How to get Citizenship in Malta or Long Term Residence

Summary

In this informative video, Alex explores the process of obtaining long-term residence and Maltese citizenship. He discusses various pathways, including through marriage and naturalization, highlighting the stringent requirements and the importance of genuine relationships. Alex also covers the steps for long-term residence after five years in Malta, emphasizing the need for integration and contribution to Maltese society. The video aims to guide viewers on the correct approach to successfully achieve residency or citizenship in Malta.

Takeaways

• 📌 There are multiple ways to obtain long-term residence or citizenship in Malta, including through marriage, naturalization, and purchasing property.
• 💍 Marriage to a Maltese citizen involves obtaining a marriage certificate, a freedom of movement letter, and a Maltese residence card, which is valid for five years and exempts the holder from needing work permits.
• 🔍 After five years of marriage and residence, one can apply for Maltese citizenship, but the process includes a thorough investigation to ensure the relationship is genuine.
• 🏠 Long-term residence in Malta requires living in the country for five consecutive years without being absent for more than six months per year.
• 📚 Applicants for long-term residence must pass Maltese lessons and courses on Maltese history and culture, which can be a plus for the application.
• 🏡 An architect will inspect the living conditions of the applicant to ensure they meet standards and that the property is registered with housing authorities.
• 📑 The process from arrival to obtaining long-term residence can take up to six years, including the time to gather documentation and complete the application process.
• 👮‍♂️ Maltese authorities are strict about preventing fraudulent marriages for citizenship, with a rigorous interview process to verify the authenticity of the relationship.
• 🚫 If a marriage ends in divorce within the first five years, the foreign spouse loses their freedom of movement letter and must apply for a work permit to remain in Malta.
• ⚠️ Long-term residence can be revoked if the holder leaves Malta for more than six months per year and resides in another EU country.
• 👋 The video encourages viewers to ask questions in the comments and to check the official links in the description for more information on the application process.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is discussing the process of obtaining long-term residence and citizenship in Malta, with a focus on citizenship through marriage and long-term residence after living in Malta for 5 years.

What is the first step after marrying a Maltese citizen?

The first step after marrying a Maltese citizen is to obtain a Maltese marriage certificate, which is then used to apply for a freedom of movement letter.

What is the purpose of the Maltese residence card?

The Maltese residence card, which is free of charge and lasts for 5 years, allows the holder to legally reside and work in Malta without needing any additional licenses or permits.

What happens if a marriage ends in divorce within the first 5 years?

If a marriage ends in divorce within the first 5 years, the foreign spouse automatically loses their freedom of movement letter and must apply for a work permit to remain in Malta, or they have only a few weeks to leave the island.

After how many years of marriage can one apply for Maltese citizenship through marriage?

One can apply for Maltese citizenship through marriage after being married and living together for 5 years.

What is the cost of applying for Maltese citizenship through marriage?

The application cost for Maltese citizenship through marriage is somewhere below €200.

What is the significance of the interview during the citizenship application process?

The interview is significant as it is used to verify that the relationship and marriage are genuine. Both spouses are questioned separately about their life together to ensure they are truly living together.

What is the minimum requirement for applying for long-term residence in Malta?

The minimum requirement is to live in Malta for 5 consecutive years without leaving the island for more than 6 months per year.

What additional courses or certificates can support an application for long-term residence in Malta?

Any courses or certificates obtained in Malta that show an upgrade in skills and qualifications can support an application for long-term residence, demonstrating a commitment to staying in Malta.

What is the potential consequence of leaving Malta for more than 6 months per year during the 5-year period?

If it is discovered that the applicant has left Malta for more than 6 months per year during the 5-year period, the application for long-term residence may be denied.

What happens if a long-term residence holder leaves Malta for more than 6 months within another EU country?

If a long-term residence holder leaves Malta and stays in another EU country for more than 6 months, their long-term residence permit in Malta will be automatically revoked.

Outlines

00:00

🏡 Maltese Citizenship Through Marriage Process

This paragraph outlines the process of obtaining Maltese citizenship through marriage. It begins with the necessity of a Maltese marriage certificate to apply for a freedom of movement letter, followed by the acquisition of a Maltese residence card valid for five years. The card exempts the holder from needing work permits or licenses. After five years of marriage and living together, one can apply for Maltese citizenship. However, the process includes a rigorous interview to verify the authenticity of the relationship, with separate questioning of both partners to ensure they live together genuinely. The paragraph emphasizes the strictness of Maltese authorities in preventing fraudulent marriages for citizenship and warns against such attempts.

