Foreign Ministry has urged Maldivians planning to make trips abroad in the upcoming school holidays to send in their Visa applications in a timely manner.
In a statement today, the Ministry noted that countries issue visas under strict guidelines and further said that some of these guidelines include determining the time taken to issue the visa, submitting different types of documents for different types of visas, and in some cases, they require biometric data (fingerprints) of the visa applicant.
The Ministry said that in some cases visa applicants must attend interviews set by embassies and high commissions. It said that those traveling abroad should apply for their travel visa well ahead of their travel date in a timely manner.
It also said that sometimes the Ministry has to send or receive the visa applications and documents via its diplomatic channels but using these channels would take time and the applicants should be mindful of it.
The Ministry noted when applying for visas via the Ministry, some are sending in incomplete applications and also submitting the applications too close to the deadlines set by the embassies and high commissions.
It said that this had led to visas not being issued before the date of travel and other such delays. The Ministry also said that in some countries such diplomatic services had been disrupted0 due to the conditions in the country and including China and Sri Lanka.
