Maldives Immigration has announced a temporary suspension of electronic passport issuance after stocks of passport printing booklets ran low.

In a statement issued today, Immigration said ordinary passport applicants will instead receive non-electronic passports from Saturday until new supplies arrive.

The authority said delays in receiving additional booklet stock had led to the temporary change.

According to Immigration, the replacement passports are still machine-readable documents valid for five years and compliant with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.

Authorities also said individuals issued with non-electronic passports during the temporary period will be able to convert them to electronic passports before expiry without paying a cancellation fee normally associated with replacing a passport.

A cancellation fee of MVR 100 will be applied.

Non-electronic passports are already issued to elderly citizens and children under the age of 10.

The current fee for a non-electronic passport is MVR 600, while an electronic passport costs MVR 1,000.