Renewing a Maltese Passport in Canada and the USA: Missions, Fees and Steps (2026)

Can you renew a Maltese passport in Canada or the United States?

Maltese citizens living in Canada or the United States can renew a Maltese passport without travelling to Malta, by attending a Maltese mission in person for biometrics, after which the application is sent to the Identità Passport Office in Malta, which decides it, prints the passport and returns it to the mission or holds it for collection in Malta.

North America is home to a long-established Maltese community. Malta's High Commission in Ottawa describes the Maltese community in Canada as the second largest outside Malta, and the United States also has Maltese communities served by two missions. For both countries the procedure is the same as for any renewal from abroad; what differs is the distance to the nearest mission and the time it takes for an application to travel to Malta and back.

Which Maltese missions serve Canada and the United States?

Malta's official missions directory lists a High Commission in Ottawa and a Consulate General in Toronto for Canada, and an Embassy in Washington, D.C. and a Consulate General in New York for the United States, and Maltese citizens should confirm with the mission which office handles their passport application before booking an appointment.

Malta set up its High Commission in Ottawa in 2024, marking 60 years of diplomatic relations with Canada and appointing its first resident High Commissioner. The Embassy of Malta in Washington, D.C. also serves as Malta's Embassy to Mexico and its High Commission to the Bahamas, so Maltese citizens in those countries fall within the same network. Contact details are on the official Maltese missions directory; we do not reproduce addresses or telephone numbers here, because the official page is the reliable source.

What do you need to bring to the appointment?

A Maltese passport renewal in Canada or the United States needs a completed Form A, your previous Maltese passport, your original valid Maltese ID card with a copy of both sides, and photographs that meet Identità's rules, and if you have no valid Maltese ID card, one photograph must be endorsed by a recommender and Form A sections 7 and 8 completed.

Identità's photograph rules are a white background, eyes open, lips closed and no headwear, and photographs taken for Canadian or American documents may not meet them. Many Maltese in North America have never held a Maltese ID card, especially those born there, so the recommender route is common. The full checklist is on Identità's adult renewals page, and our step-by-step guide to renewing a Maltese passport from abroad walks through Form A.

Who can be your recommender in North America?

For an adult renewal, the recommender must be a Maltese national with a university degree who has known you for at least two years, while for a child's passport the recommender may be a Maltese, EU or Commonwealth national living in Malta with a university degree who has known the child for at least two years.

A Canadian or American friend with a degree cannot be an adult's recommender unless they are also a Maltese national, although a Maltese national living in North America can be. For a child, the recommender must live in Malta, even where the parents' friends in Canada are Commonwealth nationals. Families who have lived in North America for decades should settle this question first, because without a qualifying recommender the file cannot proceed.

What does it cost to renew a Maltese passport from Canada or the USA?

A Maltese adult passport renewed from Canada or the United States costs the same Identità fee as in Malta in 2026, €70 between September and March or €80 between April and August, plus the mission's processing fee and courier charges, which are set by each mission, can be charged in local currency and are not published by Identità.

Children aged 10 to 15 pay €40 and children under 10 pay €16. If the passport being replaced was lost or stolen while still valid, a €15 supplement applies. Ask the mission for its current charges, the currency and the accepted payment methods when you book. Our guide to Maltese passport fees in 2026 sets out every line.

If you would like your documents checked before you travel to a mission, book a free consultation with Mirabello Consultancy and we will confirm what your file needs.

How long does a renewal from North America take?

A Maltese passport renewal made in Canada or the United States has no official processing time, because Identità publishes a standard time of 4 working days only for applications made in Malta, and an application from North America also travels to Malta and back and can be held while your Maltese nationality is confirmed.

Allow generous time and plan backwards from your travel date, particularly before the European summer, when demand peaks and the €80 fee band applies. Distance makes a complete file especially valuable here: when the nearest mission is a flight away, a missing document can mean a second journey as well as a delay.

