Key Employee Initiative
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Key Employee Initiative as of 2026-08-07[2][4] 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. |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | Key Employee Initiative as of 2026-08-07[2][4] Identita uses 'Key Employee Initiative' in the page title and breadcrumb and 'Key Employment Initiative (KEI)' in the body text of the same landing page. |
| Legal basis | Not established from a qualifying source No instrument or regulation number is cited on any Identita Key Employee Initiative page. Identita describes it as a fast track to the single permit procedure whose administrative process follows that of the regular single permit, so S.L. 217.17 governs the procedure; but no legal notice or subsidiary legislation establishing the initiative or its EUR 45,000 threshold was located. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-07[4] Approved applicants are issued with a residence permit, initially for one year. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-07[2][8] |
|---|---|
| Minimum age | Not established from a qualifying source Not stated on any Identita Key Employee Initiative page. |
| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source No explicit clean-record criterion is stated. Identita states only that the process includes the due diligence process of the regular single permit. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | 1 year as of 2026-08-07[4] The residence permit is valid for one year in its initial year. |
|---|---|
| How the initial term is set | fixed |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-07[4] Renewal is conditional on the employee presenting a valid definite or indefinite contract and the original annual tax declaration form stamped by the Inland Revenue Department. |
| Renewal duration | 3 years as of 2026-08-07[4][7] |
| Maximum total duration | Not established from a qualifying source Not stated; only the up-to-three-years renewal length is published. |
| Work rights | own activity only as of 2026-08-07[2][8] The permit is a single permit and carries single-permit work rights: the specific employment activity authorised under the permit, with the identified employer. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source Not stated on any Identita Key Employee Initiative page. |
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Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2026-08-07[4] A job offer in Malta for a managerial or highly technical position requiring the relevant qualifications or adequate experience. The initiative is also extended to innovators involved in start-up projects specifically endorsed by Malta Enterprise. |
|---|---|
| Salary threshold | |
| Labour-market test | Yes as of 2026-08-07[4][5] Applicants eligible under the Key Employee Initiative must submit proof of one job advertisement published for a minimum of two weeks within the two months before application on an appropriate local media platform – a reduced requirement compared with the three-week Jobsplus and EURES advertisement required of ordinary single permit applicants. |
| Qualification requirement | degree, equivalent experience, regulated profession as of 2026-08-07[3][4] Certified copies of the relevant qualifications, warrants or proof of work experience, with academic qualifications certified and recognised by MQRIC. Where the applicant is not suitably qualified for the post, at least three years of experience relating to the job are required, evidenced by reference letters showing start and end dates and details of the work. No specific Malta Qualifications Framework level is published for this route. |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2026-08-07[4][8] The initiative runs on the single permit procedure, under which the employer submits. |
| Job-search route | No as of 2026-08-07[2] |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-08-07[2][8] No route-specific rule is published; the initiative runs under the single permit procedure, whose reg. 8(1) permits application from a third country, from Malta, or from another Member State where the applicant is legally present. Identita publishes separate KEI checklists for New Application and Still Abroad. |
|---|---|
| Statutory processing time | 4 months as of 2015-02-12[8] The four-month limit in reg. 12 of S.L. 217.17 applies, the initiative being a fast track within that procedure. |
| Observed processing time | 5 to 5 days as of 2026-08-07[2] |
| Fees | |
| Quota |
|
Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2025-04-04[1] Family reunification runs through S.L. 217.06 or the Family Members Policy. The policy contains a KEI-specific waiver of the normal one-year waiting period. |
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| Family may apply at the same time | No as of 2025-04-04[1] Under the Family Members Policy the sponsor must normally wait twelve calendar months from the issuance of his initial residence permit; for a KEI sponsor Identita will consider waiving that period provided the sponsor has at least an Approval in Principle letter for his own residence permit. |
| Family members' work rights | authorisation required as of 2025-04-04[1] Residence permits issued to family members under the policy do not grant automatic access to the labour market; the family member must apply for a single permit to take up employment. |
| Additional means per family member |
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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.
Profile benefits
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Verification
| Sources cited | 8 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 8 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2015-02-12 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-07 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-11 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Policy on family members of third-country nationals who do not qualify for family reunification by means of the Family Reunification Regulations S.L. 217.06 (version 5.3)
Identita · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-04-04 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [2] Key Employee Initiative
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [3] Checklist – New Application for Single Permit (KEI)
Identita · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [4] Key Employee Initiative – Who is eligible
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · 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] Non-EU Nationals (TCNs) – employing third-country nationals
Jobsplus · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [7] Malta Labour Migration Policy (July 2025)
Government of Malta · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-07-01 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [8] Single Application Procedure for a Single Permit as regards Residence and Work and a Common Set of Rights for those Third-Country Workers legally residing in Malta Regulations (S.L. 217.17), consolidated text
Legislation Unit, Office of the State Advocate (Legislation Malta) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2015-02-12 · Accessed 2026-08-07