If you hold a Maldivian passport and you’ve tried to pin down how many countries you can actually fly into without paperwork, you’ve probably hit the same wall everyone does: every site gives a different number. Wikipedia says 92. Get Golden Visa says 95. Passport Index lands lower. The rank swings from the high 40s to the high 50s depending on whose list you read.
Here’s the honest version, sourced and dated, with the destinations split into the three categories that actually matter when you’re booking a trip — truly visa-free, visa on arrival, and electronic authorization (eTA/eVisa). And grouped by region, because “92 countries” is useless when half of them are places you’ll never go.
The numbers, stated plainly
Based on the most granular public dataset — Wikipedia’s visa requirements table for Maldivian citizens, cross-checked against passport trackers in June 2026 — the headline figures are:
| Access type | Count (approx.) |
|---|---|
| Visa-free | ~60 destinations |
| Visa on arrival | ~18 destinations |
| eTA / eVisa | ~45 destinations |
| Visa-free + visa on arrival (Henley basis) | 92 |
| Henley rank | 49th |
Why the disagreement between sources? Two reasons. First, some trackers fold visa-on-arrival into “visa-free” and others don’t — that alone shifts the count by 15 or 20. Second, the data moves: the Maldives signed new agreements through early 2026 (Ghana was announced in April 2026, still pending ratification at the time of writing). So a page that says “95” isn’t necessarily wrong; it’s counting differently or counting later. The 92/rank-49 figure is the Henley Passport Index basis, which combines visa-free and visa-on-arrival. We’ll use that as the anchor and tell you which bucket each country falls into.
What you can’t get into (read this first)
The Maldivian passport is genuinely strong across Asia, the Caribbean, and large parts of Africa. Where it runs into a wall is the wealthy West.
- Schengen Area / EU — visa required. No visa-free entry to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the lot. You apply in advance.
- United States — visa required (B1/B2).
- Canada — visa required.
- Australia — visa required (or eVisitor/ETA route, applied for in advance).
So the “92 destinations” headline does not include any of the places most people picture when they think “easy travel from a powerful passport.” Worth knowing before you build a Eurotrip around it.
Visa-free destinations by region
These are the genuinely visa-free entries — show up, get stamped, walk through. Stays are the maximum allowed for tourism.
Asia & the Gulf
This is where the Maldivian passport earns its keep. The standouts are the long stays in places people actually visit from Malé.
| Country | Max stay |
|---|---|
| UAE | 90 days (extension possible for a fee) |
| Malaysia | 90 days |
| Hong Kong | 90 days |
| India | 90 days |
| Russia | 90 days (per calendar year) |
| Azerbaijan | 90 days |
| Qatar | 30 days |
| Singapore | 30 days |
| Thailand | 60 days |
| China | 30 days |
| Indonesia | 30 days |
| Philippines | 30 days |
| Cambodia | 30 days |
| Kazakhstan | 30 days |
| Kyrgyzstan | 30 days |
| Mongolia | 30 days |
| Bangladesh | 3 months |
| Pakistan | 3 months |
| Brunei | 14 days |
The UAE entry is the quiet workhorse here — 90 visa-free days into Dubai or Abu Dhabi, extendable, makes the Gulf a default hub for Maldivians. Malaysia and Hong Kong matching that 90-day window is what pulls the passport’s “real-world usefulness” well above its raw rank. Qatar’s 30-day window rounds out the Gulf, and it’s worth noting the access runs both ways — the Qatari passport reaches a similar swathe of visa-free destinations, so Doha is an easy connecting point in either direction.
Europe
One name, and it surprises people: Ireland — 90 days, visa-free. Ireland isn’t in the Schengen Area, so this doesn’t bleak into wider EU access, but it’s a genuine 90-day stay in an English-speaking European country. The rest of Europe is visa-required or eTA (see below).
