Malta citizenship by investment is abolished

Status in 2026: the programme is abolished

Malta's citizenship by investment programme has been closed since 24 July 2025. On 29 April 2025 the Court of Justice of the European Union, in case C-181/23 (Commission v Malta), ruled it incompatible with European Union law. On 23 July 2025 Parliament unanimously passed Act XXI of 2025 amending the citizenship law; it was signed and entered into force on 24 July. On 29 July 2025 Legal Notice 159 of 2025 followed: it deleted the whole investment part of subsidiary legislation S.L. 188.06 and turned it into rules on citizenship by merit.

In practice, no fixed contribution buys a Maltese passport any more, and the law removed licensed citizenship agents from the process. Any 2026 offer of a Maltese passport for a set price is out of date or misleading. In 2026 passports for investment come only from outside the European Union, for example Turkey and Vanuatu, and the second passport quiz matches a programme to your budget.

Checking this takes five minutes. Act XXI of 2025 and Legal Notice 159 of 2025 are published on Malta's official legislation portal, legislation.mt, and the Court of Justice ruling in case C-181/23 is in EUR-Lex, the European Union's official law database (eur-lex.europa.eu). That is quicker than waiting for a reply from a salesperson still selling the abolished scheme.

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruling on Malta's golden passports

Each state sets its own citizenship rules, and that was Malta's defence. In October 2024 Advocate General Anthony Collins agreed that the Commission had not proven European Union law requires a prior genuine link. The Court disagreed.

A Maltese citizen is automatically a European Union citizen who can live and work anywhere in the Union, so a Maltese passport opens the door to the other 26 countries too. Granting citizenship in direct exchange for predetermined payments or investments through a transactional procedure is, in the Court's words, commercialisation. It is incompatible with Union citizenship (Article 20 TFEU) and breaches the principle of sincere cooperation (Article 4(3) TEU).

The Grand Chamber's judgment is final, and non-compliance can lead to financial penalties, which is why Malta scrapped the scheme within three months.

No European Union country sells citizenship any more: Cyprus closed its programme in 2020 and Bulgaria in 2022. Since 30 December 2025, European Union Regulation 2025/2441 also lets the European Union suspend Schengen visa-free access for countries that sell citizenship for a predetermined payment without a genuine link. Caribbean passports are now under pressure, see our article on the European Union ultimatum to Caribbean programmes.

What happens to existing citizens and pending applicants

Transitional rules are in regulation 25 of Legal Notice 159 of 2025 and in new article 27(4) of the Citizenship Act.

Then there is money. The old rules charged non-refundable fees at several stages, including for due diligence, and we found no refund mechanism in the 2025 rules. Presenting the bill, Minister Byron Camilleri said pending applications do not count under the new system. If this is you, Murblz specialists, together with partners licensed in Malta, review what was paid to the state, what to the agent and on what terms, and what your current status in Malta rests on if you received a residence permit tied to the application.

Separate rules have applied since March 2022 to applicants and existing beneficiaries of 2 nationalities: see rules for specific nationalities.

Citizenship by merit: what it is and what it is not

Instead of the investment scheme, the law leaves the Minister a discretionary power to grant citizenship by merit. The new article 10(9) of the Citizenship Act covers a person who renders exceptional services or makes an exceptional contribution to Malta or to humanity, including through job creation, or whose naturalisation is of exceptional interest to Malta. Exceptional means manifestly superior or adding value; the examples given are scientists, researchers, athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and technologists.

How the process works

The application may include a spouse or partner, children under 18, unmarried children aged 18 to 29 who are wholly or largely supported by the applicant, and adult children with a disability. The obligations in the letter of approval survive naturalisation: breaching them, becoming a security threat or conduct seriously prejudicial to Malta are grounds for deprivation.

Who this can realistically suit

People with public, verifiable achievements who will live in Malta and build their work into its economy or culture: a recognised scientist opening a lab, a top athlete, an entrepreneur creating jobs. It is not designed for someone who only has money. There is no published price, quota or processing time. The Board weighs the scale of the contribution, not the paperwork, and the Minister's decision is final and needs no reasons: a weak file ends in a refusal that cannot be appealed. Murblz specialists assess before filing whether the profile fits this ground, gather evidence of achievements and map out a residence route if it is too early for a merit passport.

Other legal routes to a Maltese passport

On timing: five years out of seven is the legal minimum, not a promise. The Act leaves the Minister full discretion, and in practice waits run well beyond the statutory minimum.

Malta has allowed dual citizenship since 2000 (article 7 of the Act), so you keep your current passport, subject to your own country's rules.

