The Maldives has ended the practice of entering the country on a business or special visa and later converting it to a work visa, the Daily Mirror reported.
The change took effect on 15 September. From that date, anyone who enters the Maldives on a visa other than a work visa is no longer permitted to take up employment by subsequently changing their visa status.
Why the change was made
The Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology said some foreign workers had been using business visas to enter the country and then obtaining work visas afterwards, as a way of speeding up the employment process.
The government has now declared that taking up employment after entering on another class of visa is illegal. Foreign nationals seeking work in the Maldives must obtain the required work visa before beginning any employment.
What it means
The rule applies to all foreign nationals, not to any one country. The Maldives is a significant destination for Sri Lankan workers, particularly in tourism, construction, health and education, so the practical effect for Sri Lankans is that an employer must complete the work-visa process before the worker travels — the shortcut of arriving first and regularising afterwards is closed.
Not reported: the filing does not say what penalties apply to workers or employers who breach the rule, whether there is a transition arrangement for people already in the Maldives on business visas, or whether existing converted visas remain valid. It gives no figures for how many foreign workers used the route, no breakdown by nationality, and no response from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Employment or from recruitment agencies. The report also does not explain why the change, effective from 15 September, was reported only in October.
