There are several ways to obtain Maltese citizenship: for instance, by birth, by descent, or after marriage to a citizen of the country. For those who don’t have family ties with Maltese nationals, there is naturalisation.
The naturalisation path requires applicants to reside in the country legally for at least 5 years. A specific form of naturalisation is Malta citizenship by merit. It requires demonstrating a significant contribution or service that aligns with Malta’s national interest while holding legal residence in the country.
In this guide, we’ll look at each way to obtain Malta nationality in detail.
The Maltese Citizenship Act categorises all the ways to obtain citizenship in the country[1].
By birth or descent. People born in a family where at least one parent is a citizen of Malta get citizenship of the country regardless of whether they were born on its territory or outside of it.
By registration. Citizenship by registration applies to relatives of Maltese nationals — their spouses, widows or widowers, and direct descendants.
By marriage. Foreign nationals married to Maltese citizens can apply for citizenship after being married for five years and living together in Malta for the preceding six months. This path falls under the registration category.
By naturalisation. Foreigners legally residing in Malta for at least five years can apply for Maltese citizenship by naturalisation.
By merit. Naturalisation is also available to foreign entrepreneurs, innovators, and philanthropists whose contributions align with Malta’s national interest. Each request for naturalisation by merit is assessed on a case-by-case basis by the Community Malta Agency, and the outcome is not guaranteed.
For refugees and political asylum. Refugees can obtain citizenship status under the general rules of naturalisation after at least five years of residency.
Malta citizenship by merit is available to foreigners who can show an exceptional achievement that aligns with Malta’s national interest. There is no checklist or guaranteed criteria for this legislative framework. Each application is assessed individually.
Candidates for citizenship by merit are foreigners over 18 years old who can demonstrate exceptional contribution or clear potential in areas important to Malta’s development, including:
Even though there’s no set criteria for Malta citizenship by merit, there are some integration details without which an applicant will not be considered.
1. Continuous residence. Candidates for Malta citizenship by merit may become eligible after residing in the country for at least 8—12 uninterrupted months. Applicants may be required to show their utility bills, tax registration, and official address registration.
2. Project proposal. Applicants submit a Proposal letter that explains a tangible benefit to Malta. The letter should include:
3. Language. Applicants for Maltese nationality must demonstrate adequate knowledge of Maltese or English, supported by IELTS, TOEFL, GCSE, or an equivalent certificate.
Since every application for Malta citizenship by merit is reviewed individually, there’s no set timeline for this process.
Below are the general steps applicants take within the application process.
Immigrant Invest checks eligibility for Malta citizenship application. Preliminary Due Diligence is an in-house procedure that is intended to flag potential denial risks. The check is confidential, and only a passport is needed.
Before they apply for citizenship, applicants obtain residence in Malta. For this step, they are required to have health insurance and residential property in the country.
Immigrant Invest lawyers prepare the documents that demonstrate the applicant’s background, ties to Malta, and their contribution to the state.
The papers, including the Proposal Letter, are submitted for Due Diligence. The Evaluation Board assesses the proposal and contribution to decide whether the applicant is eligible for Malta citizenship.
Successful applicants receive Approval in Principle, after which they can proceed with their planned contribution.
The Evaluation Board performs the final review and Community Malta Agency conducts the final check to ensure that the applicant fulfilled the planned service or contribution.
If the final assessment is positive, the candidate can proceed to the citizenship application.
Naturalisation is a route to citizenship for foreign nationals who do not have Maltese relatives and cannot prove descent from Maltese nationals. In broad terms, it requires continuous residence in Malta and strong ties to the country.
Before applying for Malta citizenship by residency, applicants must reside in the country for at least five years within the last seven years preceding the application [3].
Naturalisation represents the longest path to Maltese citizenship. Officially, the applicants are required to be a country’s resident for only five years, but in practice, for those who don’t have Maltese origin, it could take up to 18 years of residing in Malta to be granted a passport.
Five years of physical residency in the country should include 12 months of continuous presence there before the application and four cumulative years in the six years preceding those 12 months.
Additionally, the applicant must meet the following conditions:
The sponsors guarantee that the applicant is a person of good character and is suitable for Malta citizenship. It’s required that the sponsors and the applicant have known each other for two or more years and are not relatives.
