Malta citizenship by investment: closed after the EU Court ruling

No. Since 29 April 2025 nobody can buy Maltese citizenship, and since the July 2025 amendments the legal provisions that made it possible are gone. Act XXI of 2025 rewrote Article 10(9) of the Maltese Citizenship Act so that the Minister may only grant naturalisation "by merit" to a person who "renders exceptional services or who makes an exceptional contribution, including through job creation" to Malta or to humanity, or whose naturalisation is of "exceptional interest" to Malta^[5]. The law defines "exceptional" as "manifestly superior or adding value" and lists scientists, researchers, athletes, artists, cultural performers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and technologists as typical profiles^[5].

Legal Notice 159 of 2025 then deleted every MEIN-specific provision from the subsidiary legislation: the eligibility assessment, the investment requisites, the "first five years" obligations, the cap on admissions, the fee schedule and the non-refundable contribution rules^[7]. The regulations were retitled the Granting of Citizenship by Naturalisation on the basis of Merit Regulations (S.L. 188.06)^[6].

Some websites still advertise "Malta citizenship by merit" packages with price tags. Under the current text, financial contribution alone is not a ground for merit; each case goes through an Evaluation Board and the Minister, who need not give reasons and whose decision is final^[6]. Treat any offer that quotes a fixed price for a Maltese passport with great caution.

The case was an infringement action brought by the European Commission under Article 258 TFEU. The Commission had argued since October 2020 that granting nationality, and with it EU citizenship, "in return for pre-determined payments or investments without any genuine link" with the Member State is incompatible with Article 4(3) TEU and Article 20 TFEU, and noted that Malta was the only Member State still running such a scheme^[3][4].

The Grand Chamber agreed. It accepted that each Member State decides who its nationals are, but held that this competence must be exercised in compliance with EU law, because EU citizenship rests on a "special relationship of solidarity and good faith" between a state and its nationals and on mutual trust among Member States^[1]. A naturalisation procedure that is in substance a transaction, granting nationality in exchange for predetermined payments or investments, amounts to the commercialisation of the status of national and therefore of EU citizenship^[1][2]. Commentators note the Court rested its reasoning on the transactional nature of the scheme rather than on a strict "genuine link" test^[14].

What the judgment did not do

The judgment is a declaration that Malta failed to fulfil its Treaty obligations. It did not annul individual naturalisations or order Malta to withdraw passports already issued^[12][14]. There is no appeal from a Grand Chamber infringement judgment; Malta was ordered to pay the costs^[1]. The legislative response, not the judgment itself, is what formally ended the programme.

Pending MEIN applications

Many agent websites still describe pending files as "in limbo" or handled "case by case"^[12][13]. The legal text is clearer. Article 27(4) of the amended Act says Act XXI of 2025 does not apply to Article 10(9) applications filed before it came into force, but expressly "subject to any regulations"^[5]. The transitory provision of L.N. 159 of 2025 then states that applications submitted under Part IV (the MEIN rules) "which had not been approved for naturalisation by the Minister under the said Part IV prior to 29 April 2025, shall cease to have effect"^[7]. In practice, an investor applicant who did not have ministerial approval by the date of the judgment has no live application.

Whether any part of deposits or fees already paid is refundable is not addressed in the published amendments we reviewed. Under the 2020 rules, the €10,000 deposit and due-diligence fees were expressly non-refundable^[8]. Former applicants should take Maltese legal advice on any claim against the state or their service provider.

People who already hold Maltese citizenship through MEIN or the IIP

The same transitory provision says that the acquisition, deprivation or retention of citizenship regulated by the law in force before the amendments "shall continue to be regulated by, and shall remain valid under" that law^[7]. Citizenship already granted therefore stands, and holders remain bound by the obligations they accepted at naturalisation^[11]. Like every naturalised citizen, they can still be deprived of citizenship under Article 14 of the Act, for example for fraud, false representation or concealment of a material fact, or a prison sentence of 12 months or more within seven years of naturalisation^[5].

With the investor route gone, foreigners have four realistic ways to become Maltese. All of them require real ties to Malta.

1. Ordinary naturalisation (Article 10(1))

An adult may apply after living in Malta throughout the 12 months immediately before the application and for at least four years in aggregate during the six years before that, which in effect means five years of residence within seven^[5]. The applicant must have an adequate knowledge of Maltese or English, be of good character and be a "suitable citizen of Malta", and must take the oath of allegiance^[5]. The Minister has discretion: an application that meets the residence threshold can still be refused, and reasons need not be given^[16].

2. Citizenship by merit (Article 10(9))

For people of exceptional standing or contribution: see the process below. There is no published price, but there are non-refundable administrative fees set by Community Malta Agency, a residential-property requirement and at least eight months' residence before the formal application^[6].

3. Marriage to a Maltese citizen

A foreign spouse can register as a citizen after five years of marriage and living together, subject to public-interest checks^[5][16].