05:02

📚 Long-Term Residence in Malta: Requirements and Tips

The second paragraph discusses the pathway to long-term residence in Malta, which involves a 5-year trial period to determine if one wishes to stay. Eligibility requires living in Malta for five consecutive years without being absent for more than six months annually. It highlights the need for various documents for the application, including passing Maltese lessons and history courses. The paragraph also mentions the importance of having additional courses or certificates from Malta to demonstrate a desire to upgrade skills and integrate into the community. It provides tips based on personal stories, such as the significance of having a registered rental agreement and property, and the process of an architect visiting to assess living conditions. The paragraph concludes with a warning that long-term residence can be revoked if the holder leaves Malta for over six months in another EU country.

Keywords

💡Long-term Residence

Long-term Residence refers to the status granted to individuals who have lived in a country for a significant period, typically five years, and meet certain criteria. In the context of the video, it is one of the pathways to obtaining a Maltese citizenship. The script discusses the process of applying for long-term residence in Malta after living there for five consecutive years without leaving the island for more than six months per year.

💡Maltese Citizenship

Maltese Citizenship is the status of a person recognized under Maltese law as having the right and the obligations of a citizen. The video explores different ways to obtain Maltese citizenship, such as through marriage or naturalization, and emphasizes the strict requirements and the importance of genuine relationships in the case of citizenship through marriage.

💡Freedom of Movement Letter

The Freedom of Movement Letter is a document that allows a non-EU national who has married a Maltese citizen to reside and work in Malta without needing additional permits. The script mentions that after obtaining the Maltese marriage certificate, one can apply for this letter, which is a prerequisite for applying for the Maltese Residence Card.

💡Maltese Residence Card

The Maltese Residence Card is an official document issued by Identity Malta that certifies the holder's right to reside in Malta for a specified period. The video script explains that this card is free of charge, lasts for five years, and exempts the holder from needing any work license or permits to legally reside and work in Malta.

💡Citizenship through Marriage

Citizenship through Marriage is a process where a foreign spouse of a Maltese citizen can apply for citizenship after meeting certain conditions, including being in a genuine marital relationship for a minimum of five years. The video script details the steps and challenges involved in this process, including the investigation to verify the authenticity of the marriage.

💡Naturalization

Naturalization is the legal process by which a non-citizen becomes a citizen of a country. In the video, it is mentioned as one of the ways to obtain Maltese citizenship, but the focus is on long-term residence and citizenship through marriage. Naturalization often requires meeting residency requirements and demonstrating an attachment to the country.

💡Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy refers to the complex administrative system involved in managing public services and affairs. The video script touches upon the challenges of dealing with bureaucracy in Malta, particularly in the context of applying for long-term residence or citizenship, where one must navigate through various procedures and documentation.

💡Investigation

In the context of the video, an Investigation refers to the process conducted by Maltese authorities to verify the authenticity of a marriage and the genuineness of the relationship between spouses applying for citizenship through marriage. The script describes how authorities separate the spouses and ask them questions to ensure they are living together and in a real marriage.

💡Social Security Number

The Social Security Number is a unique identifier assigned to individuals for social security purposes. In the video, it is mentioned that the number on the Maltese ID card serves as the social security number, which is used for tax purposes and other social benefits once the individual starts living with their spouse in Malta.

💡EU Country

EU Country refers to a member state of the European Union. The video script warns that if a person with long-term residence in Malta leaves the country and resides in another EU country for more than six months, their long-term residence status can be revoked, highlighting the importance of continuous residence for maintaining one's status.

💡Biometrics

Biometrics in this context refers to the process of collecting and using unique biological characteristics, such as fingerprints, for identification purposes. The video script mentions that after the approval of the long-term residence application, individuals need to go through a biometric process to obtain their Maltese identity card.

Highlights

Introduction to the process of obtaining long-term residence and citizenship in Malta.

Differences between long-term residence, permanent residence, and various citizenship paths in Malta.