One of the sponsors has to be a representative of one of the following professions:
The second sponsor can be any Maltese citizen over 18 years old who did not acquire their passport by naturalisation.
The application fee is €450. If the application is accepted, the candidate is also required to pay €50 for the issuance of the citizenship certificate.
Aside from the fees, applicants pay for translation and notarisation of documents that are not written in Maltese or English. In some cases, apostilling documents might be required.
People with Maltese roots obtain citizenship either by birth or by descent.
Getting citizenship by birth is free of charge. A baby born in Malta to a family with at least one parent who acquired Maltese citizenship by birth, naturalisation, or registration becomes a citizen of Malta. These rules also apply to individuals born outside Malta after July 31st, 1989. Citizenship by birth is granted automatically.
If a person was born before July 31st, 1989, citizenship was granted only if their father was a Maltese citizen at the time of birth, or they were born in Malta and their father, who did not have Maltese citizenship, did not have diplomatic immunity.
A descendant in the direct line of an ascendant born in Malta, with a parent also born in Malta, can apply for citizenship by registration on the grounds of descent.
This case falls under the category of citizenship by registration. Descendants of Maltese citizens can apply for citizenship from outside Malta — they can submit their application to any of the Maltese Representations Overseas [5].
For descendants, the citizenship acquisition process can take from five months to two years.
The application fee for citizenship by registration is €150. If the application is accepted, the candidate has to pay an additional €50 for the certificate issuance.
When a spouse of a Maltese national applies for citizenship after marriage, their application is categorised as citizenship by registration.
Spouses can obtain a passport of Malta if they have been married to a Maltese citizen for at least five years. The same applies to registered partners who have been in a relationship with a Maltese citizen for five years. The primary condition for the couple is that they live in one home, which does not have to be in Malta.
If the couple resides in Malta, the partner without Maltese citizenship must obtain residency for a period of five years after the marriage has elapsed.
Widows and widowers are also eligible for citizenship if their marriage to a Maltese citizen lasted more than five years.
The application fee for citizenship by registration is €150. If the application is accepted, the candidate has to pay an additional €50 for the certificate issuance.
Malta protects refugees from third countries who have proven their lives were threatened or they have been discriminated against in their country of origin.
Refugees in Malta obtain a residency permit and a Convention Travel Document and access to employment, social welfare, education, medical care, and integration programs.
Refugees can obtain citizenship status under the general rules of naturalisation, meaning they will be granted their passports after at least five years of residency.
Malta allows dual citizenship, which means foreigners can maintain their existing nationality while acquiring Maltese citizenship. This policy is applicable whether one gains Maltese citizenship by naturalisation, by merit, or by descent.
However, it's important to check the laws of your home country, as some countries do not allow dual citizenship and may require you to renounce your original nationality.
Children born to Maltese citizens, including those who acquired their citizenship by naturalisation, generally inherit Maltese citizenship automatically. This makes it possible for dual citizenship to be passed onto future generations.
For foreigners whose goal is to move to Malta long-term without necessarily obtaining citizenship, the country offers investment-based paths to different types of residence permits.
The Malta Permanent Residence Programme offers foreigners an opportunity to secure a permanent residence permit in Malta by investment.
To apply, applicants are required to fulfil all three investment conditions:
Besides the investment, applicants must prove available capital of at least €500,000 with at least €150,000 in liquid assets. Another option is to show a capital of €650,000 with only €75,000 in liquid assets.
Malta Global Residence Programme allows foreign investors to obtain a temporary residence permit in Malta. The permit can be renewed for as long as the investment conditions are met.
To participate in the programme, applicants rent or buy property and pay administrative fees and taxes.
Renting real estate. The minimum price of the rental property depends on its location:
If an investor chooses to rent real estate, they pay an administrative fee of €6,000.
Purchase of real estate. The required minimum price of the property depends on its location:
Investors are not obliged to move to Malta permanently. However, they are required to become tax residents in Malta, which means they cannot spend over 183 days a year in another country.
Global Residence Permit holders pay tax at a special rate. The flat tax rate of 15% is charged on income earned abroad and transferred to Malta. The minimum tax due for a family is €15,000 a year.
