Maldivian passport holders have needed a UK ETA since January 2025. Two years of validity, multiple entries, up to six months in Britain per visit — applied for online in minutes.
6 months
Maximum stay per visit
2 years
ETA validity
Multiple
Entries permitted
3 working days
Typical decision time
100% online
No embassy visit
Overview
The Maldives was a British protectorate until 1965 and remains closely tied to Britain through the Commonwealth, through education and through tourism — Britons are among the largest groups of visitors to the islands, and the resort industry that dominates the Maldivian economy has extensive British commercial links. Travel in the other direction is smaller in volume but steady, driven by education, medical treatment, business and government.
Since January 2025 that journey has required an Electronic Travel Authorisation. The Maldives remains a non-visa country for UK purposes and nothing about what Maldivian citizens may do in Britain has changed — the ETA is a digital pre-travel permission applied for online and attached to the passport number. It simply has to be obtained before departure.
Maldivian travel to Britain is shaped by the country's geography. Malé is the single international gateway, and while British Airways has operated a direct London service, most journeys connect through Colombo, Dubai, Doha or Istanbul. The ETA requirement is unaffected by the routing — it follows the passport, not the departure point.
At a glance
Eligibility
You do not need a visa, but you do need an ETA. The Maldives is a non-visa national country for UK purposes, so Maldivian citizens travel to Britain as visitors for tourism, family visits, business, private medical treatment or short study without a consular application. The ETA precedes that permission and does not reduce it — the six months Maldivian visitors have always been allowed is unchanged.
Every traveller needs their own, at any age. Children and infants need an ETA linked to their own passport and cannot be added to a parent's application. Families travelling together for a graduation or for medical treatment need a separate authorisation for each person.
The exemptions are the standard ones. Maldivian citizens holding a UK visa or indefinite leave to remain do not need an ETA, since their existing status already carries the permission. This matters for the substantial number of Maldivian students in Britain, who travel on their Student visa rather than an ETA — a student returning after a holiday at home needs nothing further.
Maldivian passport holders are not in the ePassport gate cohort and will be seen by a Border Force officer at a staffed desk on arrival. The ETA is identical to any other and carries the same permission — only the arrival experience differs. Eligibility follows citizenship, so foreign residents and resort workers in the Maldives travelling on another country's passport follow the rules for that nationality instead.
Stay & validity
An approved ETA is valid for two years from the date it is granted, or until your Maldivian passport expires, whichever comes first. Within that window there is no limit on entries, and each visit can last up to six months. For families with a child studying in Britain, or for anyone on a course of medical treatment requiring return visits, two years of multiple-entry validity is genuinely useful.
The passport-expiry rule is the one to check first. The ETA is bound to the passport number you enter and ends when that document does. Renewal does not transfer it and there is no refund, so confirm the expiry date before applying rather than after.
Britain does not require six months of onward passport validity, only that the passport covers your stay. Transit countries may impose their own requirements, however: a routing through Sri Lanka, the UAE, Qatar or Turkey is subject to those countries' rules, several of which do apply a six-month test. Check the whole itinerary rather than the British leg alone.
Six months per visit is the maximum for a single entry rather than an annual allowance. It matters most for Maldivian students — Britain is a common destination for higher education — and for medical travellers. A short course or a single course of treatment finishing within six months is covered by an ETA; an academic year or ongoing treatment requiring an extended stay needs a Student or Medical Visitor visa applied for from the Maldives before travel.
Pricing
Live fees for Maldivian passport holders, shown all-in — the Home Office charge and our service fee together, with nothing added later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Maldives
Requirements
Everything Maldivian passport holders need before starting an application. The first five items apply to every applicant; the rest are specific to your nationality.
Passport bio-data page — a clear colour scan or photo showing your photograph, full name, date of birth, passport number and expiry date
Recent digital photograph — full face visible against a plain background, taken within the last six months, with no headwear other than for religious or medical reasons
A valid email address, which is where the approval is sent and which you should keep accessible while travelling
A credit or debit card to pay the Home Office ETA fee and our service fee together
Your travel and accommodation details — Border Force can ask about the purpose of your visit and where you are staying
Simple process
Four steps, entirely online, with our team checking every field before anything reaches the Home Office.
Enter your passport details exactly as printed, answer the suitability questions and upload your photograph. Most applicants finish in under ten minutes.
