Malta Golden Visa: 2026 complete guide

Programme overview

Malta operates four distinct residency-and-investment programmes. None is a literal Golden Visa in the Spanish-Portuguese sense (immediate permanent residence on property purchase alone) but together they cover the same investor-and-relocator demand. All four require some form of property tie (purchase or qualifying lease), most have a government contribution component, and all require due diligence on the applicant's source of funds and absence of criminal record.

Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP)

MPRP is the most common Maltese Golden Visa pathway for non-EU buyers who want long-term EU residence without the cost of citizenship. Operated by Residency Malta. 5-year renewable permit; main applicant, spouse, and dependents covered.

Eligibility

• Non-EU/EEA/Swiss national, age 18+, no criminal record, sufficient capital and income.
• Capital test (two tracks): €500,000 net worth with €150,000 in financial assets, or €650,000 net worth with €75,000 in financial assets.
• Health insurance for self and dependents covering Malta and the EU.

Property requirement

Either purchase or qualifying lease, retained for the duration of the permit (5 years).

• Purchase: minimum €375,000 (€300,000 if the property is in the south of Malta or on Gozo). The property can be in any locality except Special Designated Areas which fall outside the programme.
• Lease: minimum €14,000/year (€10,000/year in the south of Malta or on Gozo) on a qualifying property, registered with Inland Revenue.

Total cost

• Property: €375,000+ purchase (€300,000+ south or Gozo) or €14,000/year+ lease (€10,000/year+ south or Gozo)
• Government contribution: €37,000 unified across purchase and lease routes
• Administrative fee: €60,000 (€15,000 at submission, €45,000 on Letter of Approval in Principle); plus €7,500 per dependent over 18 (excluding spouse)
• Donation to a Maltese registered NGO: €2,000

Timeline

Application to permit issuance: 6 to 12 months on average. Documentation and source-of-funds verification is the dominant variable. Property purchase typically completes in parallel during the AIP and source-of-funds review window.

Citizenship by Merit (replaces MEIN)

Malta's Citizenship by Naturalisation for Exceptional Services by Direct Investment (MEIN) was closed to new applicants on 26 July 2025 after the European Court of Justice ruled in April 2025 that the investor pathway breached EU law on genuine connection. It has been replaced by Citizenship by Merit, a non-transactional pathway operated by the Community Malta Agency. Existing citizenships granted under MEIN remain valid; pending files at the time of closure follow transitional handling.

Eligibility

• Demonstrable exceptional service or contribution to Malta in science, technology, innovation, culture, the arts, sports, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, or humanitarian work.
• Comprehensive due diligence by the Community Malta Agency, including source of wealth and integrity checks.
• Independent Evaluation Board recommendation (sector experts may be consulted) followed by ministerial discretion on the final grant.

Total cost

There is no fixed contribution under Citizenship by Merit: each case is assessed on overall merit, credibility, and national interest, and the final decision is discretionary. Applicants typically incur due diligence fees, legal and advisory fees, and the cost of any prior residency period. The fixed-investment fee schedule that applied under MEIN (€600,000 / €750,000 contribution, €700,000 property, €16,000/year rental, €10,000 NGO donation) is no longer in effect.

Nomad Residence Permit

Issued by Residency Malta to non-EU remote workers and freelancers. 1-year permit, renewable up to 4 times (5 years total). No property purchase requirement, but most permit holders rent in Sliema, St Julian's, or Gozo.

• Eligibility: non-EU national earning at least €42,000/year from foreign sources (employment, freelance, or remote-business income).
• Health insurance covering Malta and the EU required.
• Application fee €300 per applicant. Spouse and minor children included as dependents.
• Tax position: nomads who do not become Maltese tax residents (under 183 days, no permanent home) keep their original tax residency. Those who do become resident pay Maltese tax on Maltese-source income and remitted foreign income.

Malta Retirement Programme

Targeted at EU/EEA/Swiss retirees who want to live in Malta and pay a flat 15% tax on foreign pension income remitted to Malta.

• Closed to non-EU/EEA/Swiss applicants. Non-EU retirees use MPRP plus the standard tax regime instead.
• Property requirement: purchase at the published threshold (currently €275,000 in central/north Malta, €220,000 in south Malta or Gozo) or qualifying lease (€9,600/year central, €8,750/year south/Gozo).
• Minimum tax floor: €7,500 per year for the main applicant plus €500 per dependent.

Read the full retirement guide →

How property requirement interacts with the AIP permit

Every programme has a property tie, but the AIP permit (Acquisition of Immovable Property) is a separate Maltese rule that applies to all non-EU buyers regardless of programme. The two interact in important ways for cost and timing planning.

• Inside an SDA (Tigne Point, Portomaso, Pendergardens, Fort Cambridge, Manoel Island, Mercury Towers, Madliena Village, Smartcity, Santa Maria Estate): no AIP permit needed, no minimum-price floor at the AIP level.
• Outside an SDA: AIP permit required for non-EU buyers (€233 fee, 6 to 8 weeks processing). Minimum-price thresholds apply: ~€247,700 for a house, ~€148,620 for an apartment.
• MPRP property thresholds (€300k south or Gozo, €375k elsewhere) override the AIP minimum-price thresholds because they are higher. The MPRP price is what governs.
• Citizenship by Merit no longer carries a fixed property requirement, so the AIP minimums apply on their own where the applicant chooses to buy.