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Updated July 2024

The Maldives is a popular tourist destination known for its crystal clear waters, white sandy beaches, and luxury resorts. One of the most convenient aspects of visiting the Maldives is the availability of free visa-on-arrival for citizens of all countries.

This means that travelers from around the globe are technically not allowed to visit the Maldives visa-free and are only offered free visa-on-arrival. In this article, Wego will provide an overview of the Maldives visa-on-arrival process along with its requirements.

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Maldives visa-free countries

According to the Republic of Maldives’ official immigration website, a tourist visa is granted to all nationalities in the Maldives. As such, inbound tourists visiting for tourism cannot technically travel to the Maldives visa-free. However, the Government of Maldives offers free visa-on-arrival with certain requirements for all nationalities, as detailed below.

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Maldives visa-free requirements

As mentioned before, Maldives doesn’t allow travellers to visit visa-free technically and only offers visa-on-arrival. That also includes the fact that everyone who wishes to travel to the Maldives does not need to get pre-approval for a visa. However, they should satisfy the following requirements to get immigration clearance upon arrival (visa-on-arrival):

a machine-readable passport (MRP) or a passport with Machine Readable Zone (MRZ), valid for at least 1 month. Please note that travelers with extended validity in their passports are not allowed to enter
children/minors must have their own passport to enter the Maldives
a complete travel itinerary including return journey confirmed 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 Maldives, or hold a pre-approved visa sponsorship Maldives Immigration
able to demonstrate that their entry requirements to their onward destinations are in order. This includes their visa and passport validity
must fill out a Traveller Declaration within 96 hours to the flight time. The form has to be submitted electronically via IMUGA
Yellow Fever vaccination certificate, if applicable. Children under 1 year of age are exempt. Click here to check the Yellow Fever endemic countries

Please note that according to the Maldivian authorities, a complete travel itinerary does not guarantee entry to Maldives. Entry will be granted at the port of entry after the determination of admissibility by Immigration officers, as in accordance with Sections 7 and 8 of the Maldives Immigration Act 2007.