Malta citizenship by investment 2026: the route closed, what replaced it, and what is still open

Malta's investor-citizenship route is closed. It was closed by primary legislation, on a date, by a named instrument: the Maltese Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act XXI of 2025), published in the Government Gazette of Malta No. 21,474 of 24 July 2025, assented by President Myriam Spiteri Debono on 24 July 2025 after passing the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 369 of 23 July 2025. It amends Cap. 188, the Maltese Citizenship Act. Its entry-into-force date is recorded on the official ELI record as 2025-07-24.

For a principal or adviser who has been working from a 2024 file, or from a brochure, this is the whole of the matter: there is nothing left to apply to. What follows sets out what the Act deleted, what it substituted, what it preserved, what the 2020 subsidiary legislation now is, and which Maltese investor route remains open — and that route is residence, not citizenship.

What Act XXI of 2025 actually did

The Act does three things that matter to an investment-migration decision, and one that matters to anyone already in the system.

It deleted the programme's legal definition. Article 2 of Act XXI of 2025 provides, in full: "In article 2 of the principal Act the definition 'individual investor programme' shall be deleted." There is no transitional definition, no renamed successor, no savings clause preserving the concept under another name. A term that had been in the interpretation section of Cap. 188 was removed from it.

It rewrote the grant power as a merit power. Article 5 of the Act substitutes a new article 10(9) into Cap. 188. The substituted provision reads:

"Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act or any other Act, the Minister may grant a certificate of naturalisation as a citizen of Malta by merit to an alien or stateless person, namely to a person who renders exceptional services or who makes an exceptional contribution, including through job creation, to the Republic of Malta or to humanity, or whose naturalisation is of exceptional interest to the Republic of Malta: Provided that for the purposes of this sub-article, 'exceptional' means manifestly superior or adding value, and 'exceptional services' and 'exceptional contributions' shall refer to services rendered and contributions made by scientists, researchers, athletes, sports persons, artists, cultural performers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and technologists, amongst other persons of interest to the Republic of Malta from time to time, or to humanity and 'exceptional interest' shall refer to any person who shall be deemed by the Minister to possess the necessary skills, profile, qualities, talents and expertise that are considered to significantly advance or benefit the national interest of the Republic of Malta."

Two features of that text should be read slowly. First, the verb is "may grant": this is a discretionary power in the Minister, not an entitlement that arises on satisfaction of criteria. Second, the qualifying categories are categories of person and activity — scientists, researchers, athletes, sports persons, artists, cultural performers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and technologists. Investment is not among them. Job creation appears, but as an example of an exceptional contribution, not as a payment.

It swept the procedure clean. Article 8 of the Act amends article 25 of Cap. 188, which governs the naturalisation procedure. At (a)(i) it substitutes the words "for exceptional services and the individual investor programme" with the words "in accordance with article 10(9)", and the same substitution is made at (b), (c) and (d). Every procedural reference in that article to the exceptional-services and investor routes now points at the single merit limb.

Aġenzija Komunità Malta's own notice describes the same statute as one that "amends the provisions which regulate citizenship by merit" and, separately, extends the deadline for the descent link and clarifies the textual reference for adopted children. That is the agency's summary of the Act; it does not add a route.

One further point, stated because it is frequently confused in secondary writing: the pack contains no text of any judgment, and no ruling is cited here. The closure of the investor limb is established by Act XXI of 2025 itself, which is the primary source.

What citizenship by merit now requires

Merit naturalisation under article 10(9) as substituted requires that the applicant be a person who renders exceptional services, or makes an exceptional contribution — including through job creation — to Malta or to humanity, or whose naturalisation is of exceptional interest to Malta. The proviso supplies the definitions: "exceptional" means manifestly superior or adding value; "exceptional interest" means a person deemed by the Minister to hold the skills, profile, qualities, talents and expertise considered to significantly advance or benefit the national interest.