Our team checks your photo, passport number, name spelling and declarations against Home Office requirements before anything is submitted.
Your application goes to UK Visas and Immigration with the government fee paid, and we track its status until a decision is issued.
There is no sticker, label or document to print. The authorisation is held digitally against your passport number, and we explain exactly what to show at check-in.
Applications from the Maldives are decided automatically in most cases, and the majority of applicants receive approval within minutes. The Home Office asks travellers to allow up to three working days, and a proportion are referred for manual review, usually where a photograph fails the automated check.
Apply at least a week before travelling, and longer if you are coming from an outer atoll. Reaching Malé for an international departure can itself take a day, and a problem discovered at the airport cannot be resolved by returning home — the domestic connection makes the margin far tighter than in a mainland country.
Transit requirements deserve separate attention and should be settled at the same time. Most journeys to Britain connect through Colombo, Dubai, Doha or Istanbul, each with its own conditions. The UK ETA covers only the British leg, and a traveller correctly authorised for Britain can still be stopped at the transit point.
On arrival
An approved ETA gets you on the plane. This is what happens once you land, and how to make the arrival as quick as possible.
Your nationality is not currently in the ePassport gate cohort, so you join the queue for a staffed desk on arrival. Your ETA is exactly the same document and carries exactly the same permission — only the arrival process differs.
The officer may ask where you are staying, how long you intend to remain and how the trip is funded. Having your hotel booking, return ticket and, if you are visiting family, their address to hand makes this a thirty-second conversation.
Desk queues at Heathrow can be long at peak arrival banks, particularly early morning. If you are connecting onward to a domestic or European flight, allow more than the airline's minimum connection time.
Unlike the automated gates, a staffed desk stamps your passport with the date of entry. That stamp is your evidence of when your six-month permission began, so do not let it be obscured or removed.
Getting there
Malé is the Maldives' single international gateway, and its network is built around the resort trade — which works in Maldivians' favour, since it means a wide choice of connections to Europe. British Airways has operated a direct London service, and the Gulf and Sri Lankan carriers provide frequent one-stop alternatives.
Best time to go
Maldivian visitors arrive from an equatorial climate into a temperate one, and the contrast is total. Britain has seasons where the Maldives has wet and dry, and a British winter will feel genuinely cold — worth planning clothing for properly. The compensating novelty is the long northern summer evening, with daylight past ten at night in Scotland.
May, June and September are the strongest months for weather and value together. All three sit below the July and August peak in British prices, and September benefits from the end of the British school holidays while the weather in the south often holds into October.
The Maldivian tourist season creates a natural window. The high season for the resorts runs from November to April, when the industry is busiest and many Maldivians are least free to travel. The southwest monsoon from May to October is quieter at home and coincides with the best British weather — a good alignment for anyone whose work follows the resort calendar.
Two practical notes. Ramadan and the Eid holidays shift through the year and reshape family travel. And the Maldives is five hours ahead of Britain in winter and four during British Summer Time, since the Maldives does not change its clocks — so the difference shifts twice a year, which matters on itineraries with connections beyond London.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Maldives — we check for every one of them before submitting.
Most journeys from the Maldives to Britain connect through Colombo, Dubai, Doha or Istanbul, and those countries have their own entry or transit requirements — several of which apply a six-month passport validity test that Britain does not. A traveller correctly authorised for the UK can still be stopped at the transit point.
Travellers from the outer atolls must reach Malé for an international departure, often by seaplane or domestic flight that runs to a limited schedule. A problem discovered at Velana International cannot be resolved by returning home. Apply well ahead and build the domestic leg into the plan generously.
Britain is a common destination for Maldivian higher education, and the ETA permits study of up to six months only. An academic year or a full degree requires a Student visa applied for from the Maldives before travel. It cannot be arranged from within the UK after arriving on an ETA.
Maldivian students in Britain hold a Student visa, which already carries permission to travel. A student returning to the UK after a holiday at home does not need an ETA. Check the visa before paying for an application you do not need.
Maldivian passport holders are not currently in the ePassport gate cohort and will be seen by a Border Force officer at a staffed desk on arrival. The ETA is exactly the same document and carries the same permission — only the arrival process differs.
Private medical treatment arranged and paid for privately is permitted within a six-month visit. Treatment expected to run longer, or involving ongoing care with repeated returns, may need a Medical Visitor visa instead. Confirm the correct route before booking flights and appointments.
