The Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology has warned that action will be taken against employers and expatriates who fail to complete biometric registration within the given timeframe. The ministry revealed that while biometric data of more than 178,000 expatriates in the Maldives has been collected, the biometrics of 27,773 expatriates under 3,942 employers remain unregistered.

According to official statistics, there are currently 68,000 employers registered on the Xpat Portal. The ministry reiterated that biometric data collection is being carried out at the JOC Centre located in the National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) building. Expatriates who do not complete their biometric registration through the Expat Online System within the deadline will face deportation and legal action under the Maldivian Immigration Act.

The ministry further cautioned that employers who fail to ensure their workers’ biometric registration may be fined MVR 50,000 under the Employment Act, in addition to facing penalties under the Immigration Act.

In a related development, the ministry stated that over 8,000 employers have been suspended from the Xpat System due to non-payment of fees. So far, MVR 1.2 billion of the MVR 1.7 billion owed to the state has been recovered.

The ministry reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to resolving the issue of undocumented expatriates in the Maldives by April 2027, through strengthened regulation, biometric verification, and improved data management.