Legal Notice 437 of 2020 published on the 20th of November 2020, as amended by Legal Notice 159 of 2025 states a new set of rules, including Citizenship by Merit, officially called Malta’s Granting by Naturalisation on the Basis of Merit Regulations.
These regulations allow foreign nationals and their dependents who:
(a) render an exceptional service to the Republic of Malta or to humanity; or
(b) make an exceptional contribution to the Republic of Malta or to humanity; or
(c) are of exceptional interest to the Republic of Malta.
to be granted Citizenship by Naturalisation on the Basis of Merit.
This is possible after a period of at least 8-months of residence.
Each application goes through a rigorous due diligence procedure, which includes in-depth background checks.
An individual applying for naturalisation on the basis of merit in terms of these regulations shall first submit a comprehensive proposal to the Agency by means of a letter, consisting of the following:
(a) an introduction of the applicant and, if applicable, his dependants together with a comprehensive overview of his achievements;
(b) a detailed description of the exceptional service or exceptional contribution the applicant intends to render or make for the benefit of the Republic of Malta or of humanity in accordance with the said regulations, or a detailed description of why he should be considered of exceptional interest to the Republic of Malta;
(c) a detailed plan on how the applicant intends to continue contributing to the Republic of Malta following naturalisation, should the application be successful; and
(d) any other documents the Agency may request following receipt of the proposal letter.
Once the Agency is satisfied with the completeness of the proposal letter, the Agency shall cause due diligence controls to be performed in respect of every applicant and his dependants, where applicable. Such due diligence controls shall be of a four-tier nature or more, as the Agency shall determine from time to time and may include security checks to be carried out by law enforcement authorities in accordance with the Data Protection Regulations.
The whole process should take between 12 and 18 months to complete.
As of 10th February 2000, according to the Citizenship Act of Malta, a Maltese resident may obtain and maintain foreign citizenship/s in addition to his or her Maltese citizenship. Malta does not have any restrictions on issuing passports, although your current nation of origin can prevent you from having more than one Maltese passport. In addition, there are specific steps you must take in order to obtain dual citizenship.
