Malta to scrap golden passport scheme, widen criteria for citizenship through exceptional services

Malta will completely scrap its golden passport scheme while widening the conditions for one to obtain Maltese citizenship through exceptional services and contributions. 

The changes come after the European Court of Justice ruled that Malta’s citizenship by investment infringed EU law and amounted to “the commercialisation of the grant of nationality of a member state.”

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri explained that government will be discarding all transactional elements from Malta’s process of naturalisation. This, he noted, will address the EU Court of Justice’s concerns on Malta’s old programme. 

The legal amendments aim to strengthen the existing laws related to citizenship by merit, a concept originally introduced in 2017. The amendments enable government to grant citizenship based on merit to individuals who provide exceptional services or contributions to Malta or to humanity, including those achieved through job creation.

It was explained that the exceptional services tied to job creation must conform to Malta’s Vision 2050.

According to the proposed changes, “exceptional services or contributions” refers to those made by “scientists, researchers, athletes, sports persons, artists, cultural performers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and technologists, amongst other persons of interest…”

The process for obtaining citizenship by merit, which is already regulated by a Legal Notice that will also be amended for consistency with the new Act, begins with a request submitted to Aġenzija Komunità.

The amendments also aim to strengthen the due diligence process prior to naturalisation. An existing evaluation board then reviews the request and provides a recommendation to the Minister, who then makes the final decision.

There will be no determined amount of money that must be paid to obtain Maltese citizenship. Instead, applicants are required to submit a proposal that demonstrates the exceptional contribution or service they are currently providing or intend to provide to Malta.

Regarding the status of previous applications, any citizenship acquired under the cancelled scheme remains valid and will continue to be governed by the rules under which it was obtained, as applications that are still pending under the old system will not be processed.