Passport services will be introduced on every inhabited island with an airport and a resident population of at least 1,000, Minister of Homeland Security, Labour and Technology Ali Ihusaan has announced.
Speaking at a press briefing at the President’s Office, Minister Ihusaan said passport services were previously available in only five locations across the Maldives before President Dr Mohamed Muizzu took office. The service is now available on 39 islands, as well as in Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
He said the Government had decided to extend passport services to every island with an airport and at least 1,000 residents, with the expansion expected to be completed by the end of February 2027.
“By the end of next February, passport services will also be introduced on those islands. Based on our assessment, the service needs to be introduced on four additional islands,” the minister said.
The Government is also working to expand access to passport and national identity card services across the Maldives, allowing more residents to obtain essential documents closer to home.
Minister Ihusaan said the Government was taking steps to prevent a recurrence of the passport booklet shortages that had disrupted services. He noted that a German printing company had supplied the Maldives with passport booklets for the past 10 years.
The minister said the Maldives had one of the strongest passports in South Asia and that the Government did not intend to change its supplier arrangements without cause. However, to prevent future disruptions, it had decided to maintain a reserve stock of passport booklets.
Meanwhile, the Maldives Immigration Service is working to clear a backlog of approximately 2,646 passport applications following the recent disruption to passport issuance.
With a new supply of passport booklets, Immigration aims to clear the backlog within five days. The service receives an average of 350 passport applications a day.