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Maltese Citizenship Act (Cap. 188): Granting of Citizenship for Exceptional Services Regulations. This is the document that governs the process of obtaining citizenship of Malta. There are no other Acts that make it possible for a foreigner to become a citizen of Malta. The country does not have a citizenship-by-investment program any longer. Exceptional services – that’s what you have to provide. How can you do that? Let’s see!
Only 1,500 foreigners can obtain Maltese citizenship for exceptional services. The citizenship-by-investment program had a limit of 1,800 applicants and the limit was reached in June 2020. The program was really popular with affluent people from other countries who wanted to relocate to the European Union with their families. Expectedly, the new ‘special services’ program is going to be not less popular.
The Act mentioned above does not specify how long the program is going to last. It does set a quota of 400 applications for citizenship per year. On these grounds, we can assume that the new program is going to be in existence for a few years only.
The ‘price’ of Maltese citizenship
The required investment amount depends on how soon the applicant desires to obtain a Maltese passport – after legally residing in the country for 1 year or for 3 years. If you are prepared to wait longer, you can pay the lowest possible ‘price’ for Maltese citizenship. You have to make a donation of €600,000 to the Maltese national development fund plus donate €10,000 to a charity. Therefore, the smallest price you can pay for Maltese citizenship is €610,000.
If you don’t want to wait for 3 years, you can apply for citizenship of Malta after living there on a residence permit for only 1 year. In this case, you will have to donate €750,000. We must stress that this is going to be a non-returnable donation, not an investment.
In addition to that, you have to buy property in Malta for at least €700,000. You can sell the property back after 5 years, return your money, and keep the Maltese passport. Moreover, you can even make a nice profit when selling the property: the prices constantly grow in the real estate market in Malta.
Alternatively, you can make a 5-year rent agreement. If you choose the latter option, the contract price has to be at least €16,000 per year (€80,000 over 5 years). Please consult InternationalWealth experts on the ways of applying for Maltese citizenship by providing ‘special services’ to the country.
Stages in the process of acquiring Maltese citizenship
The earliest you can get a Maltese passport is in 14 or 15 months after obtaining legal residence in the country. You are eligible to apply for citizenship after 12 months (if you pay €750,000) and application processing takes some time. Without doubt, you application will have to be approved by a new Government unit called Community Malta Agency. That is to say, you will have to pass the due diligence tests.
The process of obtaining citizenship of Malta can be divided into 3 stages. First, you have to obtain a legal residence permit in the country. Second, you have to ‘naturalize’ in Malta for 1 or 3 years. When the period expires, you will obtain a Certificate of Naturalization. This document will make you eligible to apply for citizenship of Malta. Now you can make a donation and file an application for citizenship.
Changes in the process of acquiring Maltese citizenship
The process of Citizenship by investment Malta has undergone some changes. Previously, only the main applicant had to obtain a residence permit before he or she could apply for citizenship. Now all dependent adult family members who are going to apply for citizenship of Malta have to naturalize in the country first. That is, all of them need to obtain residence permits.
The due diligence procedures have also undergone some changes. Now they are called Eligibility Assessment. The essence of the procedures remains the same, however. Their main goal is to ascertain that the applicant is a law-abiding person and all his or her money comes from legal sources. Eligibility Assessment costs €15,000 for the main applicant and €10,000 for each dependent family member.
Please note that the procedures of eligibility assessment are not any tougher than the due diligence procedure: they are simply as tough. The Maltese authorities put every adult applicant for citizenship to a series of tests. They have to follow the EU regulations on combating money laundering and financing terrorism. The due diligence procedures are stricter in Malta than they are in any other country ‘selling’ its passports to foreigners. The old citizenship-by-investment program was in operation between 2013 and 2020. Over that period, 1,460 applications for Maltese citizenship were approved and around 500 applications were rejected. No other country rejects 25% of applications for citizenship.
Previously, only the main applicant had to obtain a residence permit before he or she could apply for citizenship. Now all dependent adult family members who are going to apply for citizenship of Malta have to naturalize in the country first. That is, all of them need to obtain residence permits.
Things to know about the eligibility assessment procedures
Passing the eligibility tests is a prerequisite for obtaining Maltese citizenship but it is not a guarantee that citizenship will be granted to you. The Eligibility Assessment procedures consist of 3 stages.
At the first stage, the immigration agent (who you will have to hire) conducts his or her own due diligence checks. The agent uses international databases to make sure that the information that you have supplied is correct. Please note that you will have to supply a police clearance that the agent will have to make sure that it is authentic. Then the agent submits a report to the Malta Community Agency.
At the second stage, the Agency conducts its own inspection of the application documents and ensures that all of them are in good order. Then it submits the application document package to two independent international companies who conduct their assessments. They analyze everything: who the applicant communicates with, who his business partners are, what his company sells, and so on. The independent assessors will also want to know if the applicant is mentioned in public domain, if he or she has negative references, if he or she is sanctioned by a certain organization, etc. They then submit their reports to the Malta Community Agency and it passes them on to the Minister of Citizenship and Social Relations. When the Minister makes a decision, the Agency informs the immigration agent about it.
If everything is fine, at the third stage, the immigration agent prepares the final version of the application document package and files an application for Maltese citizenship on behalf of his/ her client.
Please note that if you would like to save some money and wait for 3 years before applying for citizenship of Malta, some documents may expire. If this is the case, they need to be replaced before filing an application for citizenship.
Besides, you have to fill out a special form every year for the first five years after taking an oath of allegiance (you will have 6 months after obtaining a Maltese passport to take the oath). In this form, you will have to demonstrate that you follow all the rules specified in the Maltese laws.
The task of obtaining Maltese citizenship is demanding indeed, but this is the only remaining opportunity to ‘buy’ EU citizenship.
