EU Blue Card
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | EU Blue Card as of 2026-04-08[1][7] Malta enacts and publishes in parallel official English and Maltese texts and English is an official language of Malta; the official English name is therefore recorded identically as the local name rather than as a translation. |
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| Official name (English) | EU Blue Card as of 2026-04-08[1][7] |
| Legal basis | Conditions of the Entry and Residence of Third-Country Nationals for the Purpose of Highly Qualified Employment Regulations (S.L. 217.27), made under the Immigration Act (Cap. 217); L.N. 303 of 2023, in force 22 December 2023. Reg. 1(2) transposes Directive (EU) 2021/1883. The predecessor instrument, S.L. 217.15, is recorded on legislation.mt as repealed by L.N. 303 of 2023. as of 2026-04-08[1][7] |
| Instrument type | residence card as of 2026-04-08[1][7] The instrument is issued as an EU Blue Card; reg. 17(2) provides that a former holder who obtains EU long-term resident status has the remark 'Former EU Blue Card holder' entered on the long-term residence permit. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-04-08[1][7] |
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| Minimum age | Not established from a qualifying source No minimum age is stated in S.L. 217.27 or on the Identita EU Blue Card page. |
| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source No police-conduct document appears on the Identita Blue Card checklists. Reg. 6(1)(c) provides that an application shall be rejected for justified reasons where the third-country national is considered to pose a threat to public policy, public security or public health – a refusal ground, not a stated documentary criterion. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | 24 months as of 2026-04-08[1][7] Reg. 8(2): the standard period of validity shall not be less than twenty-four months; where the work contract is shorter, the card is valid for the contract duration plus three months but not less than the standard twenty-four months, and in any event not beyond the validity of the travel document. Identita restates this as a two-year first issue. |
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| How the initial term is set | fixed |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-04-08[1][7] Reg. 10(4): a renewal application may be submitted within ninety days before expiry. Reg. 10(5): where validity expires during the renewal procedure the holder may stay as if still a holder until the decision. |
| Renewal duration | 3 years as of 2026-04-08[1][6] Identita states that on renewal applicants may opt for a three-year Blue Card provided all their documents, including the travel document, cover that period. The Labour Migration Policy records a three-year renewal period for Blue Card holders from January 2026. |
| Maximum total duration | Not established from a qualifying source No maximum total duration is stated in S.L. 217.27. |
| Work rights | employment only as of 2026-05-27[4][7] Reg. 13(1) gives access to highly qualified employment; employment involving the exercise of public authority may be reserved to Maltese, Union or EEA citizens. During the first twelve months of legal employment a change of employer must be communicated and is subject to a verification of the labour market situation (reg. 13(2)), which may suspend the right for a maximum of thirty days (reg. 13(3)); after twelve months only communication may be required (reg. 13(4)). Reg. 13(7) allows parallel self-employed activity provided it is subsidiary to the main activity, while the Identita FAQ states the card covers only highly qualified employment with a single employer and that self-employment or freelance work is not allowed under it. Reg. 7(4) and (5) protect the holder during unemployment of up to three months, or six months where he has held the card for at least two years. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-05-27[4][7] Reg. 16(2) allows a holder who has used long-term mobility to cumulate periods of residence in different Member States toward EU long-term resident status, provided he has the years of legal and continuous residence required by reg. 4(1) of S.L. 217.05 and two years of legal and continuous residence as an EU Blue Card holder in Malta immediately before the application. The Identita FAQ states that time worked in Malta on a Blue Card counts toward the five-year EU long-term residence requirement. |
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Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2023-12-22[7] Reg. 4(1)(a): a valid work contract or a binding job offer for highly qualified employment for a period of at least six months in Malta. |
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| Salary threshold |
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| Labour-market test | Yes as of 2026-04-08[1][5][7] Reg. 6(1)(e): an application shall be rejected where the competent authority, after evaluating the labour market situation in a case of high unemployment, concludes that the vacancy may be filled from the national or Union workforce, from third-country nationals lawfully resident in Malta and already part of its labour market, or by EU long-term residents. Blue Card applicants are exempt from the three-week Jobsplus and EURES advertisement and must instead advertise for a minimum of two weeks within the two months before application on an appropriate local media platform. |
