• The right to live, work and study in any of the 27 EU countries and Switzerland.
• Travel visa-free (or visa on arrival) to 184 countries, including the US, UK and Canada.
• World’s strictest due diligence standards and vetting of applicants, thus ensuring only highly respectable applicants will be admitted.
• Citizenship of a well-respected EU country.
• Reasonable contribution and an efficient application process.
• Malta is an attractive place to live or to own a second home and is strategically located with excellent air links.
• Tax Residency: Source & Remittance based taxation only. No wealth Tax. No asset Reporting. No inheritance Tax.

• Fast processing time – Maltese residency between 4 – 6 months from the submission of a complete and
  correct application.
• The applicant and all family members/dependents will have an EU residence card opening visa-free travel to any country within the Schengen area, for a total period of 90 days within 6 months.
• Application may include 4 generations.
• Citizenship of a well-respected EU country.
• All applicants will have the right to reside indefinitely in Malta
• The applicant and his/her family can avail the highly reputed health care of Malta which is ranked 5^th in the world.
• MRVP also gives access to the top-tier British standard Education and English Language schools by residing in Malta.
• There is no presence required in Malta.

• The programme covers the applicant and his family members/dependants.
• Fast processing of applications – within 4 months.
• No minimum presence is required.
• Special tax status capped at 15% for non-EU nationals who receive stable and regular income remitted to Malta.
• Possibility to apply for long-term residence status after a period of 5 years.

Beneficiaries of the Global Residence programme of Malta are granted with a “special tax status”.

The status applies to both beneficiary and his dependants on the payment of their income tax, where the base tax rate applicable to any income received by the beneficiary in Malta arising outside of Malta will be fixed at a rate of 15%.

The minimum tax that the beneficiary must pay annually is set at Euro 15,000 per annum. This minimum tax covers income of the beneficiary and his / her dependents that arise outside Malta and is received in Malta and does not include income that arises in Malta.
Any income, which does not fall under the aforementioned regulation, will be taxed at a fixed rate of 35% in accordance with the Malta Income Tax Act rules.

1. Maltese residence permit cards are issued for a period of 3 years to develop the business. The residence permit can further be extended for a further period of 5 years.
2. Residence application may include founders, co-founders, core employees and dependant family members.
3. All applicants will have the right to apply for long-term residency after legally residing in Malta for a period of 5 years.

An individual wishing to apply for the Malta Start-up Residence Programme must satisfy the following eligibility criteria:

1. Have a concrete intention to develop and/or expand his business in Malta.
2. Is the founder or the co-founder of an enterprise, which has been registered for not more than seven (7) years anywhere globally (including Malta), which fulfils the following:
   o  it has not taken over the activity of
   another enterprise,
   o  it has not yet distributed profit,
   o  it has not been formed through a merger.
3. A co-founder would be one of the first entrepreneurs to have set up the start-up.
4. Third-country nationals, excluding EU, EEA and Swiss are eligible. Nationals from (or have close ties with) Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Venezuela are ineligible. The list of ineligible countries may be revised from time to time;
5. A founder, co-founder or core employee applying under this programme must be 18 years and older.
6. The incorporated Start-up in Malta is required to place a tangible investment and/or paid-up share capital of not less than EUR 25,000. In case where more than four (4) co-founders apply for the Start-up Residence Permit, an additional EUR 10,000 needs to be placed per additional cofounder. In any case, the maximum number of co-founders eligible for the Start-up Residence Programme is six (6);
7. The founder and/or co-founders benefitting from this programme need to have a physical and tangible presence in Malta not only from a business point of view but also in terms of living in Malta. Thus, those benefitting need to be living and paying their taxes in Malta;
8. Has recognised health insurance covering risks in Malta for himself/herself and dependants;
9. In possession of sufficient financial resources in own bank statement to support himself and any other dependents within existing regulations;
10. Has no criminal record or pending criminal charges and does not pose any potential threat to the national security, public policy, public health, or public interest; and
11. Must not have previously had applications for a residence status or citizenship rejected in Malta or abroad.

Malta Startup Residence Programme Application procedure

To obtain a Startup Residence permit, the applicants are first required to submit a business plan or an application for the programme to Malta Enterprise and undergo the evaluation process. Upon approval from Malta Enterprise, applicants can proceed with their residency application under the Startup programme with the Residency Malta Agency.

It is important to note that prior to the collection of the final residency card, the start-up should be been fully incorporated in Malta and registered with the relevant local authorities. Residence permits issued for founders and co-founders, core employees and families under the Start-up Residence Programme are subject to the start-up maintaining the business activity as approved by Malta Enterprise and no criminal charges are faced by the applicants following the approval.

Start-up eligibility criteria

Start-up undertakings shall be considered as eligible if they are, or will be engaged in one or more of the following activities in Malta:

• Manufacturing
• Software Development
• Industrial services analogous to manufacturing
• Health, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences
• ECO startups involved in the blue, green and sustainable industries
• Other innovative economic activities which are enabled through knowledge and technology providing services or products which are currently not readily available in the relevant market or which shall be provided through a process which is novel.

Eligible business projects must meet at least two of the following criteria

• Propose products and/or services that have the potential to generateincome from various geographical markets
• Produce products and/or services which are new, innovative or substantially improved compared to complementary products on the market
• Utilise process which are new or substantially improved compared to those adopted in current complementary activities.

For the scope of the Malta Start-up Residence Programme, the following are not eligible

• Any company where the business plan is not approved by Malta Enterprise
• Any other company where the business activity is not in line with the requirements of the local National FDI Screening office

Residence Permits issued under the Startup Residence Programme

The residence permit will be issued for an initial period of three (3) years following the approval of Malta Enterprise and Residency Malta. This will be renewed for a further (5) years once Malta Enterprise and Residency Malta confirm that the start-up is still ongoing and the founder or cofounder(s) still meets the eligibility criteria of the Programme.

Furthermore, beneficiaries who hold the residence permit issued under the start-up residence permit programme should follow the below conditions:

• Have a physical and tangible presence in Malta during the whole period of the programme.
• Pay taxes in Malta.

Core Employees

This programme is also open for core employees who are vital for the start-up to start operating in Malta and who have specialised skills and earn not less than €30,000. In addition, this employment needs to take place within the timeframe in which the venture is classified as a start-up. The residence permit will be issued for three (3) years, which upon successful completion will be extended to a further 3-year period. The application for core employees is to be submitted online after the Malta Start-up Residence permit is approved for the co-founders.

Family Members

The Malta Start-up Residence Programme is open to family members of start-up founders, co-founders and core employees. Their permits will have the same validity period of the residence permit of the start-up founder/co-founder or core employee. These include spouse, de-facto partner, minor children and adult sons or daughters who are principally dependent on the founder/core employee. The residence permit issued to family members does not grant beneficiaries automatic access to the labour market. However, one can make use of existing lean processes to submit the necessary applications to take up employment in Malta.

Application fees

The fees applicable for applying for the Malta Start-up Residence Programme are as follows:

• EUR 750 for each adult applicant / dependant for a 3-year Start-up Residence Programme.
• EUR 82.50 to Identity Malta Agency for the issuance of the residence card, for each individual applicant covering a 3-year permit.