Residence in Malta

The main benefits of gettting a permamanent residency of Malta by GRP:

1. The residency of Malta could be obtained by the Main Applicant and his/her closest relatives- wife/husband, unemployed children under 25 years and parents of the Main Applicant or his/her wife/husband;

2. Period of registration – 2 - 4 months after submission of doucments; the first residency card is renewed in one year- all the following once in 2 years;
3. No restrictions on the length of stay in Malta, but the Applicant has to stay not more than 183 days in any counrty outside Malta;
4. The tax, that the Applicant has to pay in Malta, may be lowered by the agreement of double taxation (if there is such agreement between the counrits), if the Applicant will become a tax payer in Malta (he/she should reside in Malta more than 183 days a year).

The main conditions to obtain residency permit of Malta by GRP:

1.Holds a ‘Qualifying Property Holding’ which is defined as immovable property situated in the Maltese islands which was either (i) purchased in Malta for a consideration of not less than €275,000 or in Gozo or the South of Malta for a consideration of not less than €220,000; or, (ii) rented for not less than €9,600 per annum for a property situated in Malta or €8,750 for a property situated in Gozo or the South of Malta. In all cases, the said property must be occupied as the primary place of residence;

2.Does not benefit under the Residents Scheme Regulations, the High Net Worth Individuals – EU/EEA/Swiss Nationals Rules, the High Net Worth Individuals – Non-EU/EEA/Swiss Nationals Rules, the Malta Retirement Programme Rules, the Qualifying Employment in Innovation and Creativity Rules or the Highly Qualified Persons Rules;

3.Is not a “long-term resident” of Malta and consequently does not have long-term resident status under the Status of Long-term Residents (Third Country Nationals) Regulations, and must not have resided legally and continuously in Malta for five years;

4.Is in receipt of stable and regular resources which are sufficient to maintain himself/herself and his/her dependents without recourse to the social assistance system in Malta;

5.Is in possession of a valid travel document;

6.Is in possession of sickness insurance which covers himself/herself and his/her dependents in respect of all risks across the whole of the EU normally covered for Maltese nationals;

Is a fit and proper person; and

7.Can adequately communicate in one of the official languages of Malta.

Applicants of the Global Residence Programme have no minimum stay requirements. However they may not spend more than 183 days in any other jurisdiction.

Fees of the GRP:

According to the Global Residence Programme, a flat rate of tax of 15% is applicable on income declared in Malta. The minimum tax of €15,000 is payable by not later than the 30th April of the year in which the income is received in Malta and such payment must be accompanied by a return made to the Commissioner that provides proof that all the requirements continue to be satisfied. The minimum tax for the first year is paid before the special tax status is granted.

A non-refundable one-off registration fee of €6,000 (€5,500 in the case of applications involving a qualifying property holding in the south of Malta) must be paid by bank draft payable to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue and attached to the application form.

Applicants of the Global Residence Programme will also be able to work or set up business in Malta and will be taxed at a flat rate of 35% on any income arising in Malta.

Futhermore, the services related to the registation and assistance with the GRP would cost €2,000 for the family of 3, as well as there are flactuating rates for the translation and certification of documents, insurance and property purchase.

The annual fees, apart from the abovementioned tax of €15,000, are also that of €1,500 for the annual tax reports.

Main opportunities to obtain the temporary residency in Malta by MRVP:

In February 2016, Identity Malta Agency has issued the MRVP guidelines and application forms which provide international investors with the right to take up residency in Malta indefinitely. These rights will apply only for non-EU / EEA / Swiss Nationals. The new program falls under the Immigration Act and is available to both the applicant and their dependents, provided the following conditions are satisfied.

The qualifications and general requirements are that the applicant must:

be at least eighteen years of age;
meet the application requirements;
have a clean criminal record, have passed the due diligence test and is a fit and proper person;
commit himself / herself to a qualifying investment of an initial value of €250,000 which must be held for a minimum of period of 5 years from the date of certificate.
commit himself / herself to pay in full a contribution of €30,000
commit himself / herself to provide proof of title to a qualifying property which may be either of the following:

1.A qualifying owned property purchased at a consideration of not less than €270,000 for a property situated in Gozo or in the south of Malta, or €320,000 for a property situated elsewhere in Malta

2.A qualifying rented property, taken on lease for a rent of not less than €10,000 per annum for a property situated in Gozo or in the south of Malta, or not less than €12,000 per annum for a property situated elsewhere in Malta.

The total length of period of registration is around 3-6 months from the moment of submission the documents;

Dependants

The rules establish that dependants shall comprise:

the main applicant’s spouse in a monogamous marriage or in another relationship having the same or a similar status to marriage;
a child, including an adopted child, of the main applicant or of his spouse who at the time of application is less than 18 years of age;
a child, including an adopted child, of the main applicant or of his spouse, who at the time of application is not yet born or not yet adopted;
a child, including an adopted child, of the main applicant or of his spouse, who must be, at the time of application, over 18 years of age, not married and not economically active, and therefore financially dependent on the main applicant;
a parent or grandparent of the main applicant or of his spouse who proves that he is not economically active; In this case the contribution will increase by €5,000 per parent/grandparent.
a child of the main applicant or of the spouse of the main applicant who is at least 18 years of age, and who has been certified by a recognised medical professional as having a disability in terms of the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act and who is living with, and is fully supported by, the main applicant.

An additional non-refundable fee of €5,000 (per dependent) would be required from the main applicant should he/she like to add the following as dependants on the Certificate of Residence:

i. the spouse of the beneficiary’s or his spouse’s approved child, who would have been previously accepted as a dependant in the residence certificate;

ii. any dependant who, after the appointed day is born to or adopted by an approved child, or his spouse, where the letter is already a beneficiary under the MRVP rules;

iii. the spouse or minor/child of a dependant.

The applicant must pay a non-refundable administrative fee of €5,500 on application, which will be deducted from the above-mentioned contribution of €30,000. The applicant will need to provide an affidavit declaring that from the date of the application onwards he has either an annual income of not less than €100,000 arising outside Malta or has capital of not less than €500,000.

The applicant must be a third country national i.e. not a Maltese, EU, EEA or Swiss national.

The applicant must not benefit from any other scheme applicable in Malta i.e. the Global Residence Programme Rules, the High Net Worth Individuals – EU / EEA / Swiss Nationals Rules, the Malta Retirement Program Rules, the Residence Program Rules, the Qualifying Employment in Innovation and Creativity Rules or the Highly Qualified Persons Rules.

The beneficiary must hold both the qualifying property and the qualifying investment for a minimum five (5) year period following the appointed date. The certificate of residence will give the applicant and the registered dependents the right to reside, settle or stay indefinitely in Malta.

An application in terms of the MRVP rules must be made through the services of a registered accredited person or a registered approved agent with Identity Malta. ACT Advisory Services Limited is able to offer this service as it is registered as such with Identity Malta.

5 years after issuance of residency certificate participants of program have a right to sell or rent out their property IF they do own other property in Malta (the price of the property does not have to satisfy the conditions of the program).

Official information from the government of Malta...