The temporary United Kingdom (UK) Visa Application Centre has closed in the Maldievs after providing visa facilitation services for three consecutive days.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a total of 87 applications were processed from the UK Visa Application Centre. It is the highest number of applications processed from the centre to date.
The UK established the Visa Application Centre at the request of the Government of the Maldives to ease the process for those applying for UK visas, especially for students going to the UK for higher studies. The centre will take the biometric enrollments and documents from all applicants who have made prior appointments.
The government stated it is grateful to the UK for providing the visa application service in the Maldives. The service is provided annually to assist Maldivians travelling to the UK for further studies, to easily and conveniently apply for their visas.
The service is part of the government's broader efforts to ease and strengthen the consular services provided for Maldivians. The government is also working to allow visa-free travel to more countries and facilitate easier means by which Maldivians can obtain visas. Currently, Maldivians can travel to 88 countries without visas and discussions are being held to sign visa exemption agreements with 17 more countries.