Maldives Dependent Visa
A family permit for the spouse, children under 18 and parents of a foreign national who holds a professional category work visa.
This is not a spouse visa in the sense most people mean. It does not let the holder earn, it does not exist for the families of non-professional workers, and it is granted on the strength of someone else’s permit. The qualifying condition is the sponsor’s category, not the family’s circumstances.
Programme snapshot
| Item | Current rule |
|---|---|
| Main audience | Spouse, children under 18, or parents of a professional category work visa holder |
| Route family | Family |
| Validity | Tied to the sponsor’s work visa |
| Stay per entry | Same as the sponsor’s permit |
| Threshold | MVR 750 visa fee (2026), about USD 49 at MVR 15.4 per USD. No published income test |
| Renewal | With the sponsor’s permit, using the last visa page and a fresh medical report and insurance |
| Settlement | None |
| PR clock | None |
| Citizenship clock | None derived from dependent status |
| Family | Yes, but professional category sponsors only |
| Local employment | Not permitted. A dependent must obtain their own work visa and quota |
| Tax headline | Not applicable, since no income is permitted |
| Processing | Sponsorship Declaration on IMUGA at least 7 working days before travel, then the visa application after arrival |
Application flow
- The sponsor submits a Sponsorship Declaration on the IMUGA portal, stating the purpose as bringing in a dependent.
- The declaration is approved before the family travels.
- The family arrives and the Dependent Visa application is filed.
- Proof of relationship is submitted in English, with translations where needed.
- The visa is issued against the sponsor’s permit and renewed alongside it.
Good fit
The family of a manager or professional already resident on a work visa, where the move is a known posting of a few years and the spouse does not intend to take a local job. It is the cheapest and simplest family route in the country at MVR 750.
Poor fit
Families of non-professional permit holders, who have no dependent route at all. Anyone who intends to earn locally, because dependents cannot work. Anyone hoping this leads to something permanent, since it carries no residence credit of its own.
Watchpoints
- The declaration purpose must be right. A Sponsorship Declaration filed for tourism blocks the Dependent Visa, and the family has to start again.
- Seven working days is a real deadline. Applying later risks the airline refusing boarding or Immigration refusing entry on arrival.
- Documents must be in English. Marriage and birth certificates in another language need translation before submission, which adds days to a process people routinely underestimate.
- Dependents cannot work. A spouse taking a local job is working without a permit, and that is a deportable offence for the family, not just for the individual.
- Only professional category permits qualify. If the sponsor is on a non-professional permit, there is no family route in the Maldives at all.
Sources
- Maldives Immigration, dependent visa page, checked 2026-10-22
- Maldives Immigration, IMUGA sponsorship declaration guidance, checked 2026-10-22