Permanent residence by investment in Malta

• The MPRP grants permanent residence rights on the basis of investment, under article 7A of the Immigration Act. It is for people aged 18 or over who are third-country nationals; EEA and Swiss nationals cannot use it, and the page adds that applicants must not be from sanctioned countries.
• You cannot apply on your own: every application goes through an agent licensed by the Residency Malta Agency, who must be a lawyer, public accountant or auditor, or a licensed financial adviser. The regulations also bar anyone listed by Interpol or Europol or on sanctions lists, anyone with a past conviction for terrorism, money laundering or war crimes, and anyone whose earlier MPRP or Maltese citizenship application was refused.
• Dependants can be included: a spouse or partner, a child under 18, an unmarried child aged 18 to 28 who relies mainly on you, a parent or grandparent of you or your spouse who relies on you and does not work full time, or an adult child with a certified disability. The page says up to four generations can be in one application.

Sources: Legislation Malta (legislation.mt), Residency Malta Agency (residencymalta.gov.mt). Checked 17 October 2026.

• The assets test has two options in the regulations: total assets between about €500,000 and about €650,000, with a financial part that is smaller the higher the total (from about €150,000 down to about €75,000). To be safe, have more than €660,000 in total assets, of which more than €160,000 is financial. You show them when you apply and keep them for five years after the certificate is issued.
• You need a qualifying home in Malta or Gozo, either bought for at least €375,000 or leased at a rent of at least €14,000 a year. To be safe, plan for a purchase above €380,000 or a rent above €15,000 a year. A bought home can count toward the evidence of assets.
• You also need stable, regular resources enough to support yourself and your dependants without Malta’s social assistance. The regulations name no amount for this.

Sources: Legislation Malta (legislation.mt), Residency Malta Agency (residencymalta.gov.mt). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Conduct certificates in original form are needed for you and each dependant over 14, from your country of origin and every country where you lived for more than six months in the last ten years; a sworn affidavit of a clean record may be accepted if one cannot be obtained. Your agent adds know-your-customer checks, and you swear a declaration about charges and investigations.
• Forms are in English, with authenticated translations of other documents; documents must be originals or certified copies. You also give confirmation that you and your dependants have no serious or contagious illness, a valid travel document, title to or a lease of the qualifying home, proof of payment of the €2,000 donation and a health insurance policy covering all risks normally covered for Maltese nationals.

Sources: Legislation Malta (legislation.mt), Residency Malta Agency (residencymalta.gov.mt). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Your agent files the application and you pay the first €15,000 of the administration fee with it; the Agency may refuse the application at once if that is not received within one month. After approval in principle you have two months to pay the balance and eight months to pay the contribution, present the home, make the donation and provide health insurance, and the Agency can extend these on good cause.
• Once you have applied, you can apply for a one-year temporary residence permit, renewable each year if the full documents are in within six months. The Agency runs due diligence with outside providers and law enforcement bodies, the Approvals Board must authorise the certificate, and its decisions are final and cannot be appealed.
• The page gives no processing time; it says only that decisions are communicated within a reasonable timeframe. Identità’s visa page says visa-exempt nationals may visit for the first 90 days in every 180 without a visa, and need a Malta D-visa to stay longer.

Sources: Legislation Malta (legislation.mt), Residency Malta Agency (residencymalta.gov.mt), Identità (Government of Malta). Checked 17 October 2026.

• The administration fee is €60,000 for the main applicant, non-refundable: €15,000 with the application and €45,000 within two months of approval in principle. The Government contribution is €37,000, the same whether the home is bought or rented, so €97,000 for a single applicant.
• Each dependant except a spouse or partner, a child under 18 or an adult child with a disability pays a non-refundable administration fee of €7,500.
• You also make a €2,000 donation to a registered Maltese voluntary organisation, and pay a residence card fee of €500 per person that covers five years.

Sources: Legislation Malta (legislation.mt), Residency Malta Agency (residencymalta.gov.mt). Checked 17 October 2026.