Passport number mistyped
By far the most common problem. The authorisation attaches to the number you enter, so a single wrong character produces an ETA that does not exist as far as the airline's check is concerned.
An undeclared conviction or refusal
The Home Office asks about criminal convictions and previous immigration refusals or removals. History found later is treated far more seriously than the original matter would have been if declared.
A photograph that fails the check
Shadows across the face, glasses, a patterned background or a cropped chin all cause the automated check to reject an image, which turns a routine approval into a manual review.
Conditions
These conditions are set by the UK Home Office and do not vary by nationality. The passport-linking rule in particular catches out a great many otherwise well-planned trips.
Your authorisation is held digitally against the passport number you enter. There is nothing placed in your passport and nothing to print for the border. If you renew or replace that passport, the ETA does not transfer — you must apply for a new one on the new document.
Every person travelling needs their own ETA, including babies and children. A child cannot be added to a parent's application, and each traveller needs their own valid passport to apply against.
An approved ETA lasts two years from the date it is granted, or until the expiry date of the passport it is linked to, whichever comes first. This is the single most misunderstood rule in the scheme — a passport with eight months left produces an ETA with eight months left.
Within its validity you can travel to the UK as many times as you like. Each individual visit can be up to six months. There is no formal annual cap, but repeated long stays that add up to the majority of the year will attract questions at the border.
One ETA covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and it is also accepted for travel to Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. You do not need a separate authorisation for the Crown Dependencies.
An ETA lets you board your flight, train or ship. The decision to admit you is made by Border Force on arrival, who can ask about your funds, your accommodation, your onward plans and the purpose of your visit.
Consular services
As a fellow Commonwealth member, the Maldives hosts a British High Commission rather than an embassy. It plays no part in issuing an ETA — the application is completed online and decided digitally, with no interview, no appointment and no passport submission. The High Commission handles consular assistance, Student and Medical Visitor visa services where an ETA is not the right route, and support for applicants whose circumstances require a human decision.
FAQs
The questions Maldivian passport holders ask most often about travelling to the United Kingdom.
No. Maldivian citizens do not need a visa for tourism, business, private medical treatment, short study or transit in the United Kingdom. Since January 2025 they do need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), a digital permission linked to the passport rather than a visa, applied for entirely online.
Very likely yes. Most journeys from the Maldives to Britain connect through Colombo, Dubai, Doha or Istanbul, each with its own entry or transit requirements — and several apply a six-month passport validity test that Britain does not. The UK ETA covers only the British leg, so check the whole itinerary.
Only for courses lasting up to six months, such as a short programme or summer school. An academic year or a full degree requires a Student visa applied for from the Maldives before travel. You cannot switch to a Student visa from within the UK after arriving on an ETA.
No. If you hold a valid Student visa, that already carries permission to travel and an ETA is neither required nor useful. Students returning to Britain after a holiday at home travel on their existing visa.
No. Maldivian passport holders are not currently in the ePassport gate cohort and will be seen by a Border Force officer at a staffed desk. Your ETA is exactly the same document and carries the same permission — only the arrival process differs.
Yes, for private treatment you have arranged and are paying for yourself, provided it fits within a six-month visit. Treatment expected to run longer, or involving ongoing care with repeated returns, may require a Medical Visitor visa instead. Confirm the correct route before booking flights and appointments.
Up to six months per visit. The ETA is valid for two years, or until your Maldivian passport expires if that is sooner, and permits unlimited entries within that period. Six months is a per-visit maximum rather than an annual allowance.
At least a week, and longer if you are travelling from an outer atoll. Reaching Malé for an international departure can take a day and runs to a limited schedule, so a problem discovered at Velana International cannot be resolved by returning home.
Yes. Headwear worn for religious reasons is permitted, provided your face is fully visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead with both edges of the face clear. The photograph must be recent, in colour, against a plain background, with no shadows across the face.
Yes. A single ETA covers the entire United Kingdom and is also accepted for Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. There are no internal immigration checks between the four nations, so a trip combining London and Edinburgh needs only one authorisation.
Your nationality is already set to Maldives. Complete the form in under ten minutes, and our team will check every detail before it reaches the Home Office.
Other nationalities
Requirements, routes and border formalities differ by passport. Here are the guides for other eligible nationalities.
