More than 83,000 work permits given to expats within a year

The Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology has said that more than 83,000 new work permits have been released to expatriates within this last year.

The ministry responded to Mihaaru News' queries under the Right to Information Act last Thursday, stating that from 1st August 2024 until August 2025, there have been 83,557 new work permits released.

With automatic renewal of work permits occurring due to on-time payments, it is unclear as to how many people had renewed their permits within the same time frame.

Most amount of work permits released per country:

The current administration has begun an operation called "Kurangi" in order to locate expatriates who are living in Maldives illegally. It's been said that action will be taken if they do not take the opportunity to update their biometrics within the given time frame.

The ministry has said that the biometrics of 6,321 expatriates had been updated when expatriates were given one last chance to do so.

The ministry went on to say the 4,302 businesses that employ expatriates have been suspended via the Xpat system for not updating their biometrics.

With suspension, services such as worksite registration for employers will be cut short, along with new quotas and work permits.

As per the ministry, biometrics of 181,093 expatriates have been updated up until Sunday last week. They also said that no expatriate has been deported even if their biometrics haven't been updated as of yet.