It has been announced by Maldives Immigration that the validity of expired passports have been extended, as the arrival of new passport booklets is delayed and set to arrive after approximately one month’s time.

The German contractor responsible for supplying the Maldivian passport booklets has informed Immigration, that they were unable to meet the scheduled time of delivery due to technical issues at its printing facilities.

In result, Immigration has decided to extend the validity for expired passports to counter this issue as a temporary measure. Individuals applying for a new passport may have their current expired passports extended, free of charge until the end of June next year.

Moreover, first time applicants with the intention of taking short-term trips within common destinations, such as India, Sri Lanka etc. will be issued emergency passports, which are valid for one year.

Despite the temporary measures taken, Immigration has assured it this issue will not cause any significant disruptions to Maldivians travelling abroad.

Furthermore, issuance for E-passports have been suspended since the 9th of May, where at the time Immigration had stated the reason for the suspension had been due to delays in the shipment of passport booklets that were required for printing.