What is the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP)?
€99,000. Since 22 July 2025, that is what Malta charges a couple with two children under 18 for permanent residence: administrative fee, government contribution and charity donation combined. The bill is the same whether the family buys a flat or rents one. Under the 1 January 2025 price list, the same family paid €142,000 to rent and €112,000 to buy. Legal Notice (LN, a regulation published in Malta's official gazette) 146 of 2025 made the cut. The programme itself dates from 29 March 2021, when it replaced the old Malta Residence and Visa Programme.
The MPRP is Malta's residency-by-investment route for people who are not citizens of the EU, the wider European Economic Area (EEA: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) or Switzerland. The Residency Malta Agency, a government body, runs it under Subsidiary Legislation 217.26. Approval brings a certificate that lets the holder and approved dependants "reside, settle or stay indefinitely in Malta". It is not a tax status and it does not lead to a passport. It buys a permanent right to live in an EU country, plus short trips across the passport-free Schengen area.
Renting dominates. In 2024 the programme brought €46 million into Malta's Consolidated Fund (the state treasury), €50 million in five-year leases and only €36 million in property purchases, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told Parliament, as reported by BusinessNow Malta. At the legal minimums, €36 million buys at most 96 homes, while €50 million covers up to 714 leases.
How much does the Malta permanent residency program cost in 2026?
Figures from the First Schedule to SL 217.26 and the Agency's programme page:
- Administrative fee: €60,000, non-refundable. €15,000 is due within a month of filing. The other €45,000 is due within two months of the Letter of Approval in Principle, the Agency's conditional yes.
- Government contribution: €37,000, the same for buyers and renters, due within eight months of that letter.
- Donation: €2,000 to a Maltese NGO (non-governmental organisation, such as a charity or arts, sports or animal-welfare body) registered with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, the state regulator.
- Dependants: €7,500 each for adult children, parents and grandparents. A spouse, children under 18 and disabled adult children pay nothing.
- Residence card: €500 per person, covering five years.
- Property: buy for at least €375,000 or rent for at least €14,000 a year, anywhere in Malta or Gozo. Cheaper thresholds for the south of Malta and Gozo ended on 1 January 2025. Keep it five years, then still own or rent a home in Malta or Gozo.
- Capital: €500,000 in assets with at least €150,000 financial, or €650,000 with at least €75,000 financial, held for five years. A property you buy counts towards the total.
Buyers also pay duty on documents, Malta's 5% property transfer tax: €18,750 on a €375,000 flat. Outside Special Designated Areas (developments where foreigners buy freely), non-EU buyers without EU long-term resident status need an AIP permit (Acquisition of Immovable Property) under the Immovable Property (Acquisition by Non-Residents) Act.
Worked example: a family of four
A couple with children aged 9 and 14, renting at the legal minimum:
- Administrative fee: €60,000
- Government contribution: €37,000
- NGO donation: €2,000
- Four residence cards: €2,000
- Five years of rent: €70,000
Total: €171,000, none of it recoverable, before agent fees, legal fees and health insurance. Buying costs the same €101,000 plus €18,750 in duty: €119,750 gone, and the family keeps a €375,000 asset. A 22-year-old dependent student or a widowed grandmother adds €7,500 each.
Buy or rent: what changed in 2025
Under LN 310 of 2024, in force from 1 January 2025, the administrative fee was €50,000, and the contribution €60,000 for renters and €30,000 for buyers. Every dependant except a disabled one, babies included, owed €5,000 in fees plus €5,000 in contribution. LN 146 cut the family above to €99,000 and applied the new prices to every application filed after 1 January 2025 that was still open. Buyers without children lost out: a single buyer's bill rose from €82,000 to €99,000, a couple's from €92,000. A single renter's fell from €112,000.
Who qualifies for the Malta residency programme?
The main applicant must be 18 or older and not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen. The rules also require:
- an eligible nationality. The Agency bars sanctioned countries. On 2 March 2022 Malta suspended Russian and Belarusian applications, saying due-diligence checks could not be carried out effectively. Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, a Maltese law firm, lists 11 excluded countries in 2026: Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen, Venezuela, Russia and Belarus;
- stable income and health insurance for every family member;
- conduct certificates (police clearance) for everyone over 14, from their country of origin and every country where they lived more than six months in the last ten years;
- no earlier refusal. Anyone once refused an MPRP certificate or Maltese citizenship is ineligible.
Due diligence covers everyone on the file and, the Agency says, "donors, benefactors and business associates". By law, outside due-diligence firms run checks, the police may add security checks, and the Approvals Board, the Agency's decision panel, authorises every certificate. Decisions are at the Agency's "absolute discretion", with no appeal.
Only Agency-licensed agents can file: lawyers, accountants, auditors or licensed financial advisers with at least €500,000 of professional indemnity insurance. Old-system licences expired on 31 December 2025; check the Agency's public register.
Which family members qualify
- a spouse, or a partner in a civil union or similar relationship;
- children under 18;
- children aged 18 to 28 who are unmarried and principally dependent on the applicant;
- parents and grandparents of either spouse who are principally dependent and not in full-time work;
- disabled adult children.
After approval you can add a dependent child's spouse and that child's own minor children: "up to four generations", in the Agency's words.
How to apply for the MPRP: steps and timeline
- Appoint a licensed agent, only one at a time.
- File proof of assets, conduct certificates, medical declarations and undertakings to buy or rent, pay and donate. Pay €15,000 within a month.
