Malta Work Permit

A Third-Country National must have a work permit to both reside and work in Malta.  The work permit is issued in respect of Third-Country Nationals who work with a specific employer to perform a specific job. Therefore the employee cannot use the license to take up a different job, or to work for a different employer even on a part-time basis.  Permits are normally issued for a maximum duration of one year. 

Types of work permits

The Single Permit

The authorisation for Third-Country Nationals to work in Malta is conducted by means of a Single Application Procedure for a Single Permit.  The application must be endorsed by the employer/prospective employer. There is also the option for the third-country national to have his application submitted once abroad. Once preliminarily approved, the applicant would be invited to come to Malta for biometrics and to complete the application process.  However, prior to that one must first obtain a VISA to enter Malta.

The process is lengthy and takes around four months from when the application is submitted. It is very important to note that employers would need to prove that that they have tried to fill the vacancy with persons from Malta or from the=EU/EEA/Switzerland. 

The Key Employee Initiative (KEI)

The KEI provides a fasttracked service to highly-specialized Third-Country Nationals who are employed in Malta. The scheme will facilitate the issuing of work/residence permits
to prospective key employees, which under normal circumstances should not exceed 5 working days from the application’s submission date.  The scheme is applicable to managerial or highly-technical posts which require the relevant qualifications or adequate experience related to the job being offered.  

A comprehensive health insurance needs to be submitted with the single permit application or KEI.