Do Maldivian passport holders need a visa for India?

By Aarush Chopra · Travel Writer, Tripmojo · Updated September 2, 2026 · Reviewed by Simran Raheja

No, for stays of up to 90 days. Maldives is one of three countries India exempts outright, alongside Nepal and Bhutan, and the exemption covers business, medical treatment and tourism. The condition people miss is that the 90 days include every earlier day you spent in India in the preceding six months.

Quick facts

Visa-free

Visa required: No, for stays up to 90 days
Purposes covered: Business, medical treatment and tourism only
How the 90 days count: Inclusive of all prior stays in the previous six months
Document needed: A valid passport or travel document
Longer than 90 days: A regular visa, applied for before travel
Seamen: No sign-on facility if you enter visa free

Entry requirements

A valid Maldivian passport or travel document. The exemption removes the visa, not the document.
A purpose within the three the exemption names: business, medical treatment or tourism. Study, work and anything else fall outside it.
A stay that will not exceed 90 days once every day you have already spent in India in the previous six months is added to it.

An exemption with a memory

The Bureau of Immigration, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, publishes a short visa free regime covering exactly three nationalities: Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. The Maldivian entry says visa free entry can be availed where the purpose of visit is exclusively business, medical treatment or tourism and the stay does not exceed 90 days.

The counting rule sits directly underneath and is the part worth reading twice. The 90 days period is inclusive of all prior stays in India during a period of six months immediately preceding the date of your arrival. So the allowance is not per trip. Six weeks in April leaves you six weeks, not ninety days, if you come back in June.

If the visit will run past 90 days on that reckoning, the bureau says to obtain a regular visa, which means an application through an Indian mission before you travel rather than anything you can fix after landing. There is also a specific carve-out for seafarers: the sign-on facility is not available to seamen who enter under the visa free regime.

Good to know

Medical travel is inside the exemption, which is not how India treats medical visitors generally. The bureau’s page on medical treatment says a foreigner seeking treatment at a recognised hospital must arrive on a Medical Visa, and people accompanying a patient on a Medical Attendant visa. The visa free regime names medical treatment as one of three purposes a Maldivian may enter for without any visa at all. Both statements are the bureau’s own. For a short course of treatment inside 90 days the exemption is what a Maldivian traveller is relying on, and the medical visa rules describe the route for everyone whose treatment will not fit inside it.
The attendant rules still describe your companions if anyone travels on a medical visa. Where a Medical Attendant visa is used, the bureau allows not more than two persons for foreign nationals other than Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals, one for Pakistani nationals and three for Bangladeshi nationals. It also requires anyone other than a Pakistani national holding a Medical or Medical Attendant visa valid for more than 180 days to register within 14 days of arrival, and it permits a change of the hospital endorsed on the visa only case by case, on documentary proof. None of that applies to a visa free entry, but it is what the alternative looks like.
Nepal and Bhutan share the same list and are treated differently in one important way. Their citizens are exempted from the requirement of a passport as well as a visa when travelling to India from Nepal or Bhutan, needing instead a government-approved document bearing a photograph, name, date of birth, nationality, issuing authority and validity. The Maldivian exemption carries no such passport waiver: a valid passport or travel document is the first requirement. Three countries on one list, and only two of them can travel on an identity document.
An outpatient consultation is fine on a visa free entry. An organ transplant is not. The bureau’s medical exigency rule says any foreigner suffering from a minor medical condition which needs only OPD consultation can take treatment at any hospital on their primary visa, and that other foreign nationals must apply for conversion to a medical visa if the treatment exceeds the stay stipulation of their primary visa or if the disease requires an organ transplant. That rule is written for people who hold a visa to convert. A Maldivian arriving visa free holds none, and the bureau does not spell out that case, so a transplant or any admission likely to run past the 90 days is a reason to obtain a medical visa from the Indian mission before travelling rather than to arrive and sort it out.
The hospital will report you to immigration, and it is not optional for them or for you. Under the rules on the obligation of hotels, hospitals and educational institutes, every hospital, nursing home or medical institution providing lodging must take particulars and a signature from every foreign patient on arrival and again on departure, keep them electronically for a year, and transmit Form III, formerly Form C, to the registration officer within twenty-four hours of arrival and again within twenty-four hours of departure. The same rule covers accommodation of almost every kind, including rented rooms, homestays and guest houses. So carry your passport to admission and to check-in, because someone is required to file against it. The consequences of the paperwork not matching sit under the Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025, which the bureau says carries penalties from 10,000 to 3 lakh rupees for each offence as well as imprisonment, and it adds that violating visa norms is likely to affect the chances of obtaining entry into India in future.
Nothing here is a stamp you collect, so keep your own count. The exemption is applied at the border rather than issued in advance, which means there is no document recording how much of the 90 days you have used and no counter that resets when you land. The six-month lookback is the immigration officer’s to apply and yours to have planned around. Keep boarding passes or entry stamps from earlier trips within the window if the arithmetic is going to be close, and treat a plan that lands near the ceiling as a reason to apply for a regular visa rather than to argue at the desk.

