Immigration & Relocation
Malta has long been seen as a convenient retirement place or an ideal country to have a holiday home. The country’s predominantly warm climate, English speaking population, low crime rates and the small size of the islands have allowed many to create a home away from home in Malta. The attractiveness of Malta as a place to live only increased once the country joined the European Union in May 2004 and the Eurozone in January 2008.
As businesses began to set up shop in Malta, it became apparent that more needed to be done to incentivise people to relocate to Malta. Furthermore, in order to develop a solid foundation on which a fast developing financial services industry could grow, it was essential that the required expertise was also attracted to Malta. The Government of Malta was quick to react and soon began developing programmes that made it easier and more attractive for people to relocate to Malta and also in order to attract persons with the right skills sets and thereby prevent a brain drain in Malta.
Nowadays Malta offers a number of programmes which grant a successful applicant special tax rates, residency and/or citizenship. The programmes for obtaining the different statuses are:
- Global Residence Programme – applicable to non-EU/ non-EEA/ non-Swiss nationals;
- High Net Worth Individuals Rules – applicable to EU/EEA/ Swiss nationals;
- High Net Worth Individuals Rules – applicable to non-EU/ non-EEA/ non-Swiss nationals;
- Ordinary Residence – Self Sufficient;
- Malta Individual Investor Programme (IIP) – Citizenship by Investment;
- Malta Retirement Programme – applicable to EU/EEA/ Swiss retirees;
- Malta Residence and Visa Programme;
- Residence Programme – applicable to EU/ EEA/ Swiss nationals;
- Residency by Investment Programme;
- Special Tax Rate for Highly Qualified Persons;
- Work Permits.
