Stay for the purpose of job-searching or entrepreneurship
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Stay for the purpose of job-searching or entrepreneurship as of 2025-08-18[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) | Stay for the purpose of job-searching or entrepreneurship as of 2025-08-18[2][4] The marginal note to reg. 22 of S.L. 217.22 and the title of Identita form N.03. Identita's FAQ calls it informally the 'job-search permit'. |
| Legal basis | Conditions of Entry and Residence of Third-Country Nationals for the Purposes of Research, Studies, Training and Voluntary Service in the Mobility Project for Young People: Voluntary Projects Regulations (S.L. 217.22) reg. 22; L.N. 212 of 2018 as amended by Act XXIX of 2019, in force 6 July 2018. as of 2025-08-18[2][4] |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2021-01-01[4] Reg. 22(2): the stay is on the basis of a residence permit issued under that sub-regulation. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2021-01-01[4] |
|---|---|
| Minimum age | Not established from a qualifying source Not stated. |
| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source Not stated in reg. 22 or on form N.03. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | 9 months as of 2026-08-07[1][4] Reg. 22(1): the possibility to stay for a period of at least nine months in order to seek employment or set up a business. Identita states the permit allows a stay of up to nine months after graduation and cannot be renewed or extended beyond that period. |
|---|---|
| How the initial term is set | fixed |
| Renewable | No as of 2026-08-07[1] Identita states the permit can only be granted once and cannot be renewed or extended beyond the nine-month period. |
| Maximum total duration | 9 months as of 2026-08-07[1][4] |
| Work rights | none as of 2026-08-07[1] Identita states that the nine-month permit allows the holder to stay in Malta to seek employment but is not itself a work permit. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | No as of 2021-03-11[3] |
|---|
Requirements
| Job offer required | No as of 2026-08-07[1][4] The route exists precisely to allow a stay without a job offer. Reg. 22(3) requires instead confirmation from the research organisation that the research activity is complete or, for students, evidence of having obtained a higher qualification; reg. 22(7) allows a stay to produce that evidence within a reasonable time where the diploma is not yet available. |
|---|---|
| Labour-market test | No as of 2021-01-01[4] |
| Qualification requirement | degree as of 2026-08-07[1][4] Reg. 22(1) allows the authorities responsible for education and employment to set a minimum level of qualification, which shall not be higher than level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework. Identita states the applicant must have successfully completed a course of study in Malta at MQF Level 5 or higher and have held a student residence permit at the time of completion. |
| Employer sponsorship | No as of 2021-01-01[4] |
| Own means requirement | 0.60 × national equivalised income threshold per year as of 2025-08-18[2][4] |
| Job-search route | Yes as of 2026-08-07[1][4] |
Process
| Where to apply from | in-country only as of 2026-08-07[1][4] The route is only open to a person who has completed research or studies in Malta and, per Identita, held a student residence permit at the time of completion. Reg. 22(6) requires the application to be submitted at least thirty days before the expiry of the authorisation issued under regs. 15 and 23. |
|---|---|
| Statutory processing time | 90 days as of 2021-01-01[4] Reg. 31(1) applies to authorisations and renewals under the regulations: a decision as soon as possible and in any event not later than ninety days from submission of the complete application, reduced to sixty days where the admission procedure relates to an approved host entity under regs. 9 and 14. |
Physical presence
| periodic reporting | 3 months · to keep the permit as of 2021-01-01[4] Reg. 22(8): after a minimum of three months from the issuance of the residence permit under reg. 22, the Chief Executive Officer shall require the third-country national to prove that he has a genuine chance of being engaged or of launching a business. |
|---|
Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Not established from a qualifying source Reg. 22 says nothing about family members, and reg. 23 provides for the family members of researchers only. No Identita page addresses whether a holder of the post-study permit may be joined by dependants. |
|---|
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
- A 30-minute call with our consultant, who reads your profile first.
- An offer for legal support built around your case, covering the whole process.
Verification
| Sources cited | 4 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 4 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2021-01-01 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-07 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-11 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Frequently Asked Questions – Expatriates – Study
Identita · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [2] Form N.03 – Stay for the purpose of job-searching or entrepreneurship (version 1.2)
Identita · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-08-18 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [3] Status of Long-term Residents (Third Country Nationals) Regulations (S.L. 217.05), consolidated text
Legislation Unit, Office of the State Advocate (Legislation Malta) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2021-03-11 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [4] Conditions of Entry and Residence of Third-Country Nationals for the Purposes of Research, Studies, Training and Voluntary Service in the Mobility Project for Young People: Voluntary Projects Regulations (S.L. 217.22), consolidated text
Legislation Unit, Office of the State Advocate (Legislation Malta) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2021-01-01 · Accessed 2026-08-07