How to Register a Baby Born Abroad to a Maltese Parent, and Get the First Passport

How do I register a baby born abroad to a Maltese parent?

To register a baby born abroad to a Maltese parent, you register the foreign birth with the Identità Public Registry, in person in Malta or through a Maltese embassy, high commission or consulate, using the original civil birth certificate, at a government fee of €2.60, and then apply for the first Maltese passport.

The process has four stages, and they run in a fixed order. First, confirm that the child is Maltese. Second, prepare the birth certificate so the Public Registry will accept it, which usually means an apostille and sometimes a translation. Third, register the birth. Fourth, apply for the passport. The table below sets out each stage, the authority responsible and the government fee.

Government fees were read on official Identità pages in October 2026. Mission, courier, apostille and translation costs are set by others and vary by country.

Is my baby Maltese before the birth is registered?

A baby born abroad on or after 1 August 1989 is Maltese from birth if either parent was a Maltese citizen at the time of the birth, so registration does not create citizenship; registration records the birth in Malta, which is what allows the Passport Office to issue the child's first Maltese passport.

Under article 5 of the Maltese Citizenship Act (Cap. 188), it makes no difference whether the Maltese parent is the mother or the father, or whether the baby was born in Sydney, London, Toronto or New York. No citizenship application is needed and there is no citizenship fee. Malta has also permitted dual citizenship since 10 February 2000, so the child can hold Maltese citizenship alongside the nationality of the country of birth where that country allows it.

There are exceptions, and it is worth ruling them out before you order certificates. Citizenship does not pass automatically to the child of a parent who became Maltese by registration on the basis of descent, and a child born before a parent became Maltese is not covered by the automatic rule. In both cases the child's position needs an individual assessment. Our article Is my child automatically Maltese? walks through every situation, including the older rules for births before 1989.

What documents does the Public Registry need for a foreign birth?

The Public Registry needs the original civil birth certificate or a true copy certified by the issuing authority, an apostille or legalisation unless the certificate was issued in the EU, an official English translation or EU multilingual standard form where the certificate is in a language other than English or Maltese, and the parents' identity documents.

The original civil birth certificate

The Registry accepts the original civil birth certificate, or a true copy certified by the authority that issued it. It keeps the document permanently, so order additional certified copies before you start, because you will want one for your own records and possibly for other applications. Church or baptism certificates are not accepted, however old or official they look. Only the civil registration of the birth counts.

Apostille or legalisation

A birth certificate issued outside the European Union needs an apostille or legalisation, which confirms that the document is genuine. Certificates from Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States are all issued outside the EU, so they need one. A certificate issued in another EU member state is exempt under the EU rules on public documents (Regulation 2016/1191). The apostille is obtained in the country that issued the certificate, so families should allow time for it before any appointment.

Translation

A certificate in English needs no translation. A certificate in any language other than English or Maltese needs an official English translation, or, where the certificate was issued in the EU, an EU multilingual standard form can be used instead.

The parents' identity documents and matching details

Both parents provide identity documents. The details on them must match the birth certificate exactly: names, spellings, dates and places. Where a name contains special characters, they must be transliterated consistently. The official Public Registry guidance on foreign birth registrations sets out the Registry's own requirements, and it is worth reading alongside this list.

Where can I register a foreign birth, in Malta or at a mission?

A foreign birth can be registered in person at the Public Registry in Malta, where a relative can attend on the family's behalf, or through a Maltese embassy, high commission or consulate abroad, but it cannot be registered by post or online, so someone always has to attend in person.

Through a relative in Malta

Families with relatives in Malta often find this the simplest route. The relative takes the original certificate, with its apostille and any translation, to the Public Registry and attends on the family's behalf. The originals must travel to Malta safely, and the relative must have everything the Registry asks for, because a missing document means a second visit.

Through a Maltese mission abroad

Families without relatives in Malta register through the nearest Maltese embassy, high commission or consulate instead, and the registration is still made with the Public Registry in Malta. Missions can add their own administrative charges, and appointments at busy missions can be hard to obtain in peak season. Check what your mission needs before the appointment, so the documents are complete on the day.

Unsure which route suits your family, or whether your documents are ready? Book a free consultation with Mirabello Consultancy and we will check your file before anyone travels or books an appointment.

How much does registering a foreign birth cost, and how long does it take?

Registering a foreign birth with the Identità Public Registry costs €2.60, plus any administrative charges a Maltese mission adds when the registration is made abroad, and the Public Registry does not publish a processing time, so families should start well before any planned trip that depends on the child's Maltese passport.

