Malta · Residency by investment
Malta Permanent Residence Programme
Amended by Legal Notice 146 of 2025, which restructured fees and thresholds: administrative fee raised to EUR 60,000, contribution standardised at EUR 37,000 whether buying or renting, adult dependant fee cut to EUR 7,500, spouse and minor children no longer charged separately, and a one-year renewable temporary residence permit introduced so applicants can relocate while the file is processed. Governed by Subsidiary Legislation 217.26.
Post-C-181/23 this is what Malta actually sells: Schengen mobility and an EU base with zero physical presence, and nothing more. The pricing shift under LN 146 of 2025 is quietly significant — it made the rental route far cheaper for families by dropping spouse and minor-child contributions, while raising the headline administrative fee, so the family-of-four economics improved even as the single-applicant sticker price rose.
Qualifying routes
minimum value; must be held five years
minimum annual rent; must be maintained five years
The facts
- Minimum investment
- €375k
- Total landed cost
- Rental route: roughly EUR 169k of non-recoverable outlay for a single applicant over five years — EUR 60k administrative fee, EUR 37k government contribution, EUR 2k philanthropic donation and EUR 70k of rent — plus legal and due-diligence fees. Purchase route: same EUR 99k of fees and contribution plus a EUR 375k property that retains value. Add EUR 7,500 per adult dependant.
- Timeline
- 6–12 months — from submission to Letter of Approval in Principle; the new temporary permit lets families relocate during processing
- Physical presence
- None. There is no minimum stay requirement.
- Family
- spousefinancially dependent childrendependent parentsdependent grandparents
- Permanent residency
- Immediate — the status is permanent for life; the card is renewed every five years
- Citizenship
- None via this programme. MPRP is a residence status, not a naturalisation track; ordinary naturalisation requires long residence and is discretionary in practice.
- Language test
- n/a
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- third-country national over 18, not from a sanctioned or excluded jurisdictioncapital of EUR 500,000 including EUR 150,000 in financial assets, or EUR 650,000 including EUR 75,000 in financial assetsqualifying property purchased from EUR 375,000 or leased from EUR 14,000 per year, held five yearsEUR 60,000 administrative fee (EUR 15,000 on submission, EUR 45,000 after approval in principle)EUR 37,000 government contributionEUR 2,000 donation to a registered Maltese philanthropic, cultural, sporting, scientific, animal welfare or artistic NGOEUR 7,500 per adult dependant other than the spouseclean criminal record, health insurance, application through a licensed agent
- MPRP does not lead to a Maltese passport. Any pitch bridging MPRP to citizenship is a fabrication now that MEIN is repealed.
- The five-year property hold is a genuine lock-in; selling or terminating the lease early jeopardises the status.
- The EUR 60k administrative fee is non-refundable and largely paid before you know the outcome — EUR 15k at submission, EUR 45k only after approval in principle, so the pre-approval exposure is EUR 15k plus due diligence.
- Residence alone does not create Maltese tax residence; conversely, if you do relocate and spend over 183 days, Maltese tax and the EUR 5,000 minimum tax rules can engage. Model the tax and the immigration separately.
- Malta remains under elevated EU and FATF-legacy scrutiny of its investment migration industry; MPRP survived the CJEU ruling because it is residence rather than nationality, but political risk is not zero.
- Asset test: EUR 500,000 in capital including EUR 150,000 financial assets, or EUR 650,000 including EUR 75,000 financial assets.