1. Maltese culture is a mix of influences from various civilisations that have occupied the island. There are numerous cultural events, festivals, and historical sites. The Maltese are known for their hospitality and community-oriented lifestyle.
2. English and Maltese are the official languages. English is widely spoken, which makes communication easy for expatriates. Italian is also commonly understood and spoken by a significant portion of the population.
3. Malta is an extremely expat-friendly country, with almost one-third made up of people born abroad who now live in the country as residents or citizens. This is the third-highest share of foreign-born people in the European Union [6].
4. Malta enjoys a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. This makes it an attractive destination for those who prefer year-round mild weather.
5. Getting around Malta is easy, even without a car. The island has a comprehensive public bus system, and because of its small size, travel distances are short. Owning a car is common, but traffic congestion can be an issue, especially in and around urban areas.
Immigrant Invest is a consulting company with a strong presence in Malta, deep knowledge of local law, and full authority to assist clients with residency and citizenship applications based on merit.
Our legal team has comprehensive experience in all local immigration procedures and operates strictly within the legal framework, including the Maltese Citizenship Act Cap. 188, Article 10 (9) [4].
We hold official licences issued by government authorities in several jurisdictions, including EU member states and Caribbean countries. These licences are required to represent clients in citizenship and residency by investment programmes and place the company under strict compliance obligations and direct accountability for every application it submits.
The company also has an in-house Legal and AML Compliance Department staffed by certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists and members of the Investment Migration Council. Before any application is filed, the team carries out a thorough preliminary review to identify and resolve potential red flags. This helps reduce the risk of rejection and protects both the client’s investment and the company’s licensed status.
Before signing a contract with a potential client, we perform a Preliminary Due Diligence. It’s an in-house background check that helps us understand if the chosen residence or citizenship route is the right one for the client.
If there’s a high risk of rejection, we suggest a different, more realistic solution. This way, we help our clients achieve their goals while keeping an overall rejection rate at our company as low as 1%.
Immigrating to Malta can be relatively straightforward, particularly for EU citizens, due to the European Union’s right to free movement. For non-EU citizens, the process can be more complex, depending on the purpose of the stay, such as marriage or family reunification.
Yes, Malta allows dual citizenship. It means that individuals can hold Maltese citizenship alongside another nationality without having to renounce their original citizenship. This policy is beneficial for those who want to maintain strong ties with their country of origin while enjoying the benefits of Maltese citizenship, such as the ability to live, work, and travel freely within the EU.
There are four broad categories of cases in which one can obtain Malta citizenship.
Malta citizenship by birth is granted to those who are born into a family with at least one Maltese parent.
Citizenship by naturalisation is available to foreign nationals legally residing in Malta for at least five years within the last seven years.
Third-country nationals married to Maltese citizens for at least five years can obtain citizenship by registration. This kind of citizenship is also granted to descendants of Maltese nationals.
Finally, one can obtain Malta citizenship by merit. This is a naturalisation path that requires performing a significant contribution or service that aligns with Malta’s national interests.
The timeframe for obtaining Malta citizenship depends on the chosen path to it.
To become a citizen by naturalisation, one has to reside in Malta for at least five years. Likewise, spouses of Malta citizens can get their passports after five years of marriage.
The number of steps and the timeframe of obtaining Malta citizenship depend on the chosen way of acquiring it.
For those who do not have family ties to Maltese nationals, citizenship can be acquired by naturalisation. In practice, this usually requires at least five years of legal residence in Malta officially, and up to 18 years in reality, as applications may be denied multiple times without explanation before being approved.
Citizenship by naturalisation may be granted by merit to individuals who can demonstrate a significant contribution aligned with the country’s national interests.
Yes. Foreign nationals can obtain Malta citizenship by naturalisation, which implies continuous residence in the country for at least 5 years.
Another way to get naturalisation is by merit. This path requires performing a significant service that aligns with the state’s national goals.
To become a citizen of Malta by descent, one must prove they are a direct descendant of a person born in Malta, whose parents were also born in Malta. Applications can be submitted at any Maltese representation overseas.
The Maltese passport is highly powerful, enabling visa-free travel to over 160 other countries. Maltese citizens can also relocate to any EU country without needing a residence permit.