4. Descent

Children and certain descendants of Maltese citizens, and people descended from someone born in Malta, can register or be naturalised under Articles 5, 10(2)–(4) and related provisions^[5][16].

The procedure in S.L. 188.06 as substituted by L.N. 159 of 2025^[6][7]:

Dependants may be included: a spouse or partner in an equivalent relationship, children under 18, unmarried children aged 18 to 28 who are wholly or largely supported by the main applicant, and adult dependent children with a disability^[6]. Unlike the old MEIN schedule, there is no published per-dependant price. Under ordinary naturalisation, each adult applies on their own residence record; minor children can be naturalised on a parent's application^[5].

No official processing time is published for the merit route. It requires two rounds of due diligence and Board review and at least eight months' residence before the formal application, so in practice it takes well over a year, but we found no reliable published estimate and none of the sources we checked gives one. Ordinary naturalisation needs at least five years of qualifying residence plus a processing period that the government does not publish. By comparison, MEIN files typically took 12 or 36 months of residence plus processing^[8].

If what you wanted from Malta was a secure EU base, Schengen travel and family residence, the Malta permanent residence programme is still open. Residency Malta Agency lists these requirements^[9]:

• Administrative fee: €60,000 (non-refundable)
• Government contribution: €37,000, the same for the purchase and rental options
• €7,500 for each adult dependant (an unmarried dependent child aged 18 to 28, or a dependent parent or grandparent); the spouse and minor children pay no fee beyond the residence card
• Residential property: purchase of at least €375,000 or rent of at least €14,000 a year, held for five years
• Capital assets of at least €500,000 (of which €150,000 financial) or €650,000 (of which €75,000 financial)
• Donation of €2,000 to a registered Maltese NGO
• Residence card fee: €500 per person for five years

That puts the cheapest MPRP outlay, using the rental option, at about €169,500 for a single applicant over five years (€99,000 in fees and donation, €70,000 minimum rent and a €500 card), or about €171,000 for a couple with two minor children, on top of showing the required capital^[9]. MPRP does not lead to a passport by itself. Permit holders who actually move to Malta and live there can count that residence toward ordinary naturalisation, but the MPRP has no minimum-stay rule, so time spent abroad does not count.

Citizenship itself does not make you tax resident in Malta. Maltese income tax depends on residence and domicile. Residents who are not domiciled in Malta are broadly taxed on Maltese-source income and on foreign income remitted to Malta, which is why many MPRP holders keep foreign income offshore^[17]. Malta has no wealth tax or inheritance tax as such, though duty applies to transfers of Maltese property and shares^[17]. Before moving, take advice on how your current country taxes departing residents, and on whether any special Maltese residence regime fits your income.

Investors who came to Malta for a second passport now usually choose between an EU residence permit that might lead to citizenship after years of real residence, and a Caribbean passport available in months. The figures below come from our individual program guides, where each is verified and sourced.

EU residence instead of an EU passport

• Malta golden visa (MPRP): permanent residence from day one, from about €99,000 in fees plus €375,000 property or €14,000 a year rent.
• Portugal's investment residence permit: €500,000 into a qualifying fund; minimal stay requirement, but Portugal lengthened its naturalisation period to 10 years for most nationalities from 19 May 2026 (see our Portuguese citizenship guide).
• Greek residence by investment: from €250,000 for converted commercial property, €400,000 in most regions and €800,000 in Attica and the main islands; no stay requirement to renew, but naturalisation needs genuine residence (see Greek citizenship).
• Cyprus permanent residence for €300,000 plus proof of income, a nearby option for people who liked Malta's climate and English-language business culture.

Citizenship in months: the Caribbean

• St Kitts and Nevis passport by donation from $250,000, the oldest programme.
• Grenada citizenship from $235,000, with access to the US E-2 treaty-investor visa.
• Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda from around $200,000–$230,000, although both face partial US visa restrictions since 1 January 2026.

Caribbean passports give Schengen visa-free travel but not the right to live in the EU, and the EU is pressing these states over their programmes; read our analysis of the EU visa-free risk for Caribbean passports before committing.

EU citizenship for very large investors

Austria's discretionary citizenship under Section 10(6) of its Citizenship Act is the only remaining EU route tied to economic contribution. There is no statutory price and it is reserved for very large, job-creating investments. Our overview of EU passports through investment compares every European option, and the list of closed programmes tracks Malta alongside Cyprus, Montenegro and Bulgaria.

Malta still makes sense for families who want an English-speaking EU base with permanent residence from the start and are prepared to actually live there if they later want a passport; for founders, researchers, athletes and philanthropists whose record could genuinely meet the "exceptional" test; and for spouses and descendants of Maltese citizens.

Look elsewhere if your main goal is a second passport within two or three years without relocating. No EU state now sells citizenship, so the realistic choice is a Caribbean passport for speed, or an EU residence permit for long-term EU rights. Our guide to the fastest residence-to-citizenship paths and our comparison of buying citizenship versus residence set out the trade-offs, and the citizenship programs hub lists every live option by budget.