular travel destination for Indians?

The Maldives is a group of small islands in the Indian Ocean located to the southwest of India. Blessed with serene white beaches with turquoise blue waters, Maldives enjoys a warm tropical monsoon climate round the year with temperature averaging in the range of 25°C-31°C. For the food aficionados, Maldivian cuisine offers a wonderful palate of delicacies, mostly composed of tuna fish, coconut and local curries. These factors and the warm people of Maldives, make it an ideal tourist destination for travel enthusiasts around the world.

This article aims to answer various questions around Maldives visa for Indians, such as

Do Indians need a visa for Maldives?
What are the Maldives visa requirements for Indians?
What are the visa processing times?
What are the documents required for Maldives visa for Indians?
What are the fees for Maldives visa for Indians?

Different Types of Maldives Visa

There are different types of Maldives visa based on the purpose of visit. They are as follows:

Tourist Visa
Work Visa
Business Visa
Dependent Visa
Marriage Visa

Do Indians Need Visa for Maldives?

All Indians traveling to Maldives for tourism purposes are eligible for an on arrival visa, valid for a period of 30 days. This duration may be extended to another 60 days at the discretion of the Maldives Immigration. However, any visitor applying for extension of the visa duration must apply at least 2 days before the expiry of the current visa.

Maldives Visa Fee for Indians

The Maldives on arrival visa is completely free of cost. Indian nationals visiting Maldives for tourism will be issued a free on arrival visa for 90 days from the date of entry. However, if an Indian national who is visiting Maldives wants to extend the duration of visa by another 60 days, the cost for extension of Maldives tourist visa INR 3045. As this is an on arrival visa, there is no significant processing time for Maldives visa. The visa is issued immediately as you clear the immigration process.

Documents Required to Obtain Maldives On Arrival Visa for Indians

The following documents are required as basic entry requirements for Indian tourists to Maldives to obtain immigration clearance on arrival:

A valid passport with at least 6 months validity or a travel document with Machine Readable Zone (MRZ). However, please note that Maldives Immigration would not allow any passengers with a passport showing extended validity.
If you are an Indian tourist traveling to Maldives with children/minors, please ensure that they have their own passport.
A confirmed return ticket or onward journey ticket.
A prepaid confirmed hotel booking at a registered hotel for the entire duration of your stay.
Proof of sufficient funds for the stay.
A valid visa and passport for the onward journey to the next destination.
All travellers to Maldives must submit a Travel Declaration within 96 hours to the flight time. This form can be downloaded from the official website of Maldives Immigration.

Maldives On Arrival Visa process for Indians

Once you arrive at your port of entry in the Republic of Maldives, proceed to the immigration counter and present the required documents viz., your passport, return/onward ticket, and proof of funds. The immigration officer will inquire about the purpose of your visit and the planned duration of your stay in Maldives. Provide accurate and factual answers to the questions asked by the immigration officers. Providing any bogus information or misleading information to the immigration officers may result in the denial of entry into the country.

Upon satisfactory screening of your documents and information, the immigration officer will issue a free Maldives tourist visa for 90 days. It is important to note that the duration of visa granted is at the discretion of the immigration officer. Maldives Immigration will be the final authority to grant or deny entry to the visitors at the port of entry.

Indian nationals who enter Maldives using a tourist visa are not allowed to take up any paid employment or conduct business or set up any professional practice.

Maldives Work Visa for Indians

All Indians who are seeking to stay in Maldives for the purpose of employment should be having a valid Maldives work visa. The employer will be obtaining the work visa for the employee. The Maldivian Immigration shall process the application and issue a work visa within 15 days of submission of application by the employer. The employee shall be expected to undergo medical screening at one of the authorized medical facilities.

Applying for Work Visa

The Maldivian employer offering employment to an Indian national must apply for the Work Visa of the employee by submitting the following documents directly or through a representative.

Employee’s Passport
Work Permit copy
A recent passport size photo in compliance with Maldives Immigration passport photo standards
Medical health report of the employee obtained from an authorized hospital
Receipt for the submission of Work Visa Application (IM29)

Entry Requirements for Maldives Work Visa for Indians

A passport having a minimum validity of 1 year with machine readable zone (MRZ). This should be the same passport for which the work permit was issued.
A Work Permit with validity for 90 days from the date of arrival in Maldives.
Traveler Health Declaration must be submitted within 48 hours before departure from the first port of embarkation. This declaration can be submitted online via IMUGA.

In November 2019, Maldives Immigration launched their fully Online work visa service. This facilitates the processing of visa within 48 hours of the submission of application. The visa will be processed in 3 working days. The applicants can schedule an appointment via online work visa service to submit their passport for visa stamping and to collect the passport after visa stamping.

Dependent Visa for Indians in Maldives

Dependents can be spouse, children and parents of the principal work visa holder. The dependents of Indians with valid Maldives work visas, can be issued multiple entry visas depending on the type of employment and the qualification of the principal employment of the visa holder.

It is important to note that dependent visa holders are not allowed to work in Maldives.