The importance of a Maltese marriage certificate for applying for freedom of movement.

How the Maltese residence card serves as an exemption from needing a work permit or license.

Conditions for applying for Maltese citizenship after five years of marriage and living in Malta.

Risk of losing the freedom of movement letter if the marriage ends within the first five years.

The investigative interview process for citizenship through marriage to ensure a genuine relationship.

The strictness of Malta's citizenship process and the importance of avoiding fraudulent acts.

Individual experiences of friends who obtained Maltese citizenship through marriage.

The need for a five-year consecutive stay in Malta for eligibility of long-term residence.

Documentation required for the long-term residence application in Malta.

The significance of taking Maltese lessons and history courses for the application process.

Benefits of additional courses and certificates in Malta for the long-term residence application.

The timeline from arrival in Malta to obtaining long-term residence, which can take up to six years.

The role of an architect in assessing living conditions for the long-term residence application.

The importance of having a registered rental agreement for the application process.

The potential revocation of long-term residence if the individual leaves Malta for over six months.

Invitation for viewers to ask questions in the comments section for further clarification.

Encouragement to subscribe to the YouTube channel for more information about Malta.

Transcripts

in today's video we are going to talk

about how we can get a long-term

residence in Malta and one possible way

how we can obtain a malse citizenship

welcome back to my YouTube channel guys

it's Alex here just yesterday I made a

post asking you guys what type of video

you would like to see next the most like

comment goes like this hi Alex Thea here

I see a lot of posts on exper Malta

about long-term residence or even

citizenship in Malta queries it would be

great if you can interview some somebody

who stayed in Malta for 5 years and

applied for citizenship and got it if

somebody can share their experience

about the kind of documentation they did

the time it took to beat the slow

bureaucracy and also the challenges they

faced I'm sure it will help many the pi

I would like to say thank you for

watching my videos before you arrived in

Malta and thank you for still watching

my videos once you settle down here even

though you're asking for somebody to

join me in this video unfortunately I

couldn't find anyone however I spoke

with many of my my friends who have

citizenship through marriage and also

friends of mine who got the long-term

residence this year I asked them the

most frequently asked questions and

based on their stories the video is here

now guys there is a difference between

long-term residence after living in

Malta for 5 years a permanent residence

after a purchasing a property a

citizenship after purchasing a property

which is going to cost you nearly a

million euros a citizenship through

naturalization and a citizenship through

marriage as you can hear there are

several possible ways so this video is

going to be focused on long-term

residence and a citizenship through

marriage there are many important things

so please watch this video until the

very end so that you can have more of a

clear picture and also for those of you

that would like to make Malta home this

is going to be very helpful for you so

that you can do it the right way and be

successful to obtain your longterm

residence or your mulse citizenship now

let's begin I want to start off with the

malt citizenship through marriage guys

you're arriving in Malta you're coming

from a non-european union country and

you're falling in love with a malse

person eventually you're getting married

and now you want to apply for a malse

citizenship it's not as simple as it

seems once you get married you're going

to get your malse marriage certificate

with this you can now go and apply for

your freedom of movement letter once you

got this letter you can go to Identity

Malta and apply for your malt residence

card this malt residence card is free of

charge and it's going to last for 5

years and with this you an exempt person

meaning you do not need any license or

permits for you to legally reside in

Malta and work the number of your ID

card is going to be your social security

number with this you will start paying

your taxes you will start leaving with

your spouse and after 5 years of leing

together and being married you can now

apply for a mtis citizenship please pay

attention if your multi spouse decides

to divorce within the first 5 years

automatically you're going to lose your

freedom of movement letter and you need

to apply for a work permit so that you

can remain in Malta otherwise you have

only a few weeks to leave the island now

you're passing 5 years of leaving

together with your spouse but also your

residence card of 5 years is about to

expire you need to go and apply for your

second malse residence card of 5 years

and once you get it now you can go and

apply for your malse citizenship the

application is somewhere below €200 and

once you apply you will be called for an

appointment for an interview on this

interview you and your spouse you need

to turn out together now here it comes

the tricky part you will be investigated

your spouse is going to be in one room

and you're going to be in another room

and they will will ask your spouse a lot

of questions then they will ask the same

questions with you and here they can

marry to see whether you're really

living together and in a genuine

relationship and marriage guys for those

of you that you think that this is

America you can go and pay someone just

