A banner about passport service in all the atolls put up by the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) in the main street in Male' for the local councils election is misleading.

The government launched a project on November 16, 2024, to expand passport issuance to the whole country.

“The ID card and passport service that has been launched today will hopefully bring you great satisfaction,” President Mohamed Muizzu said in Haa Alif Ihavandhoo on January 29, 2025.

The government refers to “passport issuance” as submitting the application and collecting the passport printed in Male'. However, in the general sense, it should be printing and issuing passports in each island.

Fact: Passports are not printed in any other island except Male'.

Since the passport is a document linked to national security, the printing centre must meet certain standards and be secure. Therefore, even if special rooms are built on islands at great expense, a passport cannot be printed in these locations.

However, as a presidential pledge, a special room was set up in some island councils to print and issue passports. This was ordered by the government. Some councils spent MVR 400,000 to build the room.

Despite these special rooms, passport applications from islands are still processed in Male'. The printed passports are delivered to the islands by air or sea.

Some government officials and council officials told Adhadhu that passports are not printed in any island except Male'.

In summary

• Are passports printed in the atolls? - No. Only in Male'.
• Can you collect passports in the atolls? - Yes. But when the printed passport is sent from Male'.
• Is this a new service? - No.
• Did the councils benefit from this? - No. There were huge expenses.