| Qualification requirement | degree, equivalent experience, regulated profession as of 2026-08-07[2][7] |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2026-04-08[1][7] Reg. 9(1): an application for an EU Blue Card shall be submitted by the employer. |
| Job-search route | No as of 2023-12-22[7] |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-04-08[1][7] Reg. 9(2): the application is considered and examined when the third-country national is residing outside Malta, or when already residing in Malta as the holder of a valid residence permit or long-stay visa. Reg. 9(3) permits, by derogation, an application by the employer for a person who holds neither but is legally present in Malta. Identita states Blue Card applications can only be submitted online, through the single permit platform. Since 1 August 2025 the Labour Migration Policy states that applications from third-country nationals present in Malta on visas not allowing work will be rejected. |
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| Statutory processing time | 90 days as of 2023-12-22[7] Reg. 10(1): the decision is adopted and notified as soon as possible but not later than ninety days after submission of the complete application; reg. 10(2) suspends the clock while additional documents are outstanding. |
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| Quota |
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Physical presence
| maximum consecutive absence | 12 months · to qualify for permanent residence as of 2023-12-22[7] Reg. 16(3): in calculating legal and continuous residence in the European Union, periods of absence from Malta do not interrupt the duration if they are shorter than twelve consecutive months and do not exceed eighteen months in total within that duration. Reg. 16(4) extends the permitted absence from the territory of the Union to twenty-four consecutive months for a former Blue Card holder with EU long-term resident status. |
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| maximum total absence | 18 months · to qualify for permanent residence as of 2023-12-22[7] Reg. 16(3), the aggregate limb: absences may not exceed eighteen months in total within the qualifying duration. |
| registration only | to keep the permit as of 2023-12-22[7] Reg. 4(5): the applicant must provide an address in Malta; a temporary address is accepted, with the permanent address given at the latest when the card is issued. No day count or absence limit applies to the card itself. |
Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2023-12-22[7] Reg. 15 applies the Family Reunification Regulations (S.L. 217.06) with derogations. Reg. 15(2): reunification is not made dependent on the holder having reasonable prospects of obtaining permanent residence, holding a permit valid for a year or more, or having a minimum period of residence – so the S.L. 217.06 conditions that block most work-permit sponsors do not apply here. |
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| Family may apply at the same time | Yes as of 2023-12-22[7] Reg. 15(4): where complete applications are submitted simultaneously, the decisions on the family members are adopted and notified at the same time as the Blue Card decision; where family members join later the decision is taken not later than ninety days after the complete application. Both together and later are permitted. |
| Family members' work rights | full as of 2023-12-22[7] Reg. 15(6): no time limit may be applied in respect of access to the labour market for family members. Reg. 15(7): family members have access to any employment and to self-employed activity. |
Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 7 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 7 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2023-12-22 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-07 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-11 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] EU Blue Card
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-04-08 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [2] Checklist – New Application for Blue Card Worker
Identita · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [3] Non-EU Nationals – Employment Related Permits
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [4] Frequently Asked Questions – Expatriates – Non-EU Employment
Identita · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-05-27 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [5] Second phase of Malta's Labour Migration Policy
Identita · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-10-01 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [6] Malta Labour Migration Policy (July 2025)
Government of Malta · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-07-01 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [7] Conditions of the Entry and Residence of Third-Country Nationals for the Purpose of Highly Qualified Employment Regulations (S.L. 217.27), consolidated text
Legislation Unit, Office of the State Advocate (Legislation Malta) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2023-12-22 · Accessed 2026-08-07