How do you plan a mission visit when it is far from home?

Maltese citizens in North America often live hundreds or thousands of kilometres from the nearest mission, so the most effective preparation is a single, complete appointment: confirm the office and its requirements in advance, bring every document and photograph in the required form, and group family members' applications into one visit where possible.

Each applicant attends in person for biometrics, apart from children under 6, so the whole family's timing needs to align. Ask the mission in advance whether the new passport will be returned by courier and to which address, or whether it can be held for collection in Malta if you plan to travel there. Keep copies of everything you submit, and note any reference you are given so that a later status question can be answered quickly.

How do children born in North America get a first Maltese passport?

A child born in Canada or the United States on or after 1 August 1989 to a parent who was Maltese at the time of the birth is Maltese automatically, but the foreign birth must be registered with the Identità Public Registry, at a fee of €2.60, before Identità issues a first passport, which costs €16 for a child under 10.

The registration needs the original civil birth certificate, with an apostille because the certificate was not issued in the EU, and the Registry keeps the original. It is made in person in Malta, where a relative can go for you, or through a Maltese mission; there is no postal or online filing. For people born abroad between 21 September 1964 and 31 July 1989, citizenship passed automatically only through the father, and children of Maltese mothers from that period register with Form I. Our guides Is my child automatically Maltese? and registering a baby born abroad cover each step.

What changes when the passport is for a child?

A child's Maltese passport applied for in Canada or the United States needs both parents to sign section 6 of Form A in front of the recommender with original ink signatures, a parent living in another country to sign Consent Form I at a Maltese mission, and from age 6 the child's attendance for facial biometrics, while children under 6 do not attend.

Scanned or electronic signatures are refused, and abroad a minor attends with a parent or guardian. Children aged 0 to 5 need two photographs, one endorsed by the recommender as a true image of the child. Our guide to a Maltese passport for a child explains the consent rules.

Can you get an urgent passport, or replace a lost one, from North America?

Maltese citizens in Canada or the United States can ask the mission to treat a passport application as urgent, and the urgent fee of €160 for an adult then applies, but the 4-working-hour urgent service is available only in Malta, and a lost or stolen passport needs an original police report issued in Malta, because foreign police reports are not accepted.

If the lost passport was still valid, a €15 supplement is added for the oath you swear about the loss, and section 7 of Form A is completed by a recommender. Contact the mission first and ask how they handle the police report in your case. Our guide to a lost or stolen Maltese passport abroad sets out the steps.

What if your spouse wants to become Maltese too?

A foreign spouse living in Canada or the United States can register as a Maltese citizen with Form B after at least 5 years of marriage to a Maltese citizen and of living together, but a marriage celebrated in North America must first be registered with the Identità Public Registry, at a fee of €2.60, with an apostilled marriage certificate.

Form B costs €150 on application and €50 for the certificate, and it can be lodged through a Maltese mission, where the oath of allegiance can also be sworn. The couple must still be married and living together when the citizenship is registered, and the decision rests with the Minister. If a passport renewal and a marriage registration are both on your list, prepare them together: the same family documents often serve both files. Our guides to registering a foreign marriage in Malta and the Form B document checklist cover the details, and our citizenship by marriage service explains how we help.

How Mirabello Consultancy helps Maltese citizens in Canada and the USA

Mirabello Consultancy is a Swiss advisory firm with offices in Zurich, Dubai and Hong Kong SAR, and we help Maltese citizens in Canada and the United States remotely: we check documents and nationality records, prepare Form A, help you find a qualifying recommender, review photographs and consent signatures, confirm the right mission and follow the application through to collection.

You can renew a passport yourself, and many people do. Government fees are paid at cost and shown separately, and our fee is confirmed per case. Our Maltese passport renewal service describes the scope, and our Maltese citizen services page covers births and marriage. The official rules are on Identità's Passport Office pages.