Residency Malta Agency Issues Statistics on Maltese Residence Programmes
Residency Malta Agency – the Maltese agency entrusted with governing various residence programs in Malta, has provided statistics on its residence programs in a recent article on Investment Migration Insider.
The scheme was introduced in 2016, as the Malta Residence and Visa Programme, and subsequently re-launched and rebranded in 2021 as the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP). To date, a total of 2273 main applicants have been approved, along with 5303 of their family members. Interestingly, 87% of approved applicants have been Chinese.
The majority of approvals occurred in 2020, with 989 main applicants being approved, thus making the Maltese Residence Programme the second-biggest EU golden visa in that year. 10% of all applications submitted were rejected, whereas 3% of applicants withdrew their applications following questions raised by the Agency during the due diligence process.
Residency Malta Agency is now preparing to launch a new programme for third-country nationals looking to start a business in Malta and reside here on a more permanent basis. The Startup Residence Programme will aim to “attract entrepreneurs wishing to use Malta as a base to launch their new business and reach new markets […] This new permit will be another step in the direction of enticing third-country entrepreneurs to consider Malta and strengthen the country’s innovative industries. This comes after the successful launch of the Nomad Residence Permit Programme, in June 2020.