• The certificate lets the beneficiary and the dependants named on it reside, settle or stay in Malta indefinitely, as long as they keep to the regulations; it gives no other rights under the Immigration Regulations by itself. You hold the qualifying home for five years, then a residential property in Malta or Gozo, and the Agency checks every year for the first five years.
• The certificate ends if you become a Maltese, EEA or Swiss national, if information you gave was false or misleading, if you stop meeting the conditions, or if your stay is not in the public interest. You must tell the Agency within four weeks of learning of such a reason.

Sources: Legislation Malta (legislation.mt). Checked 17 October 2026.

• The programme grants permanent residence directly, so there is no later step to permanent status. The page says this is separate from citizenship, and the sources tie no citizenship step to it; the certificate stops if you become a Maltese national.

Sources: Legislation Malta (legislation.mt), Residency Malta Agency (residencymalta.gov.mt). Checked 17 October 2026.

• The regulations set no tax rate or tax status for MPRP beneficiaries, and a beneficiary may not also hold a Maltese special tax status, so the ordinary Income Tax Act applies. Someone not ordinarily resident or not domiciled in Malta is taxed on income arising outside Malta only when it is received in Malta, with no tax on foreign capital gains.
• For 2027 the ordinary rates for a single person are 0% up to €12,000, 15% to €16,000, 25% to €60,000 and 35% above. A private firm’s summary says Malta has few specific rules on residence and domicile, so each case is a question of fact.

Sources: Legislation Malta (legislation.mt). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Digital nomad visa in Malta
• Retirement tax status in Malta
• Work permit in Malta
• Family visa in Malta

