If you arrive in Gozo on a three-month tourist visa and plan to stay on as a temporary resident you will need to apply to extend your visa. It is a simple process which is fully explained in this article.

As explained in the article about temporary residence, it is possible and frequently advisable to live in Gozo as long as you wish as a temporary resident. To do so, you simply enter the country as a tourist (your passport is stamped for three months) and then when you are nearing the end of the three-month period you apply for a visa extension.

To apply for a visa extension you and your family will need your passports, two passport-sized photographs for you and each member of your family, your marriage certificate if applicable, and if you have children enrolled in local schools their school-related documents.

Go to the Gozo Police Administrative Office located on Triq Gianni Vassallo (Gianni Vassalo Street) in Victoria and go to the Immigration window. Explain that you are applying to extend your visa and they will give you an application form to fill out. The form requests details such as where you are living now, your reason for wishing to stay, information about your local bank account if you have one, and the source of the income you will be living on. The form requests the length of extension you are applying for, which may be from three to twelve months. You can request twelve months but the first time around you will probably be granted three months or six months.

The police officer who takes your application will also make photocopies of your documents and then he or she will fill out a sheet of paper acknowledging your application for extension, which acknowledgement is to be kept with your passport. You will be given a date to return to the Administrative Office for the results of your application. There is no fee for the application.

Extensions may be granted an unlimited number of times.

If you have adequate overseas income to support yourself in Gozo a visa extension will almost certainly be granted. If for some reason you are denied an extension, you simply make a day trip to Sicily (about Lm30 per person on the ferry) and you will be granted another three-month stamp on your passport when you return to Malta at the end of the day.