The practical consequence for a wealth principal is narrow but real. An entrepreneur or a philanthropist is among the enumerated categories, so commercial and philanthropic activity is not irrelevant. But the qualifying fact is what the person has done or is deemed to possess, assessed by the Minister, not what the person has paid. The Act contains no investment threshold in the substituted limb, no contribution schedule, no quota for merit grants, and no published processing time for merit applications. Where an official source publishes no figure, the accurate statement is that no figure is published; nothing in this article should be read as implying one.

Because the power is discretionary and the standard is qualitative, a merit application is not a compliance exercise that can be assembled to specification. It is a submission assessed against a statutory standard of "manifestly superior" or "adding value", with the Minister as the decision-maker.

What the law preserved

Pre-commencement applications. The Act carries a saving. It "shall not apply in respect of any applications for the granting of Maltese citizenship by naturalisation filed in accordance with article 10(9) of the Act, before the coming into force of this Act, subject to any regulations as may be prescribed under this Act."

That sentence is drafted by reference to article 10(9), which is the article the same Act rewrote. Read in context, it preserves applications filed before 24 July 2025 under the pre-amendment article 10(9) — the limb that carried the exceptional-services and investor routes — and it subjects them to whatever regulations may be prescribed. Two cautions follow from the drafting itself. The saving is expressed as an exclusion of the Act's application, not as a guarantee that a preserved file will be decided on its original terms; and it is expressly "subject to any regulations as may be prescribed". Anyone with a live pre-commencement file should obtain written confirmation of that file's status, the article it was lodged under, and the regulations now applied to it, rather than inferring it from the saving clause.

A complaints route for merit refusals. Article 11 of Act XXI of 2025 adds article 25A to Cap. 188:

"The Regulator may also investigate complaints received by the applicant in the prescribed form, about the application process for the granting of Maltese citizenship by naturalisation on the basis of merit, which resulted in the refusal of such application in the manner prescribed under this Act. (2) The Regulator shall present his conclusions to the Minister."

Note precisely what this is and is not. It is a complaints mechanism covering the application process for merit naturalisation where the outcome was refusal. It is triggered by a complaint in the prescribed form. The Regulator investigates and presents conclusions to the Minister. The provision gives the Regulator no stated power to substitute a decision; the stated outcome is a report of conclusions to the Minister. Anyone evaluating this route should treat it as a review-and-report step in the process, not as an appeal with a stated power to overturn.

Also note its scope: it is keyed to applications "on the basis of merit". The pack contains no equivalent complaints provision applicable to other categories.

The 2020 exceptional-services Regulations, as the amended law leaves them

The Granting of Citizenship for Exceptional Services Regulations, 2020 (Legal Notice 437 of 2020) were published in the Government Gazette of Malta No. 20,524 of 20 November 2020. They are the subsidiary legislation built to serve the limb that Act XXI of 2025 replaced. Nothing in the pack establishes that LN 437 has been repealed or that its schedules have been replaced; Aġenzija Komunità Malta's notice refers to amendments to subsidiary legislation, but the text of any such amending legal notice is not in the pack and no effect is attributed to it here. What can be said is what Act XXI of 2025 did at the level of the parent Act: it deleted the investor programme's definition and substituted a merit-only grant power, with the consequence that these regulations no longer sit under a live investor-citizenship authorisation.

They are nonetheless worth reading in full by anyone with a preserved file, because their content is what a pre-commencement applicant will be measured against. Their published requirements, each labelled as what the amended law made of it:

Ceiling. Regulation 19, "Maximum number of admissions", sets a hard quota: certificates granted "excluding dependants, shall not exceed four hundred (400) per annum, and in any case the total accumulated amount of successful applicants excluding dependants shall not exceed one thousand five hundred (1,500)". Both figures are in the regulation; the pack contains no figure for how many have been issued against the 1,500 total.

