- Maldives Immigration expects to resume issuing Ordinary Electronic Passports in early August after securing new passport booklets.
- Electronic passport issuance was suspended in May due to delays in importing the required booklets.
- During the suspension, Immigration continued issuing Ordinary Non-Electronic Passports, which comply with ICAO standards and are valid for five years.
Maldives Immigration expects to resume issuing Ordinary Electronic Passports in early August after securing a new shipment of passport booklets required for the service.
Electronic passport issuance was temporarily suspended in May due to delays in importing the booklets used to produce the travel documents.
Controller General of Immigration Ahmed Faseeh told state media PSM News that the required materials had now been ordered. The shipment is expected to arrive by the end of July or in early August, with electronic passport services set to resume once the supplies are received.
Electronic passports contain an embedded chip that stores the holder’s information and can be used at e-gate facilities. The system allows eligible travellers to complete immigration clearance using facial recognition or fingerprint verification without joining standard immigration queues.
During the suspension, Maldives Immigration has continued issuing Ordinary Non-Electronic Passports to applicants seeking ordinary passports.
The non-electronic passport is a machine-readable travel document that complies with International Civil Aviation Organisation standards and has a validity period of five years.