Neither MPRP permanent residence nor the digital nomad permit leads to citizenship on its own; for the Nomad Residence Permit, Residency Malta Agency says so explicitly.

What works in Malta instead of a passport in 2026

Residence programmes were not affected by the ruling. The main one, the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP), was amended by Legal Notice 146 of 2025; the figures below are from the official Residency Malta Agency website in 2026.

Mandatory payments to the state and the NGO alone come to $112,000 (99,000 euros), before property, health insurance and support, whose cost Murblz specialists quote in the chat after reviewing the documents. MPRP gives permanent residence and Schengen travel for 90 days in any 180, but not citizenship. Full breakdown: Malta permanent residence.

Besides MPRP there are two more working options:

• Global Residence Programme - a special tax status for nationals from outside the European Union: 15% on foreign income remitted to Malta, with a minimum tax of $16,900 (15,000 euros) a year. The property condition is a purchase from $309,000 (275,000 euros), from $248,000 (220,000 euros) in Gozo and the south of Malta, or rent from $10,800 (9,600 euros) a year, from $9,830 (8,750 euros) there. Figures follow the Global Residence Programme Rules; general rates: Malta taxes.
• Nomad Residence Permit - for remote workers earning at least $47,200 (42,000 euros) a year gross, with a $337 (300 euros) fee per person, a first term of one year and renewals up to four years in total. It does not lead to permanent residence or citizenship. Details on the Malta digital nomad visa page.

All Maltese programmes are gathered on one page in our Malta country guide.

Alternatives inside and outside the European Union

If you need a passport rather than the right to live in Europe, the honest choice is between European Union residence with a long road to naturalisation and citizenship by investment outside the European Union. No country sells a European Union passport in 2026.

The table shows the 2026 thresholds, and before filing we check them against the rules on the application date; nationality restrictions vary by country. For an overview read European golden visas in 2026, for the routes to an EU passport that are left read EU citizenship by investment, and browse our residence permits and citizenship sections. With a strong professional profile, also consider talent visas, which in some countries beat any investment scheme on speed and reliability.

Rules for specific nationalities

Malta has closed its residence and citizenship routes to citizens of Russia and Belarus since March 2022.

• In March 2022 Community Malta Agency and Residency Malta Agency suspended applications from Russian and Belarusian nationals for citizenship and permanent residence, citing the inability to carry out due diligence; renewals for existing beneficiaries became case by case.
• The suspension is in force in 2026: Residency Malta Agency's official FAQs list applications from Russia and Belarus as ineligible for both MPRP and the Nomad Residence Permit.
• Russian and Belarusian passports are not accepted by any Maltese programme. With another nationality, the application goes on that passport.

Which option suits whom

• You need a European Union passport and will move. Residence in a European Union country, then ordinary naturalisation; in Malta that is at least five years out of seven and a discretionary decision.
• You need to live in Europe and travel in Schengen, not a passport. MPRP, the Greek golden visa or Cypriot permanent residence do the job.
• You need a second passport fast. Only programmes outside the European Union such as Turkey or the Caribbean, with the visa-free risks in mind.
• You have outstanding, verifiable achievements. The merit route is open, but as a one-off state decision, not a priced service.
• Your passport is not accepted. Maltese programmes do not accept 2 nationalities, listed under rules for specific nationalities. If you hold another nationality, we ask the agency for its position on that passport before filing. Without one, the fast routes are Turkey through property or a fund contribution in Vanuatu.
• You applied before April 2025. Whether the Minister approved it before 29 April 2025 decides if it is still alive.

Uncomfortable truths and red flags

A passport for a fixed price is no longer on sale. No legal structure gets around that, and the Agency bans marketing of the merit route. An offer of Maltese citizenship by merit with a price, a timeline and a guarantee is your cue to walk away.

The merit route is untested. No approval statistics are published, the Agency sets the fees and the Minister does not explain refusals. There is no appeal on the merits, only a complaint to the Regulator about the process, which reports to the Minister.

Even ordinary naturalisation is discretionary. Five years out of seven is the point at which you become eligible to apply, not a guaranteed outcome.

European Union pressure did not stop with Malta. Regulation 2025/2441 also puts at risk the passports of countries outside the European Union that sell citizenship. If you buy one for Schengen access, you are buying that risk too.

Rules change fast. In 2025 alone Malta changed both its citizenship law and MPRP terms; only the rules in force on your filing date count.

What a Maltese passport gives you

FAQ

185 destinations without a prior visa with a Maltese passport