Maldives Visa for Indians: Rules, Fees and How to Apply

The Maldives is about the least stressful visa an Indian passport can deal with. No application to file, no embassy appointment, no notarised bank statement, no fee for the visa itself. You land at Velana International Airport in Male, hand your passport across the counter, and you get a free 30 day tourist stamp. But "no visa needed in advance" is not the same as "nothing to do in advance". There is one compulsory online form, a short list of documents immigration genuinely asks for, and a set of taxes that quietly add several thousand rupees per person. Treat every number below as approximate and confirm it on the official portal before you fly, because Maldives Immigration revises fee lines more often than travellers expect.

What visa Indians actually get

Indian passport holders get a free visa on arrival, valid for 30 days, issued at the counter in Male, and also at Gan and Hanimaadhoo. It is the same rule for every nationality, so there is no separate Indian queue and no separate Indian paperwork. Two things to be clear about:

• There is no Maldives e visa for tourists. If a website is selling you a "maldives e visa" for Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000, it is charging you for a free government form you can fill in five minutes. This is the thing most guides get wrong, and paid e visa services are the one purchase on this trip you should genuinely skip.
• The Maldives visa fee for the arrival stamp is zero. Your real costs arrive later, as taxes on the holiday rather than on the visa.

India and the Maldives also have a bilateral arrangement allowing stays of up to 90 days for medical treatment, business and education, but those run on supporting paperwork such as hospital appointment letters. For a beach holiday, the 30 day stamp is what you get.

The one form you must fill: the IMUGA Traveller Declaration

Every traveller, infants included, must submit a Traveller Declaration on the official Maldives Immigration portal at imuga.immigration.gov.mv.

• Submit it within 96 hours before your flight. File it too early and the system rejects it.
• It is free. You get a QR code by email. Screenshot it. Airport wifi at 3 am is not something to rely on.
• You need a second declaration before you fly home, again within 96 hours of departure. Plenty of people forget this one and end up filling it on their phone in the check in queue at Male.
• Airlines flying out of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kochi often check the QR code at the boarding gate.

Documents to have ready

Carry these, on paper or on your phone:

• Passport with at least one blank page. Maldives Immigration officially wants validity of one month beyond your stay, but airlines routinely apply the stricter six month rule at check in, and the airline decides whether you board. If your passport expires within six months, renew before you book.
• Confirmed accommodation registered with the Maldives Ministry of Tourism. A resort booking, or a licensed guesthouse in Hulhumale or Maafushi, is fine. A vague "pay at property" reservation with no confirmation number is where people get pulled aside.
• Return or onward ticket dated inside your 30 days.
• Proof of funds, roughly USD 100 plus about USD 50 per day, or a credit card. Resort arrivals are rarely asked. Guesthouse arrivals are asked more often.

Children need their own passports and their own declarations.

What it actually costs

The visa is free. These are the charges that catch Indian travellers out, all approximate and all worth reconfirming:

• Departure tax and airport development fee: roughly USD 50 each for economy passengers, so about USD 100 (close to Rs 8,500) per adult. These are normally bundled into your air ticket, so check your fare breakdown before budgeting twice.
• Green tax: about USD 12 per person per night at resorts and hotels, about USD 6 at smaller guesthouses on inhabited islands. Four nights for two adults at a resort is roughly USD 96, near Rs 8,300, and it is often billed at checkout rather than prepaid.
• Tourism GST of about 17 percent plus a service charge of about 10 percent on resort bills. Ask whether your package quote includes both before you compare prices.
• Return fares from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi typically run Rs 22,000 to Rs 45,000, with the December to January peak at the top of that range.

Why Indians get delayed or refused

Outright refusals are uncommon, but these are the recurring causes:

• No verifiable, licensed accommodation for the full stay.
• No return ticket, or an onward date past the 30 day limit.
• A previous overstay on a Maldivian stamp.
• Turning up with items that suggest work intent, such as a stack of CVs or tools, on a tourist stamp.
• Customs trouble rather than visa trouble: alcohol, pork products and vaping devices are prohibited on import. Vapes are confiscated and can earn a fine, and duty free liquor bought at an Indian airport is held at Male and returned only on departure.

Staying longer than 30 days

You can apply to extend up to a total of 90 days, but you must do it before the 30 days lapse, not after. Your resort or guesthouse usually files it with Maldives Immigration on your behalf. Expect a fee of around MVR 750, roughly Rs 4,100, plus supporting documents for the extra nights. Overstaying attracts fines and creates problems on future entries.

Know before you go

• Fill the IMUGA declaration twice, once for arrival and once for departure.
• Do not pay any agent for a Maldives visa on arrival. It cannot be bought in advance.
• Carry USD in small notes for tips and guesthouse extras. Indian rupees are not accepted, and UPI is not usable in practice yet.
• Vegetarian and Jain travellers do well here. Most resorts have an Indian chef and a dedicated vegetarian menu, but email your preference at booking, especially for Jain food without onion and garlic. Hulhumale has good Indian restaurants near the ferry terminal.
• On inhabited islands, dress modestly away from the marked bikini beaches. Alcohol is served only at resorts and licensed vessels.
• Speedboat and seaplane transfers are priced separately from your room, and are often the second biggest line on the bill after flights.

Fee bands do move, often from the first of a calendar year. Before you travel, open imuga.immigration.gov.mv, confirm the current green tax and departure tax figures, and check your passport against your airline's validity rule rather than the immigration minimum.

Related Maldives Travel Guides

Planning a trip to Maldives? Check out our tested guides for real Indian traveler budgets, day-by-day itineraries, and insider tips:

• Complete Planning Guide: Maldives Trip from India: The Complete Planning Guide
• Trip Budget & Resort Costs: Maldives Trip Cost from India: A Real Budget Breakdown
• 5-Day Itinerary: Maldives in 5 Days: A Relaxed First Trip Itinerary
• Travel Tips & Food Guide: Maldives Travel Tips for Indians: Money, SIM & Food