Maldivian detained 12 hours for trusting govt on Oman on-visa

On Sunday, Hussain Shahudhaan left for Oman with five others, but did not take prior visa. The reason is that the government of Maldives on March 30 announced that Oman has been added to the list of countries where Maldivians can get on-arrival visa.

The government also issued a press release on the same day, which foreign minister Abdulla Shahid shared in a post on 'X'. He thanked and welcomed Oman.

However, things did not happen to the recent locals visiting Oman as the government and the minister said. Maldivians are being deported for not getting prior visas as they were not on the list for on-arrival visas. Shahudhaan was the one who shared this in detail on social media. Trusting the government and not getting a visa previously, he was stuck at the airport in a foreign country for about 12 hours.

When contacted by Atoll Times to find out the details of Shahudhaan's experience in Oman, he, at Dubai now, told us in detail what happened.

"I gave the passport to the immigration and they said we would have to get a visa. We told them we have on-arrival visa. They took the passport and detained me," Shahudhaan said.

"While detained, immigration comes from time to time and asks if we got a flight out. We couldn't get a SIM, and the Wi-Fi was so slow”.

Shahudhaan was accompanied by five others. Two of them, who had US visas, were able to enter Oman.

"The two people who entered Oman called everywhere. The Saudi consul and the Maldivian Foreign Ministry. When they called, the ministry said they had to fill out some form," Shahudhaan said.

However, he said he had made sure if he had to fill out a form before leaving, and that the Foreign Ministry did not say that he had to fill out any form. Even if the form is filled out, Shahudhaan said it takes 24-72 hours to process.

The government announced that Maldivians can travel to Oman without a visa. However, the announcement said that Maldivians could travel to Oman without a visa only after fulfilling certain conditions. The conditions are:

Shahudhaan said he had fulfilled all the requirements before the trip.

"We took out health insurance and return tickets. We booked a hotel, non-refundable," he said.

"How can we stay at the airport until the form is processed? We were detained at the airport for 12 hours and had to rebook our tickets at an expensive price. We arrived back in Dubai late last night."

Shahudhaan said he had also contacted the Foreign Ministry to find a solution. However, he said he does not receive any assistance of the ministry.

Shahudhaan's incident was shared on social media and the announcement on the government website 'gov.mv' that said Maldivians can travel to Oman without a visa has been deleted. The link to the page now results in 'Page Not Found'.

However, many local newspapers and some embassies' websites still contain news and articles published in connection with the announcement.

Other Maldivians are now saying on social media that they had to experience what happened to Shahudhaan. The Foreign Ministry and Minister Shahid have been criticized by the public over this issue.

Foreign ministry's communications strategist Saffath Ahmed Zahir declined to comment. When asked whether Oman had canceled the on-arrival visa or whether it was actually agreed between the two countries in the first place, he did not comment anything after seen-zoning the message.