Maltese citizenship by merit is discretionary naturalisation under Article 10(9) of the Maltese Citizenship Act, and the citizenship it confers is full EU citizenship. No amount is set in law; in Mirabello practice experience it rests on a real investment of about EUR 1.2 million in a government-approved sector, with no government contribution or bonds, and takes 12 to 24 months. It is decided case by case and never guaranteed.
Malta Citizenship by Merit is discretionary naturalisation under Article 10(9) of the Maltese Citizenship Act (as substituted by Act XXI of 2025) for a person who renders exceptional services or makes an exceptional contribution, including through job creation, to Malta or to humanity, or whose naturalisation is of exceptional interest to Malta. The law sets no investment amount or price; in Mirabello practice experience, successful applicants make a real investment of about EUR 1.2 million in a sector the Government of Malta approves as benefiting the country, which may include a donation to a charity, and the process takes 12 to 24 months; neither is an official figure, and unlike the former investor route there is no government contribution and no government bonds. Applicants first submit a proposal letter; after due diligence, an independent Evaluation Board recommendation and the Minister's approval in principle, the formal application needs at least eight months' legal residence in Malta, title to adequate residential property (in practice a rented home and health insurance, both kept until citizenship), Maltese or English, and, where the Evaluation Board requests it, an endorsement from a designated competent body. The Minister need not give reasons and the decision is final. A Maltese passport is an EU passport, with the right to live, work and study anywhere in the EU. The Community Malta Agency states that the route is not a programme or an alternative to Malta's former investor citizenship scheme, which the EU Court of Justice held contrary to EU law on 29 April 2025 (C-181/23).
Maltese citizenship by merit is the route by which Malta now naturalises people of exceptional value to the country. Under Article 10(9) of the Maltese Citizenship Act, as substituted by Act No. XXI of 2025, the Minister responsible for citizenship may grant it to a person who renders exceptional services or makes an exceptional contribution, including through job creation, to Malta or to humanity, or whose naturalisation is of exceptional interest to Malta. The citizenship it confers is the same as any Maltese citizen's, and with it comes full citizenship of the European Union.
The law sets no investment amount and no price, and there is no right to a grant: every case is decided individually. In Mirabello Consultancy's practice experience, successful applicants make a real investment of about EUR 1.2 million in a sector the Government of Malta approves as benefiting the country, and the process takes 12 to 24 months from the proposal letter to the certificate of naturalisation. Neither figure is set in law or published by the Community Malta Agency, and we state them as what we see in practice, not as a fee.
The benefits of a Maltese, European passport
A Maltese citizen is a citizen of the European Union. That gives the right to live, work, study and retire in any of the 27 EU member states without a visa or work permit, under Articles 20 and 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Directive 2004/38/EC, and the same freedom of movement extends to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The Maltese passport gives visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 184 destinations, including the whole Schengen area, the United States under the Visa Waiver Program with an ESTA, Canada with an eTA and the United Kingdom with an ETA.
EU citizenship carries rights beyond travel. Abroad, you may seek consular protection from the embassy of any EU member state where Malta has no representation. Living in another EU state, you may vote and stand in its municipal elections and in elections to the European Parliament, and you may study at its universities on the same terms as its own nationals. Malta has allowed dual citizenship since 2000, so you do not have to give up your present nationality, and children born to you after naturalisation acquire Maltese citizenship through you. Malta itself is an English-speaking EU member state in the eurozone and the Commonwealth. If you already hold an EU, EEA or Swiss passport, you have most of these freedoms already, and we will say so plainly.
Who can qualify under the law
The Act names the people it has in mind: scientists, researchers, athletes and sports persons, artists and cultural performers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and technologists, among other persons of interest to Malta from time to time. The Agency's published guidance describes the same fields as science and research, technology, sport, entrepreneurship including job creation, culture and the arts, and philanthropy. "Exceptional" means manifestly superior or adding value, and "exceptional interest" covers a person the Minister considers to have the skills, profile, talents and expertise to significantly advance Malta's national interest. Wealth on its own is not a qualifying ground: the case rests on the contribution.
