- Digital nomad visa
- No
Overall4/10Harder visas than about 75% of cities
Good to know
Good to Know
- The 30-day visa on arrival is completely free for essentially all nationalities — no embassy visit, no advance application, and no fee for the base 30 days.
- You must complete the online IMUGA Traveller Declaration within 96 hours before your flight — this is mandatory, not optional, and is separate from getting the visa stamp itself.
- Airlines and immigration commonly want to see 6 months of passport validity even though the official minimum is 1 month — renew ahead of time to avoid boarding issues.
- Israeli passport holders have been denied entry and even transit since April 2025 due to a specific legal amendment — this is a hard rule, not discretionary.
- If you want to stay beyond 30 days, start the extension application before your current visa expires — approval is discretionary and requires proof of funds, accommodation, and an updated return ticket.
- Working (paid or unpaid) is not allowed on the standard tourist visa on arrival; long-term remote work from the Maldives still uses this tourist entry since there's no dedicated digital nomad visa, but you're technically expected not to be 'employed' locally.
- There is currently no official Maldives digital nomad visa — despite some blogs describing an '11/11 Visa' or 'Remote Work Permit,' this could not be confirmed against any government source, so don't rely on it.
- Most remote workers stay on the standard 30-day tourist visa (extendable once to a total of 90 days) and work in a legal gray area — this is tolerated in practice but not officially sanctioned.
- Overstaying carries escalating daily fines and risks detention/deportation, so track your exit date carefully if you're not planning to leave by day 90.
- The Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR) is pegged to the US dollar at roughly 15.4 MVR per USD, which makes budgeting in USD fairly predictable.
Visa Free Entry
- Process
- No pre-arrival visa application. Travelers complete the free electronic IMUGA Traveller Declaration online before flying, then present passport, IMUGA confirmation, accommodation proof/booking, and return ticket at the immigration counter on arrival; the 30-day visa is stamped free of charge on the spot.
- Days Granted
- Up to 30 days on arrival for most nationalities.
- Who Qualifies
- All nationalities except Israeli passport holders, who have been refused entry and transit since 15 April 2025 under the 3rd Amendment to the Immigration Act. A small number of nationalities (India, China, Russia, Kazakhstan) have separate bilateral visa-exempt arrangements rather than visa-on-arrival, with India's arrangement allowing up to 90 days instead of 30.
- Baseline Policy
- Free 30-day visa on arrival issued to citizens of virtually all countries at the port of entry (mainly Velana International Airport). No pre-approval or advance visa application is needed for most nomads/tourists.
Extension Process
- How
- Apply online via the IMUGA portal or in person at the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Malé before the initial 30 days expire, with proof of onward ticket, continued accommodation, and sufficient funds
- Max Total Stay
- Up to 90 days total per visit (initial 30 days plus up to 60 additional days), subject to immigration discretion
- Fee Note
- An extension fee applies (figures cited vary by source, roughly in the MVR 750 range or equivalent); exact current fee should be confirmed directly with Maldives Immigration before applying
Entry Requirements
- Passport with a Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) valid for at least 1 month from entry date (6 months recommended by embassies/airlines as a practical buffer)
- Return or onward ticket out of the Maldives
- Either a confirmed booking at a registered resort/hotel/guesthouse, OR proof of sufficient funds (commonly cited as roughly US$100 plus US$50 per day of stay)
- Completed online IMUGA Traveller Declaration, submitted within 96 hours before arrival
- No paid or unpaid work permitted on this entry category
Digital Nomad Visa And Tax
- Renewal Path
- The 30-day tourist visa can be extended once for an additional 60 days (90 days total) via the Department of Immigration in Malé; there is no long-term renewal path for remote workers outside employer sponsorship.
- Application Path
- No official digital-nomad application path exists. Nomads either enter visa-free/on-arrival as tourists (extendable once to 90 days) or, if they secure local employment, go through the employer-driven Work Permit + Work Visa process.
- Income Requirement
- No dedicated digital nomad visa exists, so there is no official income threshold to report. For the tourist-visa route, immigration officials may informally ask for evidence of funds of roughly US$100 per day of intended stay, though this is rarely enforced for travelers with confirmed resort/guesthouse bookings.
- Program Status Summary
- Multiple current sources (Lonely Planet, expat-visa guides, visa-directory sites) agree the Maldives has no dedicated digital-nomad visa program. Lonely Planet states plainly that the Maldives does not offer working holiday visas, and other visa-guide sites confirm there is currently no dedicated digital nomad visa program like Portugal, Thailand, or Indonesia, and that the government has only discussed remote-work visa proposals without implementing one.
- Unverified Third Party Claim
- One SEO-style visa-blog source (not an official government page) describes an '11/11 Visa' or 'Maldives Remote Work Permit' with a 12-month duration and a $250 fee, but this could not be corroborated on any Maldives Immigration or Ministry government page, and other secondary sources directly contradict it by stating no such program exists. Treat this as unconfirmed rather than settled fact.
- Documents Required Tourist Route
- Passport valid at least 6 months, a return/onward ticket, and (for extension) a passport photo and confirmation of accommodation and onward travel.
- Dedicated Digital Nomad Visa Exists
- No
- Tax Notes
- The Maldives has historically not taxed foreign-sourced remote income earned by short-term visitors, and several nomad-focused sources describe a tax-free stay for tourist-visa holders. However, we could not independently confirm current personal income tax residency rules (including any day-count trigger) against a primary Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) source at the time of research, so treat any specific tax-residency day threshold as unconfirmed rather than settled fact.
Closest Equivalent Paths
Path 1 Tourist Visa
- Extension Fee
- MVR 750
- Work Legality
- Technically, the tourist visa does not permit any form of work, though the government has not actively enforced this against remote workers who aren't taking local jobs.
- Extension Requirements
- Applicants must demonstrate sufficient funds and proof of onward travel; extensions are not guaranteed.
- Description
- The default route most remote workers actually use: the free 30-day tourist visa on arrival, extendable to 90 days total.
Path 2 Employer Sponsored Work Visa
- Process
- The process is employer-driven: the employer applies for the work permit, and the worker must enter the country and have the work visa issued within 15 days of arrival.
- Documents Required
- Passport bio-data page, Employment Approval, and a medical report from an authorized hospital, plus a mandatory medical examination covering infectious diseases and drug screening.
- Note
- This route is not viable for a self-employed/freelance nomad since it requires a Maldivian employer as sponsor.
- Description
- The only clearly legal route to work in-country long-term: an employer-sponsored Work Permit (Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology) plus a Work Visa (Maldives Immigration), used mainly by resort, education, and healthcare-sector expat staff.
Visa Ease Tier
low
Visa Ease Tier Rationale
No dedicated digital nomad visa exists, the only free entry option is a 30-day tourist stay (extendable once to 90 days) on which work is technically not permitted, and the sole clearly legal long-term work route requires a Maldivian employer sponsor rather than self-employment.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this visas research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Maldives
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.