Malta
Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP)
Minimum investment
EUR 500,000
Processing time
a complete, well-prepared application commonly reaches a Letter of Approval in Principle within 4-6 months of submission; a Temporary Residence option can place the applicant in Malta within about 2 months while the permanent application is processed
Physical presence
no minimum stay required; physical presence in Malta is needed only for biometric data capture
- Investment route
- •Hold capital assets of at least EUR 500,000 (including at least EUR 150,000 in liquid financial assets), or at least EUR 650,000 (including at least EUR 75,000 in liquid financial assets) — this capital requirement applies to the main applicant only and does not increase with dependants
- •plus purchase a qualifying property for at least EUR 375,000, or rent one for at least EUR 14,000/year, held 5 years
- Investment breakdown
- •governed by S.L. 217.26 as amended by Legal Notice 146 of 2025
- •liquid financial assets must be genuine liquid instruments (stocks, bonds, listed shares, funds, bank deposits) — cryptocurrency is explicitly not accepted
- •since 1 January 2025 the former distinction between South Malta, Gozo, and the rest of Malta for property pricing no longer applies
- •a 2025 amendment allows switching between owned and rented qualifying property during the compliance period
- Additional fees
- •government administrative fee EUR 60,000 (EUR 15,000 payable within 1 month of submission, remaining EUR 45,000 within 2 months of Approval in Principle)
- •separate government contribution EUR 37,000 (same for purchase or rental route)
- •charitable donation of at least EUR 2,000 to a registered NGO
- •EUR 7,500 per adult dependant excluding spouse and children under 18
- •minimum EUR 100,000 health insurance coverage across Malta and Europe per beneficiary
- •residence card fee EUR 500 per person
- Eligibility
- •18+
- •Clean criminal record
- •Verifiable source of funds
- •Valid health insurance covering Malta
- Due diligence
- •applicant must not be a national of, or have close ties to, a sanctioned or RMA-ineligible country
- •must be fit and proper with a clean criminal record and pose no threat to national security, public policy, public health, or public interest
- •multi-tier due diligence conducted by the Residency Malta Agency on the applicant and all dependants
- Family inclusion
- •spouse or equivalent partner
- •children under 18 including adopted children
- •children 18 and under 29 at time of application if unmarried and principally dependent (no age cap if certified disabled)
- •parents and grandparents of any age who are principally dependent — up to 4 generations can be included in one application
- Path to citizenship
- •the MPRP grants residence, not citizenship, and does not lead to citizenship as a matter of course
- •separate Maltese citizenship by naturalisation ordinarily requires long lawful residence assessed case-by-case and is entirely discretionary
- •a distinct 'citizenship by naturalisation on the basis of merit' route exists under Article 10(9) of the Citizenship Act for exceptional contributions, administered by the Community Malta Agency — this is unrelated to the MPRP and is not a guaranteed pathway
- Renewal
- •the Certificate of Maltese Residence itself is permanent and does not expire
- •the physical residence card is valid 5 years and renewable
- •the qualifying property must be held (as owned or rented) for the first 5 years, after which the specific value/rent thresholds fall away but a residential property title must still be maintained together with valid health insurance
- Dual citizenship
- •not directly applicable — MPRP grants residence, not citizenship
- •Malta's separate citizenship law generally permits dual citizenship
- Key benefits
- •visa-free travel within the Schengen Area for 90 days in any 180-day period
- •MPRP residence cardholders are exempt from ETIAS authorisation and fall outside EES short-stay registration once the residence card is held
- •no minimum stay requirement
- •important: the April 2025 CJEU ruling (Case C-181/23) that struck down Malta's former citizenship-by-investment scheme did NOT affect the MPRP, since the MPRP grants residence rather than nationality and was not the subject of that case
- Taxation
- •the MPRP confers no special tax status
- •ordinary Maltese tax rules apply — a non-domiciled Malta-resident is generally taxed on Maltese-source income and gains, and on foreign income remitted to Malta, but not on unremitted foreign income
Application process
- 1.submit through an RMA Licensed Agent (direct applications are not accepted)
- 2.pay the EUR 15,000 initial administrative fee within 1 month
- 3.undergo Residency Malta Agency due diligence
- 4.on approval, receive a Letter of Approval in Principle
- 5.within 2 months pay the remaining EUR 45,000 administrative fee
- 6.within 8 months of that letter, settle the EUR 37,000 contribution, secure the qualifying property, make the donation, and arrange health insurance
- 7.receive the Certificate of Maltese Residence and complete biometrics for the residence card