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Asia · MV

Maldives — Citizenship Guide

Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 12 years; dual citizenship is generally not permitted.

Why Maldives?

The Maldives passport offers visa-free, visa-on-arrival, ETA, or e-visa access to 125 destinations, ranking it #103 globally.

Muslim requirement.

Citizenship by descent

Maldives applies jus sanguinis — citizenship can be acquired by descent from a citizen parent, and in some cases from grandparents or more distant ancestors.

Naturalisation

Naturalisation typically requires 12 years of residence, usually alongside language and integration requirements.

Dual citizenship

Maldives generally does not permit dual citizenship — naturalising usually requires renouncing your existing nationality.

Fees & timeline

There is no standard published application fee — costs vary, so check with official sources.


Compiled from the Citizenship Hub law dataset (approximate). Verify with official government sources before relying on this information.

Where the Maldives passport can travel

Visa-free, visa on arrival, ETA, and e-visa access by destination. Hover for details.

Fiji — Visa-free Tanzania — Visa on arrival W. Sahara — Unknown Canada — Visa required United States of America — Visa required Kazakhstan — Visa-free Uzbekistan — e-Visa Papua New Guinea — ETA Indonesia — Visa on arrival Argentina — Visa required Chile — Visa required Dem. Rep. Congo — e-Visa Somalia — e-Visa Kenya — Visa-free Sudan — Visa required Chad — e-Visa Haiti — Visa-free Dominican Rep. — Visa required Russia — Visa-free Bahamas — Visa-free Falkland Is. — Unknown Greenland — Unknown Fr. S. Antarctic Lands — Unknown Timor-Leste — Visa on arrival South Africa — Visa-free Lesotho — Visa-free Mexico — Visa required Uruguay — Visa required Brazil — Visa required Bolivia — e-Visa Peru — Visa required Colombia — e-Visa Panama — Visa-free Costa Rica — Visa-free Nicaragua — Visa on arrival Honduras — Visa required El Salvador — e-Visa Guatemala — Visa required Belize — Visa-free Venezuela — Visa-free Guyana — Visa-free Suriname — ETA Ecuador — Visa-free Puerto Rico — Unknown Jamaica — Visa-free Cuba — e-Visa Zimbabwe — Visa-free Botswana — Visa-free Namibia — Visa on arrival Senegal — Visa required Mali — Visa required Mauritania — e-Visa Benin — e-Visa Niger — Visa required Nigeria — e-Visa Cameroon — e-Visa Togo — e-Visa Ghana — Visa required Côte d'Ivoire — ETA Guinea — e-Visa Guinea-Bissau — Visa on arrival Liberia — e-Visa Sierra Leone — e-Visa Burkina Faso — e-Visa Central African Rep. — Visa required Congo — Visa required Gabon — e-Visa Eq. Guinea — e-Visa Zambia — Visa-free Malawi — Visa-free Mozambique — Visa on arrival eSwatini — Visa-free Angola — Visa required Burundi — Visa on arrival Israel — e-Visa Lebanon — Visa required Madagascar — Visa on arrival Palestine — Visa-free Gambia — Visa-free Tunisia — Visa-free Algeria — Visa required Jordan — Visa on arrival United Arab Emirates — Visa-free Qatar — Visa on arrival Kuwait — Visa required Iraq — e-Visa Oman — e-Visa Vanuatu — Visa-free Cambodia — Visa on arrival Thailand — Visa-free Laos — Visa on arrival Myanmar — e-Visa Vietnam — e-Visa North Korea — Visa required South Korea — e-Visa Mongolia — Visa-free India — Visa-free Bangladesh — Visa-free Bhutan — Visa-free Nepal — Visa on arrival Pakistan — Visa-free Afghanistan — Visa required Tajikistan — Visa-free Kyrgyzstan — Visa-free Turkmenistan — Visa required Iran — Visa on arrival Syria — e-Visa Armenia — e-Visa Sweden — Visa required Belarus — Visa required Ukraine — e-Visa Poland — Visa required Austria — Visa required Hungary — Visa required Moldova — e-Visa Romania — Visa required Lithuania — Visa required Latvia — Visa required Estonia — Visa required Germany — Visa required Bulgaria — Visa required Greece — Visa required Turkey — Visa on arrival Albania — e-Visa Croatia — Visa required Switzerland — Visa required Luxembourg — Visa required Belgium — Visa required Netherlands — Visa required Portugal — Visa required Spain — Visa required Ireland — Visa-free New Caledonia — Unknown Solomon Is. — Visa on arrival New Zealand — Visa required Australia — e-Visa Sri Lanka — Visa on arrival China — Visa-free Taiwan — Unknown Italy — Visa required Denmark — Visa required United Kingdom — ETA Iceland — Visa required Azerbaijan — e-Visa Georgia — e-Visa Philippines — Visa-free Malaysia — Visa-free Brunei — Visa-free Slovenia — Visa required Finland — Visa required Slovakia — Visa required Czechia — Visa required Eritrea — Visa required Japan — Visa required Paraguay — Visa required Yemen — Visa required Saudi Arabia — Visa on arrival Antarctica — Unknown Cyprus — Visa required Morocco — Visa-free Egypt — Visa required Libya — e-Visa Ethiopia — e-Visa Djibouti — Visa on arrival Uganda — e-Visa Rwanda — Visa-free Bosnia and Herz. — Visa required North Macedonia — Visa required Serbia — Visa required Montenegro — Visa required Trinidad and Tobago — Visa-free S. Sudan — e-Visa
  • Visa-free
  • Visa on arrival
  • ETA
  • e-Visa
  • Visa required
  • No admission

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