Maldives: Visa-free entry for Indian business travellers comes into effect

The government of Maldives has initiated the process of granting Indian Nationals visa-free entry for business purposes, for a period not exceeding the visa-free period of 90 days. Effective February 1, Indians are entitled to visa-free access to the island country if they are travelling for business purposes, the Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The new provision is in accordance with the Agreement on the Facilitation of Visa Arrangements between the Government of Maldives, and the Government of India signed on December 17, 2018. The Maldives is also entitled to the reciprocal arrangement, and hence multiple entries, non-resident, the business visas shall be granted to Maldives and Indian Nationals for 90 days within a period of six months. 

“Any Indian National with an approved business visa is eligible to renew their visa up to 180 days within a calendar year. This is in addition to the visa-free period of 90 days stipulated in the bilateral agreement,” said the Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

All applications to be lodged with Ministry of Economic Development 

All Business visa applications for India shall be lodged with the Ministry of Economic Development through https://business.egov.mv/GeneralServiceRequests portal prior to the expiry of visa-free entry period. All business visas for Indians shall be renewed by the Government of Maldives prior to the expiry of an existing approval. “An employment approval shall be obtained by any Indian National holding a business visa whose allowable business visa stay exceeds 180 days within a calendar year,” informed the Maldives ministry of foreign affairs. 

Earlier, India and Maldives also launched an electronic exchange of customs data, a pilot project on pre-arrival cargo data exchange. Taking to Twitter, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs said that Vivek Johri, Chairman of CBIC, and Abdulla Shareef, Commissioner General of Maldives Customs, jointly launched the pilot on pre-arrival customs data exchange in a virtual ceremony with the Government of India. ''Electronic exchange of Customs data on real-time basis between India and the Maldives marks a major initiative by leveraging technology to facilitate trade between the two countries and improve compliance,” the CBIC wrote in another tweet. Maldives Customs said that the project was signed under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between customs of two nations. 

Image: AP, PTI