Community Malta Agency is responsible for administering Maltese citizenship applications. The Agency processes applications for the acquisition of Maltese citizenship by birth, by registration, by naturalisation through long term residence, by merit for exceptional services and for exceptional services by direct investment in Malta. More details about the acquisition of Maltese citizenship can be obtained from the Community Malta Agency website.

The Maltese embassies abroad have invested in a new Consul On The Move (COTM) toolkit through an investment of around €250,000 from the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade.

The COTM programme caters for Maltese communities living abroad by providing government services closer to their home, such as new applications/renewals of passports, applications for citizenship and registrations of birth/death/marriage certificates. This service is undertaken in five countries: Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

The new state-of-the-art COTM toolkit consists of a tablet which includes a camera, fingerprint reader, passport scanner, signature pad, barcode scanner and lighting. It incorporates all the 6 pieces of hardware that were previously used into one unit weighing only 4kgs, in contrast to the previous toolkit that weighed 15kgs. This improvement means that the toolkit is now more portable, easily handheld, and occupies far less space when required to be set up on a desk, facilitating the travel and set-up process for the consuls on duty.

Due to the increase in demand for these services, and upgrades in the information system available for officials carrying out such visits, the Ministry felt it necessary to change the COTM toolkit to a more practical device that optimises the programme in terms of efficiency and usability. The new toolkit is also equipped with the improved latest software updates and comes with a Wi-Fi feature. A sim card installation feature is additionally available for 3G use. This offers the functionality of remote support as well as the ability to issue passports when off-site.

The COTM programme is an essential service offered by the ministry that conforms to the government’s vision to have governmental services closer to its citizens. With this new equipment, the ministry aims to further improve the quality of service that is provided through the COTM programme, whilst increasing efficiency and simplicity in its application.

Consul on the Move Schedule

The Consular Services Office (CSO) which falls under the remit of the Directorate Consular Services and Maltese Living Abroad at the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade (MFET) is responsible for the legalisation of documents. Legalisation of documents is the process of authenticating public documents which need verification for use in another country. Official public documents that require legalisation must always contain an original signature of a person based in Malta and registered with MFET. Documents will be legalised once the signature and rubber-stamp has been matched with the original signature available at the Ministry’s database. Documents must be signed by a professional person (notaries, lawyers, accountants/auditors), Heads of Schools, Government officials, Diplomats and/or translators in order to be legalised. More information on the service can be obtained on https://consularplus.gov.mt/legalisation.

Malta Residency Programmes give the opportunity to individuals and their families to relocate to Malta or to hold residency status in Malta for various reasons.
Residency Malta Agency is responsible for managing the Malta Permanent Residence Programme, the Nomad Residence Permit Programme and Malta Start-Up Residence Programme. Further details on these Programmes can be found on the Residency Malta website.

Maltese law also provides a number of other Malta Residence Programmes open to EU and non-EU nationals which are managed by the Commissioner for Revenue (CfR). These include Malta Residence Programme, Malta Global Residence Programme, Malta Retirement Programme, the United Nations Pension Programme and the High Net Worth Individual Rules. More info can be found on the CfR website (https://cfr.gov.mt/en/inlandrevenue/itu/Pages/The-Residence-Programme.aspx).

In addition, there are the normal residence permits which are administered by Identity Malta.