If you want a residence card that does not expire on a two-year stamp, and you can live with a five-year property commitment, Malta is still open. The live product is the Malta Permanent Residence Programme. It gives permanent residence in Malta and Schengen travel of 90 days in any 180. It does not give you the right to take a job in Paris, and it does not give you a Maltese passport.
The pain is the word "EU." Brokers still say "EU permanent residence" as if the card were a key to the whole Union. It is not. Say the precise thing, or you will buy the wrong program.
A second pain: people still arrive asking to buy Maltese citizenship. The Court of Justice of the EU ended that product on 29 April 2025. Anyone still selling it is selling a closed door.
Key takeaways
- You must apply through a Residency Malta Agency licensed agent. You cannot file this yourself.
- You must be a third-country national - not EU, EEA or Swiss - and pass fit-and-proper due diligence.
- Capital test: at least €500,000 in assets including €150,000 financial, or €650,000 including €75,000 financial, per the Agency's published criteria.
- Government stack: €60,000 administration fee + €37,000 contribution + €2,000 NGO donation, plus €7,500 per extra adult dependant (spouse and minor children are treated differently - confirm the First Schedule for your household).
- Property: buy from €375,000 or rent from €14,000 a year, held five years. After that you must still keep a residential address in Malta.
- No minimum stay to keep MPRP. Biometrics still need a trip.
- Malta uniquely can include grandparents. Greece includes both sets of parents, not grandparents. Do not mix those sentences.
That is the shop window. The next section is who is allowed to walk in.
Who qualifies
Residency Malta Agency, not a travel agent, decides. You need stable resources so you will not use Malta's social assistance, a clean record, and no security flag. Sanctioned nationalities are excluded as the Agency announces them. You also cannot already be on another Maltese scheme that the rules treat as incompatible.
English is an official language. That is a real comfort. It is not a substitute for due diligence. Malta's files are among the most document-heavy in this market, which is why people who treat the licensed agent as a courier get surprised.
Eligibility is the gate. Money is the lock.
What you pay, and what you keep
| Item | Amount | Comes back? |
|---|---|---|
| Administration fee | €60,000 (€15,000 on filing, €45,000 after approval in principle) | No |
| Government contribution | €37,000 after approval in principle (flat on rent or buy after the 2025 rework) | No |
| NGO donation | €2,000 to a registered Maltese NGO in an approved sector | No |
| Qualifying rent | From €14,000 per year for five years | No - it is rent |
| Qualifying purchase | From €375,000, held five years | The property is potentially recoverable, subject to the market. The fees are not. |
| Residence card fee | €500 per person for a five-year card, per the Agency's published list | No |
| Health insurance | Cover in Malta and other European countries; many agents still quote a €100,000 medical minimum - confirm the policy wording the Agency wants this year | N/A |
Hidden gem: after Legal Notice 146 of 2025 the contribution is the same on the rent track and the buy track. Older blogs that say you "save" a large contribution by buying are describing a dead split. We itemise the First Schedule on /countries/malta/fee-schedule.
A second hidden gem: after year 5 the specific €375,000 / €14,000 floors fall away, but you must still maintain a residential property in Malta - own or lease - to keep the status. People who treat year 5 as "sell everything and disappear" misread the Agency's own property rule.
Fees are one conversation. Family is the one Malta actually wins.
Family, stay, tax, citizenship
MPRP is the wide family file: spouse, dependent children, parents, and - uniquely among the programs we cover - grandparents. That is the genuine Malta edge. It is also why a cheap headline for a couple becomes an expensive file once older generations are added. Price the household, not the main applicant.
There is no minimum stay to keep MPRP. You still attend for biometrics. Do not confuse "no stay" with "Maltese tax resident." MPRP status, Maltese tax residence, and domicile are three different concepts. A person may be tax resident under more than one domestic law; treaties use OECD Article 4 when they apply.
Citizenship by investment is gone after Case C-181/23 (Commission v Malta), 29 April 2025. Ordinary naturalisation is discretionary and expects a real life in Malta. Merit-based talk is not a program you can apply for like MPRP. If a passport is the product, this is the wrong aisle.
What people on the internet are saying: since the CJEU judgment, comment threads flipped from "Malta passport vs Caribbean" to "is MPRP even worth it without a passport." That is the right question. Our answer lives on the worth-it page. The requirements answer is simpler: the residence product is open; the citizenship product is not.
Related reading
- Malta MPRP dossier
- What is actually open in Malta
- Official household fee table
- Is Malta MPRP worth it?
- Italy flat tax vs Malta vs UAE
Sources
- Residency Malta Agency - residencymalta.gov.mt legal-framework / MPRP pages (eligibility, fees, property, licensed agent).
- S.L. 217.26 as amended, including Legal Notice 146 of 2025 - First Schedule fees.
- CJEU Case C-181/23, Commission v Malta, 29 April 2025 - investor citizenship.
- Our Malta fee-schedule and what-is-open extras, checked against the Agency pages.
Core government numbers after LN 146/2025
Price the real household on /countries/malta/fee-schedule. These are the headline limbs, not the all-in.
| Limb | Typical figure | Comes back? |
|---|---|---|
| Government contribution | €60,000 class of payment | No |
| Administration / other gov | €37,000 class + €2,000 class | No |
| Rent track | €14,000 / year class | Spent |
| Buy track | €375,000 | You hold a flat |
Can you run MPRP as yourself?
The licensed-agent rule is structural, not a sales upsell.
Answer every question for an honest read - not a brochure score.
FAQs
Can I apply for Malta MPRP without an agent?+
No. Applications must be filed by a Residency Malta Agency licensed agent acting under power of attorney.
Does MPRP give me EU permanent residence or the right to work in other EU countries?+
No. It gives permanent residence in Malta and Schengen travel of 90 days in any 180. It does not grant general employment rights across the EU.
Can I still buy Maltese citizenship?+
No. Investor citizenship ended after the 29 April 2025 CJEU judgment. MPRP is residence. Naturalisation is a separate, discretionary process that expects genuine residence.
Is there a minimum stay?+
No published minimum stay to maintain MPRP. You still travel for biometrics, and you must keep the property conditions.
Who can I include?+
Spouse, dependent children, parents, and grandparents of the main applicant and spouse - the widest family net we cover. Confirm ages and dependency proofs with the licensed agent against the current Agency forms.