Government Seeks New 14,000 Sq Ft Premises for Immigration Amid Soaring Rent Costs

The Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises has opened a tender to lease between 13,600 and 14,000 square feet of office space for Maldives Immigration for five years, as government expenditure on rented office buildings continues to run into millions of rufiyaa annually.

According to a tender notice gazetted by the ministry, the office space is being sought at the request of Maldives Immigration and will be procured through a National Competitive Bidding (NCB) process.

Interested parties are required to pay a non-refundable registration fee of MVR 500, while a bid security of MVR 205,500 must be submitted. The security will be valid for 148 days from the date of bid opening.

Bids must be submitted through the Beelan Portal by 10:00am on 8 October 2026, with bid opening scheduled for 1:00pm on the same day. The ministry said bids submitted through other means will not be accepted.

According to the government’s budget book, two properties are currently leased for use as Immigration offices at a combined annual cost of MVR 8.3 million. Excluding diplomatic missions, the expenditure makes Immigration the government institution with the highest annual rental bill, according to the budget figures.

The government has allocated MVR 178.3 million for office buildings in the 2026 budget.

Data obtained under the Right to Information Act shows that the state spent MVR 161.52 million on office rentals during 2025.

The 2026 budget includes MVR 92.5 million for 97 properties used by 32 government institutions. Of this amount, MVR 87.8 million is allocated for 46 buildings in Malé.

The government also budgets MVR 53.2 million annually for rent and related accommodation costs for overseas embassies.

The budget book states that the government’s benchmark for office rental costs is MVR 400 per square foot. However, rental rates for 22 office buildings exceed the benchmark.

According to the published figures, rent for those 22 buildings amounts to approximately MVR 64.2 million a year, accounting for around 73 per cent of the total rent paid for leased government buildings in Malé.