Contribution tiers. The First Schedule, paragraph 1(a), sets the applicant figure at "six hundred thousand euro (€600,000)", of which "a payment of ten thousand euro (€10,000) shall be paid to the Agency as a non-refundable deposit together with the residence application"; where the applicant is already a resident of Malta, that deposit is paid with the eligibility form. Paragraph 1(a)(i) sets a second tier: "where the application is submitted before the completion of thirty six (36) months residence: seven hundred and fifty thousand euro (€750,000)". Dependants are set at "fifty thousand euro (€50,000)" each, at paragraph 1(b).

Residence. Regulation 16(1)(a) requires, for the main applicant and dependants aged 18 and above, "proof of residence in Malta, for a period of thirty six (36) months, provided that this period may by exception be reduced to a minimum of twelve (12) months subject to an exceptional direct investment, to be effected prior the issue of the certificate of naturalisation". This is a pre-application residence period, not a post-grant condition. Two published residence figures appear in LN 437 — 36 months and an exceptional reduction to a minimum of 12 months. No 60-month figure appears anywhere in the regulations.

Property. Regulation 16(1)(b) requires "an undertaking to either purchase, an immovable residential property in Malta having a minimum value of seven hundred thousand euro (€700,000) or to take on a lease of a residential immovable property in Malta for a minimum annual rent of sixteen thousand euro (€16,000), which property shall be adequate and suitable for the applicant and his dependants, for a minimum period of five (5) years from the date of issue of the certificate of citizenship." The five-year retention runs from the date of issue of the certificate, not from purchase.

Donation. Regulation 16(1)(d) requires "an undertaking to donate, prior to the issue of the certificate of naturalisation, a minimum of ten thousand euro (€10,000) to a registered philanthropic, cultural, sport, scientific, animal welfare or artistic non governmental organisation or society, or as otherwise approved by the Agency."

Due diligence and administrative fees. Due diligence fees applicable with the eligibility application for exceptional investment applicants are set at "applicant: fifteen thousand euro (€15,000)"; "for each dependant …: ten thousand euro (€10,000)"; and "for every third party contributing financially to the application: fifteen thousand euro (€15,000)". Administrative fees are "one thousand euro (€1,000)" per applicant with all eligibility applications, and "five hundred euro (€500)" per applicant with all citizenship applications. Separately, the Second Schedule sets "a fee of five thousand euro (€5,000) exclusive of any taxes" for a prospective applicant and "one thousand euro (€1,000), exclusive of any taxes, for each dependant", payable prior to submitting an application under the regulations so that a residence permit may be issued to allow the applicant to satisfy regulation 16. That is a precondition payment attached to the residence permit stage.

The oath window. Regulation 14(2): "The applicant shall be required to complete the process and take the oath of allegiance within six (6) months from the approval in Principle by the Minister." This is an applicant-side deadline running from approval in principle; the parallel direct-investment rule is at regulation 17(2).

Post-grant scrutiny. Regulation 18, "First five years": "During the first five (5) years from the grant of the certificate of Maltese citizenship, the Agency may request the applicant to provide any information or documentation and may also subject the applicant to an interview." This is a five-year post-grant monitoring power, distinct from the five-year property retention.

Disqualification. Regulation 6(1) disqualifies a person where, among other grounds, he or any of his dependants is or was indicted before an International Criminal Court; is listed with Interpol or Europol; is an actual or potential threat to national security, public policy or public health of Malta; is implicated in terrorism, money laundering, funding of terrorism, crimes against humanity or war crimes; has been denied a visa to a country with which Malta has visa-free travel arrangements and has not subsequently obtained a visa from that same country; or is named or listed in international sanctions applying restrictive measures that the Agency is bound by law, or has opted, to follow. The screen reaches dependants as well as the applicant, which is the single most commonly underestimated feature of the regime.