Africa
| Country | Max stay |
|---|---|
| Mauritius | 90 days |
| Botswana | 90 days |
| Gambia | 90 days |
| Tunisia | 90 days |
| Zambia | 90 days |
| Zimbabwe | 3 months |
| Morocco | 30 days |
| South Africa | 30 days |
| Rwanda | 30 days |
| Ghana | 30 days (announced April 2026, pending ratification) |
| Malawi | 30 days |
| Eswatini | 30 days |
Americas & the Caribbean
The Caribbean is where the long stays live. Six months is common.
| Country | Max stay |
|---|---|
| Panama | 180 days |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 6 months |
| Barbados | 6 months |
| Dominica | 6 months |
| Saint Lucia | 6 months |
| Bahamas | 3 months |
| Grenada | 3 months |
| St. Vincent & the Grenadines | 3 months |
| Brazil | Visa-free |
| Costa Rica | 90 days |
| Ecuador | 90 days |
| Jamaica | 90 days |
| Haiti | 90 days |
| Suriname | 90 days |
| Venezuela | 90 days |
| Belize | Visa-free |
| Guyana | Visa-free |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Visa-free |
The six-month stays in Antigua and Barbuda — whose own passport is one of the Caribbean’s strongest for visa-free travel — make it one of the most generous landings on this list, while Costa Rica’s 90 days are the obvious base for anyone working their way through Central America.
Oceania
| Country | Max stay |
|---|---|
| Vanuatu | 120 days |
| Fiji | 4 months |
| Kiribati | 90 days (per 12 months) |
| Micronesia | 30 days |
Visa on arrival
No advance application, but you pay or register at the border. These count toward the Henley 92 but are a different experience than walking straight through.
| Country | Region | Max stay |
|---|---|---|
| Samoa | Oceania | 90 days |
| Madagascar | Africa | 90 days |
| Marshall Islands | Oceania | 90 days |
| Guinea-Bissau | Africa | 90 days |
| Comoros | Africa | 45 days |
| Egypt | Africa | 30 days |
| Laos | Asia | 30 days |
| Macau | Asia | 30 days |
| Timor-Leste | Asia | 30 days |
| Cape Verde | Africa | 30 days (via EASE platform) |
| Palau | Oceania | 30 days (free) |
| Myanmar | Asia | 28 days (tourism) |
| Tuvalu | Oceania | 1 month |
| Bhutan | Asia | Variable (Sustainable Development Fee applies) |
Palau is one of the easier ones here — a free 30-day permit issued at the border, and the Palauan passport itself opens up a respectable spread of destinations if you ever find yourself comparing Pacific options.
A note on Bhutan: “visa on arrival” undersells the cost. The Sustainable Development Fee is a daily charge, so Bhutan is open to you but not cheap.
eTA and eVisa destinations
Apply online before you fly. Most are quick, but they’re a step, not a stamp.
The two that matter most to Maldivian travelers:
- United Kingdom — 6 months, via the UK Electronic Travel Authorisation. This is new-ish and easy to miss. Maldivians can still stay in the UK up to six months for tourism or visiting family, but you now need an ETA approved before travel. It is not visa-free in the old walk-up sense, so plan for it.
- Turkey — 90 days, eVisa. Fast online process, and a popular bridge between the Maldives and Europe.
Other notable eVisa/eTA options: Saudi Arabia (90 days), Sri Lanka (30-day ETA), Georgia (90 days within a 120-day window), Serbia (90 days), Seychelles (Electronic Border System, 3 months), Nepal (90 days, free on arrival or online), and a long list across Africa — Tanzania, Kenya-region neighbors, Ethiopia, Uganda, Namibia, Gabon, and more, most at 30 to 90 days.
How to actually use this
The pattern, once you see it, is simple. The Maldivian passport is a regional powerhouse, not a Western one. If your trips run toward the Gulf, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and Africa, you’ll rarely fill out a form in advance. If you’re aiming for Europe, North America, or Australia, budget the time and money for a visa application every time.
Two practical reminders:
- The single biggest “gotcha” in 2026 is the UK ETA — long-time travelers remember visa-free UK entry and get caught out. Apply before you book non-refundable flights.
- Counts and stays change. Treat any number you see — including these — as accurate to its date. Before you travel, confirm with the destination’s own immigration authority or the Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa pages, which track new bilateral agreements as they’re signed.