• Visas in Malta
• Malta

1. List of third countries whose nationals are exempted from holding a visa when crossing the external borders, Identità (Government of Malta), Central Visa Unit. Checked 16 October 2026. Document uploaded to the Identità site in October 2023; lists Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America.
2. Identity History Summary Checks (FBI criminal record check), Federal Bureau of Investigation; Internet Archive copy. Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 6 October 2026. Gives the US$18 fee and says the FBI does not forward requests to the State Department for the apostille, so the apostille is a separate step.
3. US citizens abroad: filing requirements, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 16 October 2026. US citizens abroad file in the same way as those at home, on worldwide income.
4. Malta tax treaty documents, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 16 October 2026. IRS page linking the United States-Malta treaty and its technical explanation.
5. Malta travel advice and advisories (entry and exit requirements), Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca). Checked 16 October 2026. Last updated 18 August 2026. Malta is a Schengen country; Canadian citizens need no visa for stays up to 90 days in any 180-day period, counted across all Schengen countries; a longer stay needs a visa from the high commission or embassy before departure; the regular Canadian passport must be valid at least 3 months beyond the date you expect to leave the Schengen area; the Entry/Exit System collects a facial image and fingerprints; ETIAS applications are "not yet open" (30 European countries).
6. Processing times and fees (criminal record checks), Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Checked 16 October 2026. Page modified 21 May 2025, opened 16 October 2026. Federal processing fee CAD 25 for each criminal record check; local fees set by the local police agency or accredited fingerprinting agency are extra; 3 business days or less when there is no match, up to 120 business days with manual processing or a possible record match.
7. Five tips for authenticating Canadian documents to use abroad (page of 9 January 2025), Global Affairs Canada. Checked 16 October 2026. Opened 16 October 2026. Canada has been party to the Apostille Convention since January 2024. Global Affairs Canada (Authentication Services Section) apostilles federal documents, including those of the RCMP, and documents from Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island and Yukon; Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan documents go to the province; no fee at Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa; no processing times given.
8. Tax treaties in force: Malta, Department of Finance Canada. Checked 16 October 2026. Page dated 18 December 2024, opened 16 October 2026. Lists "The Canada-Malta Income Tax Agreement, as signed on July 25, 1986" with no protocol. Canada's Department of Finance and the Atlas Tax Map (Malta's Commissioner for Revenue, as of 30 May 2026) both record it in force.
9. National Police Checks, Australian Federal Police. Checked 16 October 2026. A National Police Check can be used for working overseas; each application costs 57 Australian dollars, or 114 with fingerprints; identity documents worth 100 points are needed. The page does not say whether Cyprus accepts it, and the Cypriot list does not name the document.
10. Notarial services (legalising documents) in Australia, Internet Archive copy of 12 March 2026, Smartraveller (Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). Checked 16 October 2026. Page last updated 4 March 2026: DFAT legalises Australian public documents and notarised copies by apostille or authentication for 105 Australian dollars; it cannot say whether the overseas authority needs it, so ask that authority.
11. Income tax treaties: treaties in force (Malta), Australian Treasury. Checked 16 October 2026. Page last updated 24 March 2026. Malta: agreement signed 9 May 1984, in force 20 May 1985, with the multilateral instrument applying (the table's MLI date is 1 April 2019).
12. Social Security Agreement between Australia and Malta: frequently asked questions, Internet Archive copy of 7 September 2024, Department of Social Services (Australian Government). Checked 16 October 2026. The current agreement started on 1 July 2005 and replaced the original of 1 July 1991; Australia and Malta share responsibility for paying pensions; Australia adds periods of Maltese insurance to Australian residence; Australia pays covered pensions indefinitely in Malta; at least 10 years of Australian residence is normally needed for the Age Pension.
13. Criminal records: get your own, Ministry of Justice (New Zealand). Checked 16 October 2026. Opened 16 October 2026. The Ministry aims to respond to criminal record check requests within 20 working days; if a country asks for the record to be apostille-certified, you send the record you get to the Department of Internal Affairs.
14. Use your NZ documents overseas (apostille and authentication), New Zealand Government (govt.nz), Department of Internal Affairs Authentication Unit. Checked 16 October 2026. Page last updated 15 September 2026. Lists Malta as an apostille country; NZ$37 for one apostille certificate, 15 working days, or 5 working days on the urgent service (NZ$120).
15. Tax treaties (New Zealand double tax agreements in force, signed and under negotiation), Inland Revenue (New Zealand), Tax Policy. Checked 16 October 2026. Opened 16 October 2026. 41 agreements in force; Malta is on none of the lists (in force, signed, or being negotiated).
16. Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP), Residency Malta Agency (residencymalta.gov.mt). Checked 17 October 2026. Read on 17 October 2026 (no page date shown; page footer 2026). For third-country nationals outside the EEA and Switzerland, not from sanctioned countries; assets of EUR 500,000 (of which EUR 150,000 financial) or EUR 650,000 (of which EUR 75,000 financial); non-refundable administrative fee EUR 60,000, Government contribution EUR 37,000, EUR 7,500 per adult dependant other than the spouse, EUR 2,000 donation; property bought for EUR 375,000 or rented for EUR 14,000 a year, kept at least five years; up to four generations in one application; residence card EUR 500 per person for five years; decisions communicated "within a reasonable timeframe"; applications only through a licensed agent.
17. Malta Permanent Residence Programme Regulations, S.L. 217.26 (L.N. 121 of 2021, as amended up to L.N. 146 of 2025), Government of Malta, Legislation Malta (legislation.mt). Checked 17 October 2026. PDF read on 17 October 2026; amendments listed up to L.N. 146 of 2025. Regulations 3, 4, 9 to 15, 17, 19 and 21 and the First Schedule.
18. Visa: frequently asked questions, Identità (Government of Malta). Checked 16 October 2026. Visa-exempt nationals may visit the Schengen area for the first 90 days in every 180 without a visa; a visit of more than 90 days needs a Malta D-visa even for visa-exempt nationals; D-visas are processed by the Central Visa Unit, taking up to 8 weeks from the VFS appointment; fees are non-refundable.
19. Income Tax Act (Cap. 123), consolidated text, articles 4 and 56, Government of Malta, Legislation Malta (legislation.mt). Checked 16 October 2026. PDF read on 16 October 2026; amendments listed up to Act III of 2026. Article 4(1)(g) provisos (i) and (ii); article 56(1)(b)(i), marked as applicable from the year of assessment 2027 (Act III of 2026, article 13(2)).