Maldives Tourist Visa for Pakistanis: On Arrival, With a Free IMUGA Form
Maldives tourists get a visa on arrival, but need a prepaid booking, a return ticket and the free IMUGA form 96 hours before landing. See the full checklist.
The Maldives grants tourist visas on arrival, with no advance application. The visa is granted at the airport, but only if you pass the entry check, and you must submit the free Traveller Declaration on the IMUGA portal up to 96 hours before you land. Miss the form or the booking proof and you can be refused at the airport.
That is what the Maldives government's own immigration site says. We read the tourist visa page and the Traveller Declaration page at immigration.gov.mv on 8 October 2026. The tourist visa page was last updated on 10 September 2026.
One point first. The page speaks about "foreigners" in general and does not name Pakistan. It also does not state a visa fee or how many days you can stay. We say what it says, and tell you what to confirm.
The Maldives gives tourists a visa on arrival
A tourist visa is granted when you arrive in the Maldives. Visitors do not need approval beforehand. But the visa is not automatic. You must satisfy the basic entry requirements, and an immigration officer makes the final decision at the airport.
The site is blunt about this. A complete itinerary does not guarantee entry. Admission is decided at the port of entry under sections 7 and 8 of the Maldives Immigration Act 2007.
For a Pakistani family planning a honeymoon or a first foreign holiday, that line matters most. Pack the papers as if the officer will ask for every one of them.
Entry requirements to carry in your hand luggage
You need a machine-readable passport with at least one month of validity, a confirmed return ticket, a prepaid confirmed booking at a registered facility, enough money for the stay and a completed Traveller Declaration. Meet the next destination's rules too.
| Requirement | What the official page says |
|---|---|
| Passport | Machine-readable zone (MRZ), at least 1 month of validity |
| Itinerary | Confirmed return ticket, or an approved sponsorship |
| Accommodation | Prepaid confirmed booking at a registered facility |
| Money | Sufficient funds to cover the stay |
| Traveller Declaration | Submitted within 96 hours before arrival, free |
| Yellow fever certificate | Only if arriving from, or recently through, a risk country |
Take printouts as well as phone copies. A flat battery at the immigration desk is a poor reason to lose a holiday.
The IMUGA Traveller Declaration is free and takes minutes
Everyone arriving in the Maldives must submit the Traveller Declaration within 96 hours, or four days, before arrival. It is free. Submit it yourself on imuga.immigration.gov.mv, and do not pay anyone else to do it.
- Open imuga.immigration.gov.mv, the official portal, in your browser.
- Choose the Traveller Declaration and fill in your details.
- Submit it electronically, with no payment.
- Save the QR code or a printout to show on arrival.
- Repeat for each person in the family, including children.
Each traveller needs their own declaration, including children and minors. Children must also hold their own passport. A child written on a parent's passport will not do.
Fake websites charge for a form that costs nothing
Maldives Immigration warns that some websites and individuals charge a fee to submit the Traveller Declaration. It says the form is free and should only be submitted on the official IMUGA portal. Never share your passport details or pay on an unofficial site.
In Pakistan, travel agents sometimes add a fee for filling online forms. An agent may charge for their time, but the government form itself costs nothing. Ask what the charge covers before you agree.
The same caution applies to every visa. The official Thailand e-visa and Malaysia eVisa portals also sit on government domains. For the Maldives, that is gov.mv.
Check your passport and bookings before you buy a ticket
Your passport must be machine readable. Look at the bottom of the photo page for two lines of letters and numbers. That is the machine-readable zone the Maldives page asks for. Also count the months left, since the page asks for at least one.
Passports are also in a transition. Pakistan is reported to stop issuing machine-readable passports from 15 October and move to the e-passport. One report says an MRP you already hold stays usable until it expires.
Then work through the bookings. The hotel must be a registered facility and the booking must be prepaid and confirmed. A pay-at-hotel reservation does not match the wording. Ask the resort or guesthouse for a confirmation in writing.
If you connect through Sri Lanka and step outside the airport, you may need the separate Sri Lanka tourist visa through the ETA. The Maldives site treats a traveller who passes through without immigration clearance as a transit passenger, which is not the same as entering.
Money, medicines and insurance deserve a quick check
Funds are judged by the officer, and no number is printed on the page. Carry a bank statement and a card that works abroad. Pakistan allows an adult USD 5,000 in cash per trip, declared at Customs, so cards do the rest.
Check the foreign currency limit for travellers before you pack cash, and the airline baggage allowance for your route. A power bank also has its own flight rules.
Travel insurance is not on the entry list, but it is a sensible extra. If a bag is lost or a flight is cancelled, the steps for a travel insurance claim tell you what proof to keep.
Common questions
Do Pakistanis need a visa before travelling to the Maldives?
No pre-approval is needed for tourists. The visa is granted on arrival after the entry check. The official page does not name Pakistan, so confirm with your airline before booking.
Is the Maldives Traveller Declaration free?
Yes. Maldives Immigration says it is completely free and should be submitted yourself at imuga.immigration.gov.mv.
When should I submit the declaration?
Within 96 hours, which is four days, before you arrive. Each traveller, including children, submits one.
How many days can I stay on a tourist visa?
The official page we read does not state the length of stay. Ask the Maldives Immigration call centre on +960 1434 or email info@immigration.gov.mv before you book a long trip.
Can I be refused entry even with all my papers?
Yes. The site says a complete itinerary does not guarantee entry, and that the immigration officer decides at the port of entry.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
Last checked 8 October 2026. We read the Tourist Visa On Arrival page, last updated 10 September 2026, and the Traveller Declaration page, last updated 17 August 2026, on the Maldives Immigration website, immigration.gov.mv. The passport validity, itinerary, accommodation, funds, yellow fever, 96 hour declaration, free declaration and warning about fee-charging websites are all from those pages. The pages do not name Pakistan, state a visa fee or state a length of stay, so we have not given any. The 15 October end of machine-readable passport issue is reported and was covered earlier. The Maldives call centre is +960 1434 and the email is info@immigration.gov.mv. Rules change, so check the official page again before you fly.
About the author
Public Services and Education Journalist
Fajr Riaz is a journalist and content writer at Pakistan Era, based in Lahore. She covers the questions people meet in everyday life in Pakistan: how a public service works, what a change in the rules means, and where to find a reliable answer.