Every applicant must also undertake to take the oath of allegiance, abide by the Constitution, promote Malta's democratic values and support the Maltese community. The regulations exclude anyone listed by Interpol or Europol, named under international sanctions, charged with or convicted of serious crimes such as terrorism or money laundering, or considered a threat to security, public policy or public health. An unresolved visa refusal by a country with which Malta has visa-free travel can also disqualify an applicant.
How the process works, stage by stage
The procedure has two stages, each decided by the Minister on the recommendation of an independent Evaluation Board. First, the applicant submits a proposal letter through the Agency: an overview of achievements, a detailed description of the exceptional service, contribution or interest, and a plan for continuing to contribute to Malta after naturalisation. The Agency then runs due diligence of a four-tier nature or more, using independent providers and, where needed, law-enforcement security checks. The Board evaluates the proposal and may interview the applicant, and the Minister either rejects it or issues a letter of approval in principle.
Only after approval in principle can the applicant file the formal application for naturalisation. Due diligence is updated, the Board evaluates the file a second time, and the Minister takes the final decision. A letter of approval may carry continuing obligations. The oath of allegiance is taken in Malta within six months of that letter, after which the certificate of naturalisation is issued. No official processing time is published; in our practice experience the whole process, including the eight months of residence, takes 12 to 24 months.
Investment: what the law says and what we see in practice
The law contains no contribution amount, no qualifying investment and no property value; the former direct-investment provisions were deleted in July 2025. What the Evaluation Board weighs is the contribution itself. In Mirabello practice experience, that contribution takes the form of a real investment of about EUR 1.2 million in a sector the Government of Malta approves as benefiting the country, and part of it may be a donation to a charity. Unlike the former investor route, there is no contribution to the government and no government bonds: the capital goes into the Maltese economy itself.
That figure is an observation from practice, not an official threshold: a larger sum does not secure a grant, and the case still has to show a contribution the Minister judges exceptional. Non-refundable administrative fees are set by the Agency from time to time and are not published as a schedule; we set out the full expected budget for your case at the first consultation.
Residence, property and the connection the law asks for
The formal application must show at least eight months of residence in Malta before it is filed, proof of title to adequate residential property in Malta, adequate knowledge of Maltese or English, an endorsement from a competent body designated by the Agency where the Board requests it, and proof of the other ties with Malta promised in the proposal letter. In practice, applicants hold legal residence in Malta with a self-sufficient residence status, and keep a rented home and health insurance for the entire period until citizenship. These are the means by which the law ties the grant to a real presence and a real contribution, and the commitments continue after naturalisation: the Minister may deprive a person of citizenship granted on merit for failing a material obligation set in the letter of approval. Family members can be included as dependants, each with their own due diligence.
How it differs from the former investor route
Between 2020 and 2025 Malta operated naturalisation for exceptional services by direct investment, with a contribution of EUR 600,000 or EUR 750,000. On 29 April 2025 the Court of Justice of the European Union, in Case C-181/23, Commission v Malta, held that this 2020 scheme amounted to the commercialisation of the grant of nationality, contrary to EU law, while recalling that the conditions for granting nationality are a national competence. Malta then amended the Act and the regulations in July 2025 and deleted the investment provisions. The Community Malta Agency states that citizenship by merit is not a programme or an alternative to that former framework: it is a separate, discretionary power that turns on contribution, residence and ties, with no government contribution and no government bonds.
Who it suits, and the other Maltese routes
Citizenship by merit suits founders, investors in Maltese enterprise, scientists, sports and cultural figures and philanthropists whose contribution to Malta is real and documentable, and who can live in Malta for eight months before applying. It is a poor fit for anyone whose case rests on capital rather than achievement, or who needs a guaranteed outcome or a fixed timetable. For a long-term base in Malta without naturalisation, the Malta Permanent Residence Programme grants permanent residence, and ordinary naturalisation under Article 10(1) follows years of residence. The spouse of a Maltese citizen may apply for citizenship by registration through marriage, and people with Maltese parents or ancestors should look first at Maltese citizenship by descent. Our article on citizenship by merit in 2026 covers the legislation in more detail, and our guide to Malta residency by investment compares the residence options.
