Single Permit
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Single Permit as of 2026-08-07[6][15] 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) | Single Permit as of 2026-08-07[6][15] |
| Legal basis | 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), made under the Immigration Act (Cap. 217); L.N. 160 of 2014, in force 16 May 2014. The regulations transpose Council Directive 2011/98/EC (reg. 1(2)). as of 2026-08-07[6][15] |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-07[6][15] Identita describes it as a temporary-type permit authorising a third-country national to reside and take up employment in Malta for a defined period of over six months, renewable. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-07[6][15] |
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| Minimum age | Not established from a qualifying source No minimum age is stated in S.L. 217.17 or on any Identita single-permit page read. |
| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source No explicit clean-record condition was located. Identita states that all applications are subject to a due diligence process carried out by Identita, Jobsplus and the Police Corps and that the outcome depends on the collective result of that process; that is a vetting process, not a stated criminal-record criterion. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | Not established from a qualifying source Identita states only that the permit authorises residence and employment 'for a defined period of over 6 months which may be further renewed'. No fixed initial term is published. |
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| How the initial term is set | matches the contract |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-07[6][11] |
| Renewal duration | 1 year as of 2026-08-07[7][11] Identita states the single permit is generally renewed annually and prices the renewal fee per year. The Labour Migration Policy's implementation timetable records a January 2026 review of renewal periods setting three years for KEI, SEI, Skilled Occupation List and Blue Card applicants and two years for ISCO groups 1-4 outside those schemes. |
| Maximum total duration | Not established from a qualifying source No maximum total duration is stated in S.L. 217.17 or by Identita. |
| Work rights | own activity only as of 2026-08-07[6][15] Reg. 22 gives the holder the right to enter and reside, free access to the whole territory, and the right to exercise the specific employment activity authorised under the permit; reg. 18 removes the need for any separate work permit for that employment. Identita states the permit does not allow paid duties for anyone other than the identified employer, work unrelated to the authorised activity, or duties outside Malta, and that the permit ceases to be valid if the holder no longer holds the specific employment shown on the card. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source Neither S.L. 217.17 nor the Identita long-term residence page states whether single-permit years count toward the five years of legal and continuous residence required for EU long-term resident status under S.L. 217.05. |
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Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2026-08-07[9][15] Identita: third-country nationals who receive a job offer from a company registered and operating in Malta are eligible. Reg. 7(1) requires the application to be endorsed by the employer. |
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| Labour-market test | Yes as of 2026-08-07[4][8][15] Reg. 12 requires assessment on the basis of labour market requirements. Identita requires proof of an advertisement published with Jobsplus and on the EURES portal for a minimum of three weeks within the two months before submission for new and still-abroad applications, reduced to two weeks on an appropriate local media platform for applicants eligible under the Key Employee Initiative, the Specialist Employee Initiative, the EU Blue Card or the Skilled Occupation List. A Jobsplus Declaration of Suitability signed by the employer is also required. |
| Qualification requirement | none as of 2026-08-07[8] No qualification level is required for the ordinary single permit. Where the applicant submits qualification certificates they must carry recognition from the Malta Qualifications Recognition and Information Centre, or the MQRIC receipt pending recognition. |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2026-08-07[9][15] Identita: third-country nationals cannot submit a single permit application themselves; the prospective employer applies online on their behalf. Live-in carers may apply directly, provided the employer endorses the application. |
| Job-search route | No as of 2026-08-07[1][15] |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-08-07[6][15] Reg. 8(1): the application may be submitted from the territory of a third country, from Malta, or from a Member State in which the applicant is legally present. Since 1 August 2025 the Labour Migration Policy states that applications from third-country nationals present in Malta on visas that do not allow work, such as tourist visas, will be rejected. |
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| Statutory processing time | 4 months as of 2015-02-12[15] Reg. 12: a decision as soon as possible and in any event within four months of lodging, extendable in exceptional circumstances linked to the complexity of the examination. Reg. 16(1) suspends the clock while requested documents are outstanding. Under reg. 14 a failure to decide passes the application automatically to the Immigration Appeals Board. |
| Observed processing time | 2 to 4 months as of 2026-08-07[10][12] Identita states that S.L. 217.17 allows four months but that the average is closer to two months from submission of a complete application; Jobsplus states an application may take up to four months. |
| Fees |
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| Quota |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-07[6][15] Neither the regulations nor the Identita pages state a day count or absence limit. The operative continuity condition is employment: the permit ceases to be valid if the holder no longer holds the specific employment recorded on the residence card, and renewals may only be submitted while the current permit is still valid. |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2026-08-07[2][14] Family reunification for single-permit holders runs through the Family Reunification Regulations (S.L. 217.06) or, where the sponsor does not qualify under them, through Identita's Family Members Policy. Both are recorded as routes in their own right – see mt-family-reunification and mt-family-members-policy. |
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| Family may apply at the same time | No as of 2025-04-04[3][14] S.L. 217.06 reg. 13 requires prior lawful stay by the sponsor and the Family Members Policy requires a minimum of twelve calendar months from the issuance of the sponsor's initial residence permit, so family members are applied for after the principal, not with him. |
| Family members' work rights | authorisation required as of 2010-07-22[14] S.L. 217.06 reg. 15(b): for the first twelve months after arrival, family members' access to employment and self-employment is subject to an assessment of the labour market situation and to an employment licence. |
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 | 15 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 15 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2010-07-22 |
| 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] Family Member residence permits
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [3] 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 - [4] Second phase of Malta's Labour Migration Policy
Identita · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-10-01 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [5] Expatriates Unit – Single Permit Pre-Departure Course
Identita · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [6] Single Permit
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [7] Single Permit Application
Identita · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [8] Single Permit – Documents required
Identita · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [9] Single Permit – Who is eligible
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [10] Single Permit – Application processing period
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [11] Renewal of Single Permit
Identita · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [12] Non-EU Nationals (TCNs) – employing third-country nationals
Jobsplus · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [13] Malta Labour Migration Policy (July 2025)
Government of Malta · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-07-01 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [14] Family Reunification Regulations (S.L. 217.06), consolidated text
Legislation Unit, Office of the State Advocate (Legislation Malta) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2010-07-22 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [15] 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