Maldives.

A long-stay residence visa for foreigners who invest in the Maldives, issued under the Immigration Act (Law 1/2007). First set up by Regulation 2015/R-139 (in force on its gazette publication, 27 Apr 2015, art. 13): investors of USD 50 million in the Maldives, of USD 1 million deposited in a Maldivian bank for 2 years or put in a financial security, or of at least USD 1 million in real estate approved by a ministry, with spouse and children under 18, and for companies a limited number of directors and executives; USD 2,000 processing fee; the visa ran for the investment period, 5 years, or the title lease. Reformed by Regulation 2021/R-115 (in force on gazette publication, 29 Aug 2021, art. 22), run by the Registrar of Businesses: a USD 250,000 fixed deposit in a Maldivian bank for 5 years, or USD 250,000 invested in businesses the government designates, gives a 5-year renewable visa for the applicant and family (parents, spouse, children, grandparents, grandchildren); fee MVR 750 per three months (MVR 15,000 in total). The 2021 regulation also covers shareholders, directors and top-five managers of a registered foreign investment that employs at least 50% Maldivians and had USD 1 million revenue in one of the last three years; that branch rests on the company's figures, not a personal investment, so it is out of scope under decision 15 and is not recorded as a price. The 2021 text does not say it repeals the 2015 regulation; the 2015 amounts are recorded until 28 Aug 2021 on the assumption that the 2021 regulation replaced them, which no document read states. Art. 21 of the 2021 regulation requires the ministry to publish every quarter the number of visas issued and the nationalities on business.egov.mv; no such figures were found. Residence on this visa does not lead to citizenship (Maldivian citizenship is not available by naturalisation to non-Muslims; no investor route found). A separate 'Pearl Residence' programme announced with Henley & Partners in July 2025 is reported only by the press and was not found in the gazette. Status left empty: no official statement found on whether the visa is issued today.