Malta Permanent Residence (MPRP)

The Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP) grants indefinite permanent residence in Malta, an EU member state, to non-EU, non-EEA and non-Swiss nationals and their dependants. It is governed by Legal Notice 146 of 2025, which amended the earlier MPRP rules, and is administered by the Residency Malta Agency. It is worth being precise from the outset about what this programme is not: the MPRP does not grant Maltese citizenship, and it is not a path to a passport on any fixed timeline. It grants the right to live in Malta permanently and to travel within the Schengen Area. Maltese citizenship, if ever sought, is a wholly separate matter of naturalisation under general Maltese law, decided at the Maltese authorities' discretion, not an automatic consequence of MPRP status. Malta also previously ran a separate citizenship-by-investment scheme; it was closed to new applicants in April 2025 following a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and it is not offered or marketed by Mirabello. The MPRP is an entirely different, residence-only programme, unaffected by that closure.

What you actually pay, in full

The MPRP is frequently summarised as costing around €99,000. That figure is real, but it covers government fees only and excludes the property commitment every applicant must also make, by far the largest single cost on the purchase route. The full, one-time government cost is: a non-refundable administration fee of €60,000, paid as €15,000 on submission and €45,000 on the Letter of Approval in Principle; a government contribution of €37,000, unified for both the purchase and lease routes under Legal Notice 146 of 2025; and a mandatory donation of €2,000 to a registered Maltese NGO. Together these three items total €99,000, one-time, non-refundable and not multiplied per family member.

On top of that €99,000, every applicant must also satisfy the compulsory qualifying property requirement. On the purchase route this means a property bought for at least €375,000; on the lease route, an annual rent of at least €14,000. The same thresholds apply anywhere in Malta or Gozo. Buying, the realistic minimum across government fees and property is therefore around €474,000, not €99,000. Leasing, the government-side minimum is closer to €113,000 plus the ongoing annual rent. Any quote showing €99,000 as the full cost of the MPRP is presenting the government-fee component only.

The qualifying property, in detail

The property, purchased or leased, must serve as the beneficiary's main residence and be held for a minimum of five years. Only the beneficiary and dependants may reside in it during that period; on the purchase route it can be rented out once the five years end, subject to conditions. There are no reduced thresholds for South Malta or Gozo: the same minimums apply anywhere in Malta or Gozo.

Who can be included, and what it costs

A single MPRP application can cover up to four generations: the main applicant, a spouse or partner, minor children, financially dependent unmarried adult children, and financially dependent parents and grandparents with no upper age limit. Under Legal Notice 146 of 2025, the spouse and any minor children are included at no additional fee, as are adult children with a disability. Every other adult dependant carries a reduced fee of €7,500 per person, down from €10,000 before the reform. None of the €99,000 government-fee package scales with family size; only the per-dependant €7,500 does.

Eligibility and financial standing

Applicants must be at least 18, hold a clean criminal record, and carry health insurance covering all risks in Malta and the EU, from an insurer licensed in Malta or a reputable international provider. Financial self-sufficiency is shown one of two ways: assets of at least €500,000 including €150,000 liquid, required for the first five years only, or assets of at least €650,000 including €75,000 liquid. An applicant cannot hold MPRP status while simultaneously benefiting from another Maltese special residence programme.

What drives the processing timeline

Residency Malta does not publish a fixed processing time: processing starts once a complete and correct application is submitted, and a decision follows the Agency's due diligence checks. Stages run from engaging a licensed agent through documentation, the first €15,000 instalment, due diligence, the Letter of Approval in Principle, the balance of fees, acquisition or lease of the property, biometrics, and issuance of the permanent residence certificate. Legal Notice 146 of 2025 also introduced a temporary residence permit, issued for one year and renewable, letting the family relocate to Malta immediately while the full application is still under review. What actually moves the final date is the completeness of the file and the pace of due diligence, not the fee schedule.

What MPRP status gives you, and what it does not

The MPRP grants indefinite permanent residence, renewed while the property and insurance conditions continue to be met, and Schengen-area travel of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, plus family access to Maltese healthcare where insurance is in place. There is no statutory minimum-stay requirement in Malta to keep the status. It does not confer the right to work, which needs a separate work permit; it does not confer any special tax regime, that is a different Maltese scheme (the Global Residence Programme); and, as above, it does not confer citizenship or any guarantee of eventually obtaining it.

Naturalisation: a genuinely separate process

Some marketing in this space has implied that holding MPRP status puts a client on a countdown to a Maltese passport. That is not accurate. Naturalisation is governed by the general Maltese Citizenship Act, entirely separate legislation, and is assessed on its own criteria: demonstrated ties to Malta, a period of actual residence considerably longer and more demanding than simply holding a residence card, language and integration expectations, and good character. It is discretionary, not automatic, and the current residence-period requirement should be confirmed directly with Maltese authorities before it features in any client timeline. MPRP status does not shorten it and should never be presented as a stepping stone to citizenship on a specific number of years.

Tax treatment

The MPRP is a residence programme, not a tax programme, and carries no automatic special tax treatment. Malta-sourced income is taxed at standard rates; foreign income is taxed only if remitted into Malta, under the remittance-basis system for non-domiciled residents. Transfers of Maltese property are generally subject to a final withholding tax of 8% of the transfer value, with other rates in specific cases (10% for property acquired before 2004, 5% for certain transfers within five years of acquisition) and some exemptions. Malta has no inheritance tax. Anyone whose priority is a specific low-tax regime rather than residence itself should look at Malta's separate Global Residence Programme, or take independent tax advice.

Where this programme is a poor fit

The MPRP is not open to EU, EEA or Swiss citizens, who already hold the right to live in Malta and gain nothing from it. It is not suitable for anyone whose real goal is a passport on a predictable timeline, since naturalisation is a separate, discretionary process the MPRP does not shorten, nor for anyone planning to work in Malta without a separate work permit. And anyone quoted €99,000 as the total cost should treat that as the government-fee component only; the compulsory property, from €375,000 to buy or €14,000 a year to lease, is what makes the real minimum commitment several times that figure. Where it fits well is the non-EU family that wants a stable, indefinite right to live in an EU and Schengen state, values the ability to relocate quickly under the temporary permit, wants a wide multi-generational family on one application at a manageable per-dependant cost, and is not treating the programme as a citizenship shortcut.