What is the Malta Individual Investor Programme?

Posted by Josephine Martin on April 19th, 2018

The Malta Individual Investor Programme is citizenship by investment programme allowing for the naturalisation and ultimately Maltese citizenship in return for the investment. As Malta is a fully fledged European Union member, the successful applicant and his family have the right to move freely and settle within any of the other EU member states. The programme is aimed at high net worth individuals and ultra-high net individuals whom would not balk at the estimated cost of €1 million. The programme is open applicants over the age of 18 and currently, there are only a handful of nationalities that are not allowed to apply.

The Malta Citizenship by Investment programme can be broken down into a few distinct areas as follows:

Investment and Non-Refundable Contribution

There is a non-refundable contribution of €650,000 that must be paid to the National Development and Social Fund for the main applicant. On top of this, there is also an amount of €150,000 which must be invested in local investments and these investments must be held for a minimum period of 5 years. On completion of the five-year period, the applicant can reclaim the amount invested with any gain or loss that investment has made during that period.

Property Requirement

The Malta Individual Investor Programme has a property requirement and the applicant must provide evidence of title to residential property that is situated in Malta. The property can either be leased or an outright purchase and must be held for a duration of five years. There is a minimum value of €16,000 per year on a leased property and a minimum price of €350,000 for an outright purchase.

Meeting Strict Conditions

Currently, if you are originally from Iran, Chad, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen or Afghanistan you are restricted from applying for Malta Citizenship by Investment. The main applicant must be 18 years of age and subject to certain conditions the applicant can add dependants to a citizenship application including their spouse, children, parents, and grandparents. All persons must undertake a fit and proper test and pass an extensive due diligence check. The applicant and his family should have a valid travel document already in place and would need to take out medical and health insurance to cover the entire family and to not be deemed a burden on the state.

How Long Does It Take?

The whole process to naturalisation should take a little over a year in full from the initial application to the complete naturalisation and thus citizenship of the applicant and their family. The application must be made through an official and registered mandatory who is licenced by Identity Malta, the government agency tasked with overseeing the Malta Individual Investor Programme.

On submission of the actual application, an initial deposit of €10,000 towards the €650,000 contribution must be made and all due diligence and passport fees need to be made at this point. Identity Malta, when satisfied with the initial due diligence checks, will issue a letter of approval in principle and it is at the applicant then has 25 days to settle the balance of the €650,000 contribution.

The applicant also has four months from the date of the letter of approval to then carry out the property requirement. If all conditions are then met, the certificate of naturalisation will be issued 12 months after the issue of the Maltese residence permit and passports can be issued.

Source URL:

https://medium.com/@josephinemarti/what-is-the-malta-individual-investor-programme-aedb402c100b

About The Author:

The author has been following the latest trends with regards to the Malta Individual Investor Programme and how the programme is contributing to the Maltese economy. In addition, the financial services industry is a major contributor to the island’s GDP with more and more people seeking Malta company formation services.