- Optionally, apply for a one-year temporary residence permit. It is renewable if the complete file is in within six months, so the family can move during checks.
- Due diligence runs, then the Approvals Board decides.
- Letter of Approval in Principle. Pay the €45,000 balance and any dependant fees within two months.
- Complete within eight months: sign the lease or deed, pay €37,000, donate €2,000, show health insurance.
- Give biometrics in Malta (fingerprints and a photo for the card) and collect the cards.
- Annual compliance checks follow for five years, then checks at the Agency's discretion.
The Agency publishes no deadline, only decisions "within reasonable times". Chetcuti Cauchi puts due diligence at about three to seven months, permanent residence at six to seven months from filing and a temporary card at two to three months.
Do you have to live in Malta to keep the MPRP?
No. The regulations set no minimum stay. You keep the property, the capital for five years, health insurance and stable income; the Agency may issue guidelines on using the home while you are away. Every family member gives biometrics in person, Chetcuti Cauchi notes, so plan at least one trip.
The card gives permanent residence in Malta, renewed every five years, and Schengen travel for 90 days in any 180. It gives no right to live or work in any other EU state. The certificate carries no other immigration rights by itself, so a job in Malta needs separate authorisation. EU long-term resident status is different: under S.L. 217.05, Malta's version of EU Directive 2003/109/EC, it takes five years of legal, continuous residence, with no absence of six months or more in a row and no more than ten months away in total. A cardholder based in Dubai will not qualify.
Does the MPRP reduce your tax? Non-dom rules and the 15% Global Residence Programme
The MPRP makes no difference to your tax, which follows where you live. The Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA) treats anyone present for more than 183 days in a year as resident, "regardless of the purpose". The Agency may pass each cardholder's name, home-country address and tax number to the MTCA.
If you do move, you are usually a non-dom: resident in Malta but domiciled, meaning your permanent home, elsewhere. Under article 4(1) of the Income Tax Act you pay tax on Maltese income and on foreign income you bring into Malta. Foreign capital gains stay untaxed even if you bring them in. The top rate is 35% on income above €60,000. Article 56(27) adds a €5,000 minimum tax for resident non-doms with €35,000 or more of foreign income that is not fully brought in, unless another scheme already sets a minimum. More: non-dom remittance basis and Malta tax rates.
The Global Residence Programme (GRP) is a separate tax status that the MTCA runs under SL 123.148. It taxes foreign income you bring in at 15%, with a €15,000 minimum a year covering the beneficiary, spouse and minor children. Other income, Maltese income included, is taxed at a flat 35%. The home must be your main residence worldwide and cannot be let out, you may not spend more than 183 days a year in any other country, and you must communicate adequately in English or Maltese.
Neither programme excludes the other, and a €375,000 flat meets both thresholds. The catch: the GRP ends if you acquire, or even apply for, EU long-term resident status.
At the married-couple rates for income earned in 2026 (35% minus €10,550 above €60,000), a non-dom couple bringing in €200,000 of foreign income owes €59,450. Under the GRP the bill is €30,000. The two cost the same at about €73,000 brought in a year, before double-tax relief.
Malta residency programmes compared: MPRP vs GRP vs Nomad Residence Permit vs citizenship by merit
The merit route replaced the investor passport, which the EU Court of Justice struck down on 29 April 2025 in case C-181/23. Act XXI of 2025, signed into law on 24 July 2025, rewrote the rules, with no price list: see what the merit route really is. Ordinary naturalisation needs five years of residence within seven, the last 12 months continuous, at the Minister's discretion. An MPRP card does not shorten that.
Who the Malta residency program is for, and who should skip it
It fits non-EU families who want permanent rather than renewable residence in an English-speaking EU country, with no minimum stay and four generations on one file, and movers who will pair the card with the GRP or non-dom rules.
Skip it if:
- you want an EU passport;
- you want to live in another EU country: the card gives 90 days in any 180 there;
- you need liquidity. The property and the capital are locked for five years;
- you have ever been refused Maltese residence or citizenship, or you hold a passport from an excluded country such as Russia, Belarus or Iran;
- you need a decision you can appeal.
Compare the Nomad Residence Permit, our review of all Malta's programmes and the Malta living guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Malta MPRP still open in 2026?
Yes. The Residency Malta Agency accepts applications under SL 217.26 as amended in July 2025. The EU court ruling of April 2025 ended Malta's investor citizenship but left the residence programme untouched.
Does the Malta Permanent Residence Programme lead to citizenship?
No. The certificate gives residence only. Naturalisation needs five years of actual residence within seven, adequate English or Maltese, and the Minister's approval.
Can I rent instead of buying under the Malta residency programme?
Yes. The minimum rent is €14,000 a year anywhere in Malta or Gozo, and the contribution is €37,000 either way. The lease must run five years.
How long does the MPRP take?
Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates puts permanent residence at six to seven months from filing. The rules allow up to eight months after approval in principle to buy or rent, pay and donate, so a slow completion stretches that. You can apply for a temporary permit when you file.
Is the €60,000 fee refunded if the application is refused?
No. But only €15,000 is due before approval in principle; the other €45,000 comes after the Agency says yes.
Can I sell the property after five years?
Yes, but you must keep some home in Malta or Gozo, owned or rented, for as long as you hold the status. Swapping the qualifying property within the first five years needs the Agency's consent.