The electronic passport service is expected to resume early next month after the arrival of new passport booklets, Controller General of Immigration Ahmed Faseeh has said.

The service was suspended in May due to delays in receiving stock of the booklets required to issue ordinary electronic passports. Speaking to State media, Faseeh said orders have already been placed for the production of new passport booklets, with supplies expected to arrive by the end of this month or early next month. He said the service will resume once the required stock is received.

Electronic passports allow travellers to use automated e-Gates, enabling immigration clearance without joining regular queues. The passports contain an embedded electronic chip that verifies the holder's identity using biometric information, including facial recognition or fingerprints.

Since the suspension of the service, Immigration has been issuing ordinary non-electronic passports to all applicants. The machine-readable passports comply with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards, are valid for five years, and are issued at a fee of MVR 600, compared with MVR 1,000 for an ordinary electronic passport.

Immigration also said applicants who receive an ordinary non-electronic passport during the suspension period will be able to obtain an ordinary electronic passport before its expiry without paying a cancellation fee, once the service resumes.