Maldives Business Visa for Indian Nationals

Indian nationals who visit Maldives for the purpose of conducting business (for example, finalising business agreements, for conducting business negotiations with their clients, or signing contracts etc.) do not need any separate business visa. They can do business activities in Maldives with their on arrival visa issued for 90 days. All they need are the documents required for Maldives tourist visa for Indians. They need to produce their valid Indian passport, prepaid confirmed hotel room booking, and confirmed tickets for return/onward journey.

Long term Multiple entry Maldives business visa for Indian Nationals

Indian nationals who intend to travel often to Maldives for the purpose of conducting business in Maldives can also obtain a long term (up to 5 years) multiple entry non-resident business visa from Maldives immigration. In this case, they should not stay for more than ninety days during each visit. If needed, they can extend their visa for 90 more days (making it 180 days of continuous stay in the country).

However, if they are preparing to stay for more than 180 days within a calendar year, the Indian national with valid Maldives business visa must get registered with the Maldives immigration and obtain the necessary permit from the Maldives Immigration. This approval must be obtained within two weeks from the expiry of 180 days of entry into the country.

It should be noted that an Indian national holding Maldives business visa is not allowed to take up any employment in Maldives. To be able to work in Maldives, an Indian national should have a valid Maldives work visa.

Marriage Visa

Maldives issues marriage visas to a foreign national who is married to an Maldivian citizen, which enables the person to stay in the country.

A foreigner (Indian in this case) travelling to Maldives to marry a citizen of Maldives or already married to a citizen of Maldives, and visits the country to register their marriage should be sponsored before their arrival in Maldives. The Sponsorship Declaration should be submitted via the IMUGA portal, which is the online portal for immigration services.

Upon arrival in the country, the foreigner must apply for a Marriage Visa within 30 days and complete the legal marriage process. Foreigners already residing in Maldives under another type of visa, must convert the existing visa to Marriage Visa once the legal registration of the marriage is completed.

Maldives Visa Application Centers in India

The following are the Maldives visa application centers in India.

Center	City	Address	Phone Number
The Embassy of Republic of Maldives in India	New Delhi	C-31, Anand Niketan, New Delhi, Delhi 110021.	011 4143 5701
The Consulate of Maldives	Thiruvananthapuram	Lavanya, TC no:16/3176, Kumarapuram Pattom Road, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695011.	0471 255 8190

How to deal with Maldives visa rejection?

As Maldives issues an on arrival visa, the risk of rejection of your visa is practically non-existent. However, it is very important that you carry all the required travel documents in the required condition and must be able to produce them to the immigration officer on request.

Travel Insurance for Maldives Visa

Maldives is the type of tourist location where you would engage in watersports and other adventures. So, it is highly advisable, though not mandatory, to buy travel insurance while you travel to Maldives. How much ever you may be careful and cautious enough, things might go seriously wrong. In such situations, having travel insurance will definitely be a huge advantage for you and your folks. Let’s imagine that you have just landed in Maldives on a 10 day vacation. But, to your horror, you discover that your baggage has been misplaced. Now you are stranded in a new country without your luggage. Travel insurance can help you with the unforeseen expenses in this situation.

Also, let’s suppose you have lost your passport during a shopping spree. Now, you can’t return to India without your passport. Applying for a tatkal/emergency passport will cost you dearly. You can manage such an uneasy situation with proper travel insurance in your kitty.

Though Maldives is a peaceful vacation spot and the crime rate is very low, there have been reported incidents of theft, pickpocketing and conmen trapping their unassuming victims. God forbid you fall for such unfortunate attacks, you still have the safety net of a robust travel insurance with you.

Maldives visa on arrival countries

The Republic of Maldives offers a free on arrival visa for up to 30 days for all nationalities.

Frequently asked questions

Here are some answers to the most common questions related to maldives visa for indians,

Is Maldives visa free for Indians?

Yes. Indians who are visiting Maldives for tourism purposes are issued a free on arrival visa for 30 days on the date of their entry into the country. However, this visa can be extended for a duration of further 60 days with a fee of INR 3045.

Is Maldives open for Indians?

Yes. Maldives is open for Indians. There is no travel restriction into Maldives. Indian nationals travelling to Maldives are advised to follow all the eligibility criteria laid out by Maldives Immigration.

Is a passport required for Maldives travel?

All Indian nationals traveling to Maldives need a valid Indian passport with at least 6 months validity.

How long can I stay in Maldives?

Maldives Immigration issues on arrival visa for the duration of 30 days. However, this duration may be extended to a further 60 days at the discretion of the immigration officer. The visitor must produce a confirmed return ticket, prepaid confirmed hotel room booking and the proof of sufficient funds for the duration of intended stay.

Is travel insurance mandatory for Maldives travel?

Though travel insurance is not mandatory for traveling to Maldives, it is highly recommended to have one as it will be extremely helpful in case of unfortunate incidents such as loss of possessions, accidents, injuries, and flight delays and cancellations.

Is a health screening report mandatory for Maldives travel?

Yes, a health screening report from an authorised hospital is mandatory for Maldives travel.

Is yellow fever vaccination certificate mandatory for Indians?

No. Indian nationals traveling to Maldives are not expected to submit a certificate of vaccination for yellow fever.

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Disclaimer: The information mentioned on this page is compiled from different websites and government sources. The information may be updated from time to time. Hence, please refer to the respective government websites and verify before making any visa-related decisions.