Malta Immigration Information

Residency

The permanent residents scheme allows individuals who were not born on the Maltese Islands to live here, if they fulfill certain criteria.  Prospective applicants must be able to provide proof that they have a worldwide income in excess of Lm10,000, or a worldwide capital in excess of Lm150,000 and that they are able to remit into Malta a minimum annual income of Lm6000 plus Lm1000 per dependant.  Within twelve months of obtaining a permit of residency, they must fulfil three conditions:

Either:

(a) purchase a flat in Malta worth at least Lm 30,000, or (b) purchase of a house in Malta worth at least Lm50,000 or (c) rent or lease a property for at least Lm1,800 per annum.

A permanent resident is liable for income tax in Malta on a remittance basis. Income remitted to Malta is chargeable to income tax at a flat rate of 15% with a minimum liability of Lm1000 per year.  A permanent resident may be eligible for double tax relief, although his annual income tax liability may never be less than Lm1000.

There are no death duties in Malta and a permanent resident is exempt from the taxation of capital gains arising outside Malta even if the gain is remitted to Malta. 

A permanent resident may import free of duty furniture and other personal effects as well as a motor vehicle provided this is done within six months of taking up residency in Malta.

Visas

Citizens of the following countries do NOT require a visa to enter Malta, provided that the stay does not exceed 3 months:

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria*, Belgium*, Brunei Darussalam , Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia , Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Federal Republic of Germany**, Finland, France*, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg*, Malaysia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal*, Republic of Korea, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland*, The Netherlands, United Kingdom (1), United States of America, Uruguay, Vatican City

(1) Including the following UK Dependencies: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Henderson Ducie and Oene Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, St. Helena Dependencies, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Tristan Da Cunha, Turks and Caicos Islands.

Notes:

• Citizens of the underlined States may travel to Malta with a valid Identity Card.
• Citizens of the States marked with * may also travel to Malta with a passport that has expired within the last 5 years.
• Citizens of the States marked with ** may also travel to Malta with a passport that has expired within the last 1 year.
• Chinese nationals holders of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) do not require a visa to enter Malta.
• MACAO citizens in possession of a “Regio Administrativa Especial de Macao” passport do not require a visa to enter Malta.

All other foreign nationals who are not listed have to apply for a Visa for Malta, which is issued by the Immigration Police.

All foreigners who are currently residing in countries where there is an Embassy, High Commission or Consulate of Malta should preferably apply at any of these offices where applications are processed and visas may be issued or refused.

If an applicant is residing in a country where no Maltese Embassy/High Commission or Consulate exists, the applicant may contact the Honorary Consul for Malta in order to be able to apply for the Visa.  Honorary Consuls are not authorised to issue Visas but they can assist the applicant by contacting the Immigration Police to forward the Visa application and other relevant documents that might be required.

Where there is no official Maltese representation in a country, the applicant should apply directly to the Immigration Police in Malta, with whom s/he should check all the requirements that are relevant to his/her passport.  The applicant may obtain the required Visa Form for Entry into Malta by simply downloading it (formats: Word 2000 (153 KB) or Adobe Acrobat PDF (135 KB)) from this website, duly filling it, and faxing it to the Commissioner of Police together with a photocopy of the passport of the applicant and other requested documents.

The Immigration Police would then issue a statement, which is faxed to the applicant indicating whether the application for Visa has been approved or otherwise.  In the case of approval, the applicant should present the letter of approval to the airline before proceeding to Malta. S/he would then be issued with a visa upon her/his arrival at the Malta International Airport.

For more information, please contact:
Police General Headquarters,
Immigration Department,
Floriana,
Malta
Tel:  +356 2122 4001 (ask for Immigration Police)
Fax:  +356 2124 7777, 2123 5308

Vehicle Importation

No customs bond is required if a vehicle is imported for a period not exceeding three months, although a Green Card is needed. 
The authorities may also require a declaration that the vehicle will not be sold in Malta.