The one Maltese investor route still open: the Permanent Residence Programme

The Malta Permanent Residence Programme is a residence programme. It confers permanent residence. It is not citizenship, it does not lead to a certificate of naturalisation by itself, and it should not be presented to a principal as a substitute for the closed route. It is, however, the Maltese investor route that remains open, and it is the lawful landing place for an applicant whose citizenship file no longer has a destination.

The published framework, from Residence Malta's MPRP legal framework page:

Property: "Applicants must satisfy the MPRP property requirement by either renting a qualifying residential property in Malta, including Gozo, for a minimum annual rent of €14,000, or purchasing a qualifying residential property for a minimum value of €375,000."
Retention: "The qualifying property must be retained for a minimum period of five years."
Payments: "As part of the application, applicants are required to pay a non-refundable administrative fee of €60,000 and a Government contribution of €37,000. A fee of €7,500 applies for each adult dependant, excluding the spouse."
Timing: "Applicants, supported by their Licensed Agents, are guided through a structured application process, with decisions communicated within a reasonable timeframe." No numeric decision time is published. Any week-count quoted for this programme in marketing material is the intermediary's, not the programme's.

Compared side by side without combining: the MPRP purchase threshold is €375,000 against the €700,000 figure in regulation 16(1)(b) of LN 437; the MPRP minimum annual rent is €14,000 against the €16,000 figure in the same regulation. The MPRP property retention period and the LN 437 property retention period are both five years, but they are different obligations arising under different instruments and running from different events. The MPRP contains no published quota equivalent to regulation 19's 400-per-annum and 1,500-total ceilings.

What to verify before you commit

Pull the primary documents yourself, and put the questions to the authority in writing.

The Act. Obtain the Act XXI of 2025 gazette PDF from legislation.mt and read article 2, article 5 (the substituted article 10(9)), article 8 (the article 25 substitutions) and article 11 (the new article 25A) against any summary you have been given. Confirm the entry-into-force date on the face of the record: 24 July 2025.
Your file, if you have one. Ask the Agency in writing to state the date your application was lodged, the article of Cap. 188 it was lodged under, whether it falls within the saving in the 2025 Act, and which regulations are now applied to it. Do not accept an oral characterisation of "still in process".
The subsidiary legislation. Ask whether Legal Notice 437 of 2020 has been amended or replaced since its publication on 20 November 2020, and if so, obtain the amending legal notice number and its gazette date, together with the current text of the First and Second Schedules.
Money already paid. Ask the Agency to state in writing which payments already made are refundable and which are not. The only refund characterisations in the pack are the €10,000 deposit under LN 437, described there as non-refundable, and the MPRP administrative fee of €60,000, described there as non-refundable. No other refund rule should be assumed.
Quota position. Ask the Agency how many certificates have been issued against regulation 19's 1,500 accumulated total. No allocation figure is asserted in this article because none was confirmed against a first-party source.
Continuing obligations on a preserved file. If your application is preserved, confirm in writing which of the regulation 16 undertakings still bind you — the 36-month residence period or the exceptional reduction to a minimum of 12 months, the property purchase or lease undertaking and its five-year run from the date of issue of the certificate, and the €10,000 donation — and note that regulation 18's five-year information and interview power runs from the grant.
The dependant screen. Check every adult dependant, not only the principal, against the regulation 6(1) grounds, including prior visa refusals by a country with which Malta has visa-free travel arrangements. This is the ground most often missed, and it reaches dependants by the express terms of the regulation.
If you pivot to residence. Obtain the current MPRP requirements directly from Residence Malta, confirm the €14,000 rent or €375,000 purchase thresholds and the five-year retention, and note that no decision time is published — so treat any timetable given to you as an estimate originating with whoever gave it.

The position since 24 July 2025 is not ambiguous. The definition is gone, the grant power is merit-only, and investment is not among the categories that qualify. What remains for a wealth principal is a residence route with published thresholds, or a merit application judged against a statutory standard that no payment can satisfy.