State collects MVR 74 mil in expat fees, MVR 1.6 bil outstanding

Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology has said that out of the MVR 1.7 billion owed to the government in expat fees, MVR 74 million has been paid by employers already.

This includes a total of 102,807 expatriate workers registered under 10,619 Maldivian employers.

The ministry earlier on June 18, ordered all employers with registered expat workers to pay all outstanding fees related their expat employees.

State Minister of Homeland Security Abdul Majeed Ibrahim said, that the total MVR 74 million have been paid as of Sunday.

“According to our reviews, employers owed MVR 1.7 billion in expat fees, and fines incurred owing to non-payment of said fees. In the last one month, state received MVR 74 million out of this total,” Abdul Majeed said.

He added that employers now owe an outstanding total of MVR 1.6 billion.

Maldives government formed a special task force aimed at curtailing the entry and presence of illegal immigrants and expatriates who own and run businesses illegally.

The task force has been conducting regular raids, while their efforts have resulted in the deportation of a total of 2,013 illegal immigrants back to their home countries.