to get a citizenship no it doesn't work

in that way Malta is so strict when it

comes to this it's a super strong

passport I believe it's in top 10

worldwide and it's such a tiny Island

that really taking care of all of these

scams and people getting married for

citizenship please be careful I'm

telling you from now if anyone of you is

planning to do this fraudulent act 100%

you're going to fail but what about

those that can be successful guys from

all my friends that I was asking those

that are married to a malti person and

they got the citizenship everyone had a

different story everyone was asked

different questions showing us that each

relationship ship each couple is seen

case- toase basis according to what type

of Lifestyle they have the authorities

aring them certain questions for example

some of the questions that I heard were

who woke up first this morning the day

when they went for an interview who

cooked what did you eat on which side on

the table you were eating who drove

where did you park these are the simple

questions from the very beginning that

people were asked then it follows a lot

of other questions where did you travel

last what did you cook last how many

bedrooms your apartment have do you have

any pharmacy do you have any shops

around like there's so many questions

that they're being asked in depth so

that you basically really have to leave

with your partner and being in a

relationship so that you know how to

answer them and that's why I'm telling

you those of you that are planning to

get married just to get a citizenship

100% you're going to fail in this

questions because the investigation can

last even up to an hour now we are

moving on to the second second part of

the video how to get your long-term

residence in Malta I'm pretty sure that

many of you are now interested to hear

the information that I have to give out

about this guys first things first you

have like a 5year trial period to

understand whether you really like to

stay in Malta or no there is no point

for you to apply for a long-term

residence if you don't like this island

I mean that's against yourself to start

with you need to live in Malta for 5

years consecutive 5 years without

leaving the island for more than 6

months per year please be careful

because your passport and your in and

out of the island will be checked you

need to leave and work on the island and

pay your taxes after 5 Years of Living

in Malta now you're eligible to apply

for a long-term residence in Malta now I

don't want to go much into details but

here you can see all the documents that

you are required to apply for the

long-term residence the official link is

going to be down in the description of

this video so please go through them but

here I just want to give you several

important tips that you need to know and

this is based on a true story from the

people that I've been talking with now

as you might have noticed on the

documentation there was one part where

it says that you need to go through a

malse lessons and also through the

courses of malse history and malse

culture once you pass them you already

have the first document for you to be

able to apply for the long-term

residence something that some of my

friends told me is that it's also a

benefit if if you have had any other

course or any other certificate done

here in Malta that shows that you would

like to upgrade your skills and

qualifications this is a plus and this

is something that is very important when

you are applying for your long-term

residence to show and prove to the

authorities that you really would like

to stay in Malta and you're upgrading

your skills now these courses they can

last between 3 and four months so even

though you need to wait for five 5 years

to pass while you're living in Malta the

whole process is going to be up to 6

years until you apply you get approved

you get the residence you get the

Biometrics and all of this it will take

nearly 6 years since the day you arrived

in Malta now something extremely

important regarding this documentation

that you've seen about the application

is the architect who will come to your

place to check if you're living in good

conditions guys this architect will come

over to your place to check the living

conditions but they will also check that

your property and your rental agreement

is registered in the housing authorities

this is very important so please bear in

mind about this before even you are

applying for the long-term residence now

once you apply and you have all the

documentations in place you need to wait

for several weeks until you get the

approval if your application is

successful now it's time for you to go

and do the Biometrics go to Identity

Malta and apply for your identity card

you will get an identity card card which

is valid for 5 years now guys here I

would like to close off the topic with

saying one more very important thing

once you get your long-term residence in

Malta if the authorities find out that

you fled the country and now you're

leaving for more than 6 years in another

European Union country your long-term

residence will be automatically revoked

now I know that with this video I opened

up a lot of questions for you guys and

please feel free in the comment section

of this video to ask me anything related

to these topics I will try to answer all

of them please don't forget to see the

links that are linked in the description

of this videos so that you can see what

the official authorities are saying in

Malta about these applications if you

enjoyed this video guys please make sure

to like it down below if you would like

to get more information about Malta

whether it's for experts or for tourists

feel free to subscribe to my YouTube

channel it's for free and until I see

you in my next one bye