The Maldives tourist visa is granted for all nationalities on arrival to the Maldives, except for Israel who are currently banned. As such, a foreigner travelling to The Maldives as a tourist does not require pre-approval for the visa but they do need the traveller registration as mentioned. However, the person must satisfy the basic entry requirements to get immigration clearance upon arrival.

The basic entry requirements are as follows;

1. A passport or a travel document with Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) with at least 1 month validity. (Passengers with an extended validity in their passports are not allowed to enter.)
2. 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.
3. Entry requirements to their onward destinations; for example, the visa and passport validity.
4. Traveller Declaration must be 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. Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate, if applicable. Children under 1 year of age are exempt from the Yellow Fever vaccination. Click here to check the Yellow Fever endemic countries.

Children / minors must have their own passport to enter The Maldives.

Transit travellers are defined as those travelling to another country via The Maldives, without clearing The Maldives arrival immigration.

A complete travel itinerary (return journey confirmed tickets, prepaid confirmed hotel booking at a registered hotel, if not provide proof of financial means for sufficient funds to support the stay in Maldives) 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 Section 7 and 8 of The Maldives Immigration Act 2007.

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Last update: December 21, 2022

Source: Maldives Immigration

So that stuff above is from the official The Maldives website. Here is what actually happened on arrival for me…

Arrival In The Maldives

I flew in on a direct flight with Air Arabia from Sharjah in United Arab Emirates to Velana international airport, which is on Hulhule Island in The Maldives. Hulhule Island is part of the Male Atoll, hence why the airport is known as Male on your ticket. Officially you are landing in the Male Atoll though, not the actual capital city of Male, nor the actual island of Male. It did actually confuse me a bit, now it doesn’t. You take a boat over to Male, the capital city, and it costs $1 US Dollar, payable in US Dollars for 1 Dollar or 15 Rufiya in the local currency.

I landed and joined the queue at immigration. The gentleman checked only 3 things, all of which I had printed –

1.My Traveller Declaration form for The Maldives.
2.My accommodation in The Maldives.
3.My flight out of The Maldives.

And with that he gave me an entry passport stamp and permission to stay there for 30 days, of which I would use only 4, and almost 5 given they tried to ban me from leaving. It was free to enter The Maldives for me, but I had to pay a bribe to leave.