Malta offers a permanent residence program which may be of particular interest to some people. If you have income of at least Lm10,000 per year you can apply for permanent residence. Learn more in this article.

For decades Malta has been interested in attracting foreigners (and their foreign income) to settle on Malta and Gozo in order to benefit the Maltese economy.

As long as these requirements are met on an ongoing basis there is no actual minimum amount of time per year that you must be physically resident in Malta to maintain permanent residency.

Permanent residence has certain benefits. For example, state health care is free to permanent residents while temporary residents must pay for any uninsured services that are provided (see the healthcare section for more information). Public school tuition is also free for children of permanent residents. For wealthy expatriates and/or nationals of countries other than the U.S.A. with residence-based tax liability permanent residence may be beneficial and this is discussed further in the taxation section.

Permanent residents may not be employed by a Maltese employer, nor can they offer freelance services within Malta. However, permanent residents may use Malta as a base from which to work for people and companies outside of Malta.

For many people temporary residence is preferable to permanent residence, and the pros and cons of both are discussed in another article.