The Department of National Registration (DNR) has announced the launch of national identity card printing and issuance services in Guraidhoo and Thimarafushi in Thaa Atoll.
This move is a direct and swift continuation of the government's policy to decentralise essential citizen services, bringing fast and robust official documentation facilities closer to residents across the archipelago.
Decentralisation remains a foundational pillar of the current administration’s agenda. President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has repeatedly emphasised that the goal is to ensure that the basic needs of citizens—including mandatory ID card and passport services—are met locally, alleviating the significant expense and burden historically associated with traveling to the capital, Male’.
DNR confirmed that the national project to establish ID card issuance capabilities in all Atolls of the country has now been successfully completed, achieving this critical target three months ahead of the projected schedule. This fulfills President Dr Muizzu’s key pledge, first outlined on 19 September last year, to ensure ID card printing and issuance are available in every Atoll.
The decentralised service expansion began in November last year, with Villingili, Gaafu Alifu Atoll being the first island outside the capital area to benefit. Within Thaa Atoll, the service has already been successfully established in the islands of Veymandoo and Vilufushi, setting a strong precedent for the latest launches in Guraidhoo and Thimarafushi.
The government is not limiting the scope of this decentralisation effort domestically, with the administration is preparing to extend documentation services internationally.
Following the successful introduction of ID card services in Malaysia—the first country outside the Maldives to receive the facility—preparations are now underway to launch streamlined ID card and passport issuance capabilities in countries with a large Maldivian resident population, including Sri Lanka, India, and the United Kingdom.