Malta Permanent Residence (MPRP)

Yes, the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP) is open and active in 2026. What is no longer available is Malta's citizenship-by-investment route, which the European Court of Justice ruled contrary to EU law in April 2025 and which ended in July 2025. So you can still obtain permanent residence by investment, but not a passport.

The rental route starts at roughly €169,000 all-in for a single applicant: a €14,000 per year rental commitment, a €37,000 government contribution, a €60,000 administrative fee, and a €2,000 NGO donation. The purchase route requires buying a property worth at least €375,000 instead of renting, which pushes the total well above €470,000. Add €7,500 for each dependant aged 18 or over.

No. MPRP is a permanent-residence programme and does not include a citizenship pathway. The separate investor citizenship scheme was struck down by the ECJ on 29 April 2025 and discontinued in July 2025. Maltese citizenship is now only available through ordinary naturalisation, which requires genuine long-term residence and is not an investment product.

No. MPRP has no minimum physical presence requirement, which is one of its main attractions. The main applicant does need to visit Malta at least once during the process, typically for biometrics, but there is no obligation to live in Malta to keep the residence valid.

You either buy a qualifying residential property worth at least €375,000 or lease one at a minimum €14,000 per year. Either way you must hold it for at least five years. After five years you can dispose of the property but must keep a registered Maltese address to retain your residence status.

Plan on roughly four to six months from a complete submission to approval in principle, with the full procedure including document gathering and biometrics taking somewhat longer. Timelines depend heavily on the quality of your file and the depth of due diligence on your circumstances.

The main applicant can include a spouse or registered partner, dependent children including adult children who remain financially dependent, and dependent parents and grandparents. Each dependant aged 18 or over carries an additional €7,500 administrative fee, with the spouse excluded from that surcharge.

You must demonstrate either €500,000 in total assets including at least €150,000 in financial assets, or €650,000 in total assets including at least €75,000 in financial assets. This is a proof-of-means test confirming you can support yourself, not an extra payment to the government.

Malta uses a remittance basis for non-domiciled residents: foreign income is taxed only when you bring it into Malta, and foreign capital gains are not taxed even if remitted. A €5,000 minimum annual tax can apply where foreign income is at least €35,000 and not fully remitted. Tax residence is a separate test from your residence permit, so coordinate the details with Maltese tax counsel.

Yes. Maltese permanent residence lets you travel freely throughout the Schengen area, currently 29 countries, for short stays. It does not give you the right to work or live long-term in other EU states; for that you would need separate authorisation in those countries.

It depends on your goal. If you want a permanent, lightly used EU base with Schengen mobility, an English-speaking legal environment, no minimum stay, and a favourable non-dom tax regime, the value is real. If your objective is a second passport, Malta is the wrong programme, because the investment route to citizenship no longer exists. Be honest with yourself about which one you are buying.

The core costs are sunk. The €60,000 administrative fee, the €37,000 government contribution, and the €2,000 donation are non-refundable. If you bought property you may recover or even gain value on resale after the five-year hold, subject to the Malta market, but the programme fees themselves are not returned.

On 29 April 2025 the European Court of Justice ruled that Malta's investor citizenship scheme breached EU law by commercialising Union citizenship without a genuine link to the country. Malta ended the programme in July 2025. References to a fast-track or direct-investment citizenship route are now obsolete.

Yes. The qualifying property purchase or rental must be held for at least five years. After that you may sell or end the lease, but you must still maintain a registered residential address in Malta to keep your permanent residence status active.