The government fee is modest; the real costs are elsewhere. Families pay for certified copies of the birth certificate, the apostille, any translation, courier charges for originals and, where the registration is made abroad, the mission's charges. These are set by other authorities and vary from country to country, which is why we quote them per case rather than as a single figure.

There is no paid or official fast track for registering a birth. The only official fast track in these services is the Passport Office's urgent passport service, which applies to the passport step and only for applications made in Malta. For the registration itself, a complete and consistent file is what keeps things moving.

How do I get my baby's first Maltese passport?

A baby's first Maltese passport is applied for once the foreign birth is registered, using Form A signed by both parents in front of a recommender, with two photographs and the parents' identity documents, and a passport for a child under 10 costs €16, or €60 through the urgent service in Malta.

Form A and both parents' consent

The passport application uses Form A. Both parents must sign section 6 in front of the recommender, with original ink signatures; scanned or electronic signatures are refused. The same Form A and consent rules apply whether the application is made in Malta or through a mission abroad, and they are the same rules that govern every Maltese passport application, set out on our Maltese passport renewal page.

Photographs

Children aged 0 to 5 need two photographs, and the recommender endorses one of them as a true image of the child. Photographs must meet Identità's rules: a white background, eyes open, lips closed and no headwear. With a newborn, getting a compliant photograph can take several attempts, so do it before the appointment rather than on the day.

The recommender

For a minor, Identità requires a recommender who is a Maltese, EU or Commonwealth national living in Malta, with a university degree, who has known the applicant for at least two years. For families who have lived abroad for many years, finding a qualifying recommender is one of the most common obstacles, and it is worth solving before you book the appointment.

Attendance, fees and collection

Babies and children under 6 do not attend the appointment; from age 6, children attend for facial biometrics, and abroad a minor attends with a parent or guardian. A passport for a child under 10 costs €16, and passports for young children carry a shorter validity than adult passports. The urgent service costs €60 and is ready in 4 working hours, but only for applications made in Malta; from abroad, the mission can treat an application as urgent and the urgent fee applies, but no 4-hour timeframe is offered. Applications abroad also add the mission's fee and courier charges, and there is no official processing time. The passport is returned by courier, or can be collected in Malta if you tell the mission. Our article on Maltese passports for children and our Maltese passport fees guide cover these points in more depth, and the official Identità Passport Office page lists the current rules.

What if one parent lives in another country?

When one parent lives in another country, that parent gives consent to the baby's passport by signing Consent Form I at a Maltese embassy, high commission or consulate, which emails the form to the Passport Office, because both parents must consent and scanned or electronic signatures are refused.

Consent Form I is a passport consent form. It should not be confused with Form I, the citizenship application used by people born abroad between 1964 and 1989 to a Maltese mother. Where parents live in different countries, coordinating the signatures, the recommender and the mission appointment is usually the part that takes longest, so it helps to plan all three together.

Where do families lose time?

Families registering a birth from abroad lose the most time on mismatched paperwork, because names, spellings and dates must match exactly across the child's birth certificate, the parents' certificates and the Maltese parent's records in Malta, and any special characters must be transliterated consistently.

• Originals that are kept. The Public Registry retains the original certificate, so families without spare certified copies have to order them again later.
• Church certificates. A baptism certificate is not a birth certificate for the Registry's purposes.
• A missing apostille. Certificates issued outside the EU are refused without one, and it can only be obtained in the issuing country.
• The parents' own records. Families who left Malta a generation ago sometimes find that the Maltese parent's birth was never registered in Malta, which must be resolved first. Parents who married abroad often also need their marriage registered in Malta; our guide to registering a foreign marriage in Malta explains how.
• Consent and recommender. A parent abroad must visit a mission to sign Consent Form I, and the recommender must meet Identità's conditions.

Where a non-Maltese parent is also becoming Maltese, our page on Maltese citizenship by marriage explains how the two processes fit together, so that certificates are obtained once and used for both.

How Mirabello Consultancy helps

Mirabello Consultancy helps families register a baby born abroad by confirming the child's citizenship position, ordering and checking certificates, coordinating apostilles and translations, preparing the registration and Form A, arranging consent signatures and the recommender, and booking the right appointment, working remotely from Zurich, Dubai and Hong Kong SAR.

You can register a birth and apply for a passport yourself; our role is to make the paperwork right the first time and to follow each step through to the passport. Every step is decided by Identità or Aġenzija Komunità Malta, and no third party can speed up or influence a decision. Government fees are paid at cost and shown separately from our service fee, which we confirm per case after a free consultation. Our newborn registration and first passport service sets out the full service, and all of our services for Maltese families are on our Maltese citizen services page.