Indian passport holders do not need a Maldives visa in advance. Maldives Immigration issues a tourist visa on arrival with no pre-approval and no fee. The one thing you must do before you fly is submit the free IMUGA Traveller Declaration, online, within 96 hours of arrival — and every traveller in your party needs their own, children included.
The Maldives is one of the easiest countries in the world for an Indian passport to enter, which is exactly why people get caught out: there is so little to do that the few real requirements get skipped. Everything on this page comes from the official Maldives Immigration tourist visa page, which was last updated on 10 September 2026.
Do Indians need a visa for the Maldives?
No advance visa is required. In Maldives Immigration's own words, a tourist visa is granted on arrival and foreigners travelling to the Maldives as tourists do not require pre-approval. There is no application, no embassy appointment and no visa fee. What you must do is satisfy the entry requirements when you land, because the visa is granted at the port of entry once an immigration officer is satisfied you meet them.
That last point is worth taking seriously. Maldives Immigration states explicitly that a complete travel itinerary does not guarantee entry, and that admissibility is determined at the port of entry under sections 7 and 8 of the Maldives Immigration Act 2007.
What does Maldives immigration actually check?
Five things, per the official entry requirements:
- A passport or travel document with a Machine-Readable Zone and at least one month's validity.
- A complete travel itinerary, including confirmed return journey tickets, a prepaid confirmed booking at a registered facility, and sufficient funds for your stay — or a sponsorship approved by Maldives Immigration.
- That you meet the entry requirements of your next destination, including any visa or passport-validity rules it has.
- A submitted IMUGA Traveller Declaration, filed within 96 hours before arrival.
- A valid yellow fever vaccination certificate if you are arriving from, or have recently travelled through, a country with a risk of yellow fever transmission. Children under one year old are exempt.
How long must your passport be valid?
One month. This surprises almost everyone, because the six-month rule is so common elsewhere that travellers assume it applies everywhere. For the Maldives it does not.
There is a catch in the same line, though, and it is the single most overlooked rule on the page: passengers with an extended validity in their passports are not allowed to enter. If your passport was extended rather than replaced with a new booklet, you may be refused entry no matter how much time is left on it. Check this the moment you start planning, not the week you fly — a reissue takes time.
Children and minors must also hold their own passports. There is no travelling on a parent's document.
What is the IMUGA Traveller Declaration?
IMUGA is the Maldives immigration portal, and the Traveller Declaration is the one piece of paperwork every visitor genuinely has to complete. The rules are simple:
- Go to the IMUGA portal at imuga.immigration.gov.mv.
- Complete and submit the Traveller Declaration up to 96 hours (4 days) before arrival.
- Submit it electronically. Submission is free of charge — if a site asks you to pay for this, it is not the official portal.
- Present the completed declaration at immigration when you arrive.
- Each traveller submits their own, including children and minors.
The 96-hour window is the part that trips couples up. File it too early and the form will not accept the submission; leave it to the airport and you are doing paperwork on your phone in a queue. We remind our travellers four days out, but set your own reminder too.
What counts as a prepaid confirmed booking?
This is the requirement that quietly rules out turning up and finding somewhere. Maldives Immigration asks for a prepaid confirmed booking at a registered facility — a licensed resort, hotel or guesthouse — not a provisional reservation you could cancel at the gate.
If you book through us, this is simply handled: the confirmation voucher we issue names the registered resort, the dates and the room, and it is the document to have open on your phone when you reach the immigration desk. The islands we book are all licensed resorts — Centara Ras Fushi, Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi, Adaaran Club Rannalhi, Adaaran Prestige Vadoo, Atmosphere Kanifushi, Coco Bodu Hithi, Dhigufaru, dusitD2 Feydhoo, Emerald Maldives, Furaveri, Heritance Aarah, Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma, LUX South Ari Atoll, NOOE Kunaavashi, OBLU NATURE Helengeli, OBLU SELECT Lobigili, OBLU XPERIENCE Ailafushi, Reethi Faru, Siyam World, Sun Siyam Olhuveli and Villa Nautica. You can see the current list, with what each stay includes, on our packages page.
If you are travelling on the local-island route instead, the same rule applies — the guesthouse must be registered, and you still need the prepaid confirmation. Our Maldives on a budget guide explains how that model works.
Do you need travel insurance or a return ticket?
A confirmed return journey ticket is part of the stated entry requirements, so yes — book the return leg before you fly, not after you arrive. Travel insurance is not listed among the entry requirements on the tourist visa page, but we recommend it anyway: the Maldives is a country of small islands where any medical problem means a boat or a seaplane before it means a hospital, and that is expensive without cover.
What can go wrong at the airport?
In practice, four things, and all of them are avoidable:
- An extended-validity passport. The one rule with no workaround at the desk. Check the booklet now.
- No IMUGA declaration. Free, four days out, one per person — including the baby.
- A booking that is not prepaid or not at a registered property. Have the voucher, not an email thread.
- No onward or return ticket. One-way arrivals invite questions you do not want after a five-hour flight.
None of this is difficult. It is just specific, and the specifics are not the ones Indian travellers are used to from Dubai or Thailand.
Planning a Maldives trip?
We handle the resort booking and send you the confirmed prepaid voucher immigration asks for, then remind you when the IMUGA window opens. Offices in Bangalore (9945534012) and Coimbatore (9994042247). See our Maldives packages or send us your dates.
Entry requirements, passport rules and the IMUGA process on this page are taken from the official Maldives Immigration tourist visa page and the IMUGA portal, read on 23 September 2026 (the immigration page is dated 10 September 2026). Immigration rules change — check both again in the week before you fly.
Frequently asked questions
Do Indians need a visa for the Maldives in advance?
No. Maldives Immigration grants a tourist visa on arrival and states that tourists do not require pre-approval. There is nothing to apply for and nothing to pay for the visa itself. What you do have to do before you fly is submit the IMUGA Traveller Declaration, which is free and takes a few minutes.
How many months must your passport be valid for the Maldives?
Maldives Immigration asks for a passport or travel document with a Machine-Readable Zone and at least one month's validity. That is unusually short — most destinations want six months. It also carries a warning that catches people out: passengers whose passports carry an extended validity are not allowed to enter. If your passport was extended rather than reissued, check it well before you book.
What is the IMUGA Traveller Declaration and when do you submit it?
It is a compulsory online form for everyone arriving in the Maldives, filed at imuga.immigration.gov.mv within 96 hours — four days — before arrival. Submission is free. Every traveller needs their own, children and minors included, and you present the completed declaration at immigration when you land.
What documents do you need to show at Malé airport?
A passport that meets the validity rule, a complete travel itinerary including confirmed return tickets, a prepaid confirmed booking at a registered facility, and enough funds for your stay, or a sponsorship approved by Maldives Immigration. You must also meet the entry requirements of wherever you fly to next, and carry a yellow fever certificate if you have recently been in a country where yellow fever is a risk.