Efforts underway to provide passport services from all atolls

The government is preparing to launch passport services from all the atolls across the Maldives.

Speaking at a joint press conference held by Maldives Immigration and the Ministry of City, Local Government, and Public Works, Minister Adam Shareef stressed the importance of having access to services from the islands, as a large part of the country's population resides in them.

He said that efforts are being made to provide passport services in all atolls in order to make it easier for people from islands to apply for passport services.

The government has decided to make arrangements for passports to be processed in every City and Atoll Council.

"The service is being expanded, and work will be carried out in phases, depending on the current situation in the Maldives and the situation in the cities," said Adam Shareef.

Immigration Controller, Mohamad Shamaan, said that currently, immigration is issuing passports from cities as well.

Shamaan said that administrative work is underway to ensure that passport services are made available in all atolls, while the process of hiring staff and creating passport setups is being done in coordination with the councils.

"The aim is to ensure that the services provided by the government are available in the islands and atolls without burdening the public," he said.

According to Shamaan, around 1,200 people come to Malé every month from the atolls to obtain passport services. He further stated that the cost of traveling to Malé City to collect a passport is more than the amount spent on processing the passport.

"Around MVR 5,000 to MVR 6,000 is spent [by those coming to Malé for passport services]. If we look at the entire population, this is a huge expense. Annually MVR 77.7 million is expended. Hence, with this decision, I believe the expenses will decrease," Shamaan said.

The government aims to ensure that even if the service does not start in all islands at the same time, priority will be given to the islands that initially requested the service.

Speaking at the press conference, Deputy Minister of the Department of National Registration, Ahmed Ali, said that the government is aiming to ensure that ID card services are also made available in all atolls.