Maldives Moves to Fully Digital Work Visas, Reserves Select Jobs for Citizens
Physical visa stickers are gone, employers now have a strict 15-day window to secure the Work e-Visa, and a short list of roles is now reserved for Maldivian citizens.
The Maldives has finished its shift to a fully digital foreign-worker visa process, and it comes with tighter timelines and a small but notable localization list.
The e-Visa is now the only valid document
The Work e-Visa issued through the government's Xpat portal is now the sole valid immigration document for foreign workers. Physical visa stickers placed in passports are no longer recognized. Before boarding a flight to the Maldives, workers need a valid Entry Pass issued by the Ministry of Homeland Security, and once they arrive, employers have a strict 15-day window to secure the Work e-Visa via Xpat.
A short list of jobs is now reserved for citizens
The government has stopped issuing new foreign-worker quotas for a specific set of roles it is reserving for Maldivian nationals: retail cashiers, taxi and rental-vehicle drivers, and aircraft co-pilots, first officers, and vessel captains.
New fee relief for small employers
On the cost side, new 2026 quota-fee waivers have been introduced for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), lowering the barrier for smaller employers to sponsor foreign staff.
- Work e-Visa on the Xpat portal is the only valid document — physical stickers no longer count
- A valid Entry Pass from the Ministry of Homeland Security is required before travel
- Employers have 15 days after arrival to secure the Work e-Visa
- New citizen-reserved roles: retail cashiers, taxi/rental-vehicle drivers, aircraft co-pilots/first officers, vessel captains
- New 2026 quota-fee waivers introduced for MSME employers
Resort, hospitality, and construction and project roles — the categories Globaris places candidates into — are unaffected by the localization list. But the fully digital process means tighter timelines: incomplete paperwork can now stall a case within days rather than weeks, so document readiness before arrival is more critical than it used to be.
Planning your application for Maldives?
Get an objective profile assessment and financial roadmap from our team before submitting your file.