MI ID Checker — Maldives' Facial-Recognition Tool for Identifying Undocumented Migrant Workers

The Maldives' economy depends heavily on foreign migrant labour in construction, tourism and fisheries; the government has estimated that roughly 200,000 undocumented workers reside in the country. The Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology, through Maldives Immigration, launched MI ID Checker, a facial-recognition application supported by Japan-donated equipment, with a vendor contract held by Regula since December 2024.

The tool aims to let officers identify a foreign worker's passport, work-permit, visa and employer status, including 'absconded' reports, from a photograph alone, or via nationality, passport number, work-permit number or QR-code lookup.

MI ID Checker launched in November 2025 alongside a separate e-Visa platform, as part of the 'Maldives 2.0' digitisation programme. All law-enforcement agencies already have access, with local councils to be added next.

Government figures published alongside the launch state that migrant-worker biometric-database coverage rose from 13% to 98% over the preceding two years, and that enforcement operations have repatriated more than 9,000 undocumented foreign workers.

This is a cautionary case as much as a success: it is a mandatory biometric-surveillance and deportation tool aimed at a precarious migrant population, paired with the threat of expulsion for those who lack registration. No published information describes an independent accuracy audit of the facial-recognition matching, a redress process for people wrongly flagged, or data-protection safeguards for the migrant workers whose biometrics are held.