Foreign nationals holding foreign licences will now be required to pass a driving test before being allowed to drive in the Maldives.
At a press conference held at the President’s Office, the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Mohamed Ameen noted that previous regulations had allowed foreign licence holders to drive in the Maldives under a relaxed policy. The Minister noted that local licences were even issued to foreign licence holders for durations that exceed the validity of their foreign licenses.
However, under the new policy, foreigners will only be issued driving permits in the Maldives for the same duration as their foreign licences. Their licences will be issued only after the completion of the driving assessment required to obtain a licence, similar to the process required for local applicants, the Minister.
"For instance, even if the validity of the foreigner’s passport is two months or one year, licences with a validity of ten years are being issued. Driving in Male’ requires navigating narrow streets. The techniques used when driving in foreign countries may be different when driving in the Maldives. For this reason, we are issuing licences to foreigners only if they complete their driving assessments, just like any other Maldivian,” the
Minister explained.
The former government decided to issue permanent licences without an assessment to those who held valid licences issued by countries recognided by the Ministry of Transport. Over 20 countries were included in the list of countries which did not require additional assessment.