Frequently asked questions

Do Maldivian citizens need a visa for India?

No, for stays of up to 90 days for business, medical treatment or tourism. The Maldives is one of three countries on India’s visa free regime, with Nepal and Bhutan.

How are the 90 days counted?

Inclusive of all prior stays in India during the six months immediately preceding your arrival. The allowance is not renewed by each trip.

Can I go to India for medical treatment without a visa?

Medical treatment is one of the three purposes the exemption names for Maldivian nationals. Treatment that will not fit inside 90 days needs a medical visa obtained before travel.

Can I have an operation in India on a visa free entry?

An outpatient consultation is expressly allowed. The bureau requires a medical visa where treatment will exceed the stay allowed or where the disease requires an organ transplant, so arrange that in Malé before travelling rather than after arriving.

What if I want to stay longer than 90 days?

The Bureau of Immigration says to obtain a regular visa. That is an application through an Indian mission before you travel, not something arranged after arrival.

Do I still need a passport?

Yes. A valid passport or travel document is required. The passport waiver that Nepali and Bhutanese citizens have does not extend to Maldivian nationals.

Does the exemption cover work or study?

No. It names business, medical treatment and tourism exclusively. Anything else needs the appropriate visa.

Other passports for India

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the official sources below on 2 September 2026.

Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, "Visa free Regime & Visa on Arrival": "Exemption from the requirement of an Indian visa or Visa Free Entry into India is available for the Citizens of Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives." On the Maldives: "Visa free entry can be availed by Maldivians whose purpose of visit to India is exclusively for Business/Medical treatment/Tourism and the stay in India does not exceed a period of 90 days." Key points listed there: "Should be in possession of a valid Passport/Travel Document"; "The 90 days period will be inclusive of all prior stays in India during a period of 6 months immediately preceding the Date of your arrival in India"; "If the visit is for a period of more than 90 days, one should obtain a Regular visa"; "Sign-On facility shall not be available to those Seamen who avail Visa free entry." On Nepal and Bhutan: their citizens travelling from Nepal or Bhutan "are exempted from the requirement of Passport and an Indian visa" but must hold a government-approved document bearing a photograph and identity details. Read 2026-09-02. https://boi.gov.in/boi/contents/travelling-to-india/foreigners/visa-free-regime-visa-on-arrival
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, "Medical Treatment in India": a foreigner seeking treatment at an established, recognised or specialised hospital "must arrive on a Medical Visa", and those accompanying a patient "should arrive on a Medical Attendant visa"; "Not more than two persons shall be given Medical Attendant visas in case of foreign nationals other than Pakistan and Bangladesh nationals", one for Pakistani nationals and three for Bangladeshi nationals; a change of the endorsed hospital is "permitted only on case-to-case basis, subject to production of documentary proof"; and foreigners other than Pakistani nationals whose medical or medical attendant visas are valid for more than 180 days "should register themselves within 14 days of their arrival in India". Read 2026-09-02. https://boi.gov.in/boi/contents/travelling-to-india/foreigners/medical-treatment-in-india
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, "Medical Exigency": "Any foreigner (including Pakistani national) suffering from any minor medical condition which needs only OPD consultation can take treatment at any hospital on his/ her primary Visa"; "Other Foreign Nationals shall apply for visa conversion to Medical visa if: The medical treatment exceeds the stay stipulation of their primary visa; and/ or The treatment of the disease requires an organ transplant." The page does not address a traveller who entered visa free and therefore holds no visa to convert. Read 2026-09-02. https://boi.gov.in/boi/contents/registration-authority/miscellaneous-services/medical-exigency
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, "Obligation of Hotels, Hospitals & Educational Institutes", Form III (earlier Form-C): every hospital, nursing home or other medical institution providing lodging must take particulars and a signature from every foreigner on arrival and departure, maintain them electronically for one year, and "as soon as may be but not beyond twenty-four hours, after the arrival of a foreigner, transmit a copy of duly filled in Form III ... electronically to the Registration Officer"; departure details likewise. "Accommodation" is defined to include boarding houses, rest houses, hostels, paying guest houses, rented accommodation, home stays and tents. Read 2026-09-02. https://boi.gov.in/boi/contents/registration-authority/obligation-of-hotels-hospitals-educational-institutes
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, "Penalties": overstay, non-registration, activities not commensurate with the visa granted and non-filing of requisite forms are subject to action under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, with "penalties ranging from 10000 to 3 lakhs for each offence, as well as imprisonment"; and "Violating the Indian visa norms is likely to affect the chances of obtaining entry into India and/ or Indian Visas in the future." Read 2026-09-02. https://boi.gov.in/boi/contents/registration-authority/penalties

Entry rules change without notice and the official source is always the authority. Confirm with the embassy or immigration portal before you book.

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