Foreign investment in the Maldives is governed by the Foreign Investment Act, Law 11/2024, in force since 3 December 2024. It repealed the 1979 Act outright and replaced an exhaustive list of permitted activities with a presumption model: a sector is open, conditional or closed, and anything not listed is open. Most English-language guides online still describe the old law. This page is current as at 12 September 2026.
What changed under Act 11/2024?
Three things. The approval route now runs through a No-Objection Letter, a Foreign Investment Licence and an Investment Agreement, in that order. Sector positions are published as lists, revised in October 2025, rather than negotiated case by case. And the fee, the timing and the penalties are stated in the instrument rather than left to practice.
Which sectors are open to foreign ownership?
As at the October 2025 revision of the sector lists:
| Position | Sectors |
|---|---|
| 100% foreign ownership | Renewable energy, data centres, ICT, logistics infrastructure, higher education, healthcare, banking, resort and hotel operation, resort construction above USD 10 million |
| Restricted | Guesthouses: foreign ownership capped at 49%, with a minimum investment of USD 250,000 over five years. Dive centres 65–75%. Architecture, accountancy and physiotherapy 49–75% |
| Closed | Wholesale and retail trade, travel agencies, recruitment agencies, domestic land transport, building construction below USD 15 million, small-scale fishing, photography |
Sector position matters more than process. A guesthouse investor needs a Maldivian majority partner before anything else is worth doing; a data-centre investor does not.
What does it cost, and how long does it take?
| Administration fee | USD 5,000, non-refundable, paid to MIRA |
| Entity registration or foreign-company re-registration | MVR 2,000 |
| Guesthouse minimum commitment | USD 250,000 over five years, at 49% foreign ownership |
| Special Economic Zone threshold | USD 100 million (USD 500 million for townships) |
| False information | Fine up to MVR 1 million plus up to 30% of the investment value |
| Operations must begin | Within six months of signing the Investment Agreement |
The route, in order:
- Application to the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism
- No-Objection Letter
- USD 5,000 administration fee to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA)
- Entity registration, or re-registration of the foreign company
- Foreign Investment Licence
- Investment Agreement, with operations to begin within six months
Practitioners report three to six months for non-tourism approvals, four to eight for tourism, and eight to fourteen for Special Economic Zone projects. Treat those as ranges, not commitments.
Can a foreign investor own land in the Maldives?
No. Only leasehold exists. The 2015 constitutional amendment that permitted foreign freehold was repealed in April 2019. Resort head leases run to 50 years and can be extended to a 99-year ceiling; the lease-extension fee and the conditions attached to it have changed more than once since 2024, so the current figure should be confirmed at the time of the transaction.
What do we do, and what do we not do?
The legal route to the licence is a lawyer's job, and the firms that do it well are known to us. What sits either side of it is ours: the feasibility study and projections the application needs, evidence of the investment commitment, the ownership and tax structure, the opening balance sheet, and then the GST, withholding and audit obligations that start once operations begin. Most of the cost of getting it wrong is incurred in the first year, before anyone has filed anything. We tell you what that year costs before you commit to it.
Sources: Foreign Investment Act, Law 11/2024, Government Gazette; Invest Maldives, Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism, sector lists as revised October 2025. Figures and thresholds change; verify against the gazetted instrument before relying on any of them for an application. Current as at 12 September 2026.
Who this is for
Foreign investors and groups entering the Maldives for the first time, and the lawyers and banks advising them who need the financial workstream handled.
What the engagement includes
- Feasibility study and projections for the application
- Evidence of the investment commitment
- Ownership and tax structuring
- Company formation and investment approvals, with your counsel
- Tax registration with MIRA
- Opening balance sheet and record-keeping setup
- First-year compliance calendar
- Ongoing accounting, tax filing and audit