Visa requirements for Maldivian citizens

Maldivian citizens need a Schengen visa, which covers all member states for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, the Maldives and 86 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

111 countries ask holders of the Maldivian passport for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter the Maldives without one: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola and 106 others.

73 countries ask holders of the Maldivian passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 0 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in the Maldives.

73 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in the Maldives, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for the Maldives, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in Sri Lanka (10) and India (5).

The United States refused 11% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of the Maldives in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 34 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 162 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Visa-free travel with the Maldivian passport

By continent, the Maldivian passport is visa-free in 17 countries in Asia, 16 countries in the Americas, 14 countries in Africa, 4 countries in Oceania and 3 countries in Europe. The longest visa-free stays for Maldivian citizens are allowed in Antigua and Barbuda (180 days), Barbados (180 days), Dominica (180 days), Fiji (120 days), Vanuatu (120 days) and the United Arab Emirates (90 days).

Visa on arrival

Maldivian citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia and 21 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Maldivian citizens enter Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Benin, Bolivia and 32 others. Ivory Coast, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname and the United Kingdom ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

How the passport compares

Of the 198 passports in the data, 5 can enter visa-free, 192 get a visa on arrival and 1 is not admitted for the Maldives.