Seasonal Worker Permit
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Seasonal Worker Permit as of 2025-07-24[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. |
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| Official name (English) | Seasonal Worker Permit as of 2025-07-24[2][4] For stays exceeding ninety days the instrument is a seasonal worker permit issued with a long-stay visa; for stays not exceeding ninety days it is a short-stay visa together with an employment licence indicating that it is issued for the purpose of seasonal work, or the employment licence alone for visa-exempt nationals (reg. 11). The regulations use the umbrella term 'authorisation for the purpose of seasonal work'. |
| Legal basis | Conditions of Entry and Stay of Third Country Nationals for the purpose of Employment as Seasonal Workers Regulations (S.L. 217.20), made under the Immigration Act (Cap. 217); L.N. 21 of 2017 as amended by L.N. 59 of 2024, in force 17 January 2017. Reg. 1(2) transposes Council Directive 2014/36/EU. as of 2025-07-24[2][4] |
| Instrument type | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2024-03-08[4] |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2025-07-24[2][4] |
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| Minimum age | Not established from a qualifying source Not stated in S.L. 217.20 or on the Identita pages. |
| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source No criminal-record document is required. Reg. 5(5): third-country nationals considered to pose a threat to public policy, public security or public health shall not be admitted. Reg. 5(3) requires the authority, in consultation with the Principal Immigration Officer, to verify that the applicant does not present a risk of illegal immigration and intends to leave Malta at the latest on the expiry of the authorisation. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | Not established from a qualifying source No fixed initial term is stated. The governing limit is the reg. 13 maximum period of stay rather than a stated permit length; the authorisation follows the contract. |
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| How the initial term is set | matches the contract |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2024-03-08[4] Reg. 14(1): seasonal workers are allowed one extension of their stay in relation to their contract with the same employer, and reg. 14(2) allows the authorities to permit more than one within the reg. 13 maximum. Reg. 14(3): the authorities shall allow one extension to be employed with a different employer, and reg. 14(4) allows more than one within the same maximum. Reg. 15 provides for facilitated re-entry for workers admitted at least once in the previous five years who fully respected the conditions. |
| Maximum total duration | 9 months as of 2025-07-24[3][4] Reg. 13: the maximum period of stay for seasonal workers shall be not more than nine months in any twelve-month period, after which the third-country national shall leave Malta unless a residence permit has been issued for purposes other than seasonal work. |
| Work rights | own activity only as of 2024-03-08[4] Reg. 19: the right to enter and stay in Malta, free access to the entire territory, and the right to exercise the concrete employment activity authorised under the regulations. Reg. 20(1) gives equal treatment with Maltese nationals on terms of employment and working conditions, the right to strike and freedom of association, back payments of outstanding remuneration, social security under Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 with family and unemployment benefits excluded, access to goods and services except housing, and recognition of qualifications. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source S.L. 217.20 contains no provision on counting seasonal work toward EU long-term resident status, and no Identita page read states one either way. Note that the reg. 13 nine-month ceiling in any twelve-month period makes five years of continuous residence unattainable on this route alone. |
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Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2025-07-24[3][4] |
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| Salary threshold |
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| Labour-market test | Yes as of 2025-07-24[3][4] Reg. 7(3)(a): before deciding, the authority shall consult the authorities responsible for employment to verify whether the vacancy may be filled by Maltese nationals, citizens of other Member States, or third-country nationals lawfully resident in Malta; reg. 7(3)(b) requires refusal if it could be so filled. Reg. 14(6)(a) applies the same test on extension or renewal. Reg. 7(5)(b) allows refusal where in the preceding twelve months the employer abolished a full-time position in order to create the vacancy. |
| Qualification requirement | none as of 2024-03-08[4] Reg. 4(5): documentation attesting fulfilment of the conditions for a profession may be required only where the contract or binding job offer specifies a regulated profession. No general qualification requirement applies. |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2024-03-08[4] Reg. 12: the application is submitted by the third-country national and endorsed by the employer. Reg. 16(1) makes a non-compliant employer guilty of an offence liable to a fine not exceeding EUR 5,000, and reg. 16(2) makes the employer liable to compensate the worker where the authorisation is withdrawn on employer-fault grounds. |
| Job-search route | No as of 2024-03-08[4] |
Process
| Where to apply from | from abroad only as of 2024-03-08[4] Reg. 3(1) applies the regulations to third-country nationals residing outside Malta and reg. 3(2)(a) excludes those who at the time of application reside in Malta, except for the extension and renewal cases in reg. 14. Reg. 14(5) requires the authorities to accept an application for extension or renewal submitted while the seasonal worker is in Malta. Reg. 12: the application is submitted in a single application procedure by the third-country national and endorsed by the employer. |
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| Statutory processing time | 90 days as of 2024-03-08[4] Reg. 17(1): the decision is notified in writing as soon as possible but not later than ninety days from submission of the complete application; reg. 17(3) suspends the clock pending additional information. |
| Fees |
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| Quota |
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Physical presence
| maximum total absence | 9 months · to keep the permit as of 2024-03-08[4] |
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| registration only | to keep the permit as of 2024-03-08[4] Reg. 18(1): any change of accommodation shall be reported. Reg. 4(2)(c) and reg. 18 require evidence of adequate accommodation; where it is arranged by or through the employer the rent shall not be excessive compared with the worker's net remuneration and the quality of the accommodation, and shall not be automatically deducted from his wage. |
Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | No as of 2024-03-08[4] |
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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.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 4 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 4 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2024-03-08 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-07 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-11 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Non-EU Nationals – Employment Related Permits
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [2] Seasonal Workers
Identita · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Published 2025-07-24 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [3] Seasonal Workers – Conditions
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-07-24 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [4] Conditions of Entry and Stay of Third Country Nationals for the purpose of Employment as Seasonal Workers Regulations (S.L. 217.20), consolidated text
Legislation Unit, Office of the State Advocate (Legislation Malta) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2024-03-08 · Accessed 2026-08-07