You land at Malta International Airport on a warm evening, the taxi driver chats in perfect English, and the first sign you read is in two languages. Moving to Malta feels easy from the first hour, and the paperwork is easier than in most countries, if you do it in the right order.
What do you need to do before moving to Malta?
For an EU or EEA citizen, nothing is mandatory before you board. Your ID card or passport is enough for the first three months. What helps is a short list of documents you can only get cheaply at home:
- a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which covers medically necessary care during your first months;
- a form S1 from your health insurer if you are a retiree or a posted worker (see healthcare in Malta);
- a form U1 if you have paid unemployment contributions elsewhere in the EU and may need them in Malta;
- originals of the civil documents you may be asked for (birth and marriage certificates), with an English translation if they are in another language.
Anything that is neither in English nor in Maltese has to be translated officially by a translator on Identità's list, so it is often simpler to have documents translated before you leave.
What is the right order for your Malta paperwork?
Here is the sequence that works, from the first day to the first tax return.
- Book your residence registration. Once you plan to stay more than three months, apply for your eResidence card on Identità's Expatriates Portal. Identità replies within two working days with an appointment and a list of documents. Our guide to the eResidence card in Malta walks through it.
- Get your social security number. If you are starting your first job, your employer sends a Jobsplus Engagement Form and the number is issued automatically. Self-employed people file the form themselves. Details are in our article on social security and tax numbers.
- Ask for your e-ID account by ticking the box on your residence card application. It opens most government services online.
- Sort your healthcare. Contributions (if you work) or a registered S1 (if you retire or are posted) give you access to public care.
- Find a home. Leases are written, last at least a year and must be registered by the landlord. See renting in Malta.
- Open a bank account. You can keep your foreign account at first, but a local one makes life easier. See opening a bank account in Malta.
- Deal with the car. If you bring one, you have 30 days to register it; your licence is valid as long as it is valid at home. See driving in Malta.
Where do you start if your situation is not standard?
Retirees, remote workers, freelancers and families all take slightly different paths. A retiree needs the S1 and a view on pension tax, a freelancer needs a VAT registration, a family needs school places. The checklist above is the skeleton; each profile adds two or three steps. If you are not sure which ones apply to you, ask Moovy, our assistant, with your country and situation, and read the fact sheets behind the answer.
What should you plan for the first week?
The first week is about being reachable and legal, not about being settled. A realistic sequence looks like this.
On day one, keep your ID card or passport on you; it is your proof of identity everywhere. Buy a local SIM card, because Identità, banks and landlords send codes and appointment confirmations by text and email. Within the first days, send your residence application on the Expatriates Portal, since the answer with your appointment takes up to two working days and the appointment itself depends on availability.
If you start work at once, give your employer your passport or ID details so the engagement form can go to Jobsplus. The employer must declare the start of your job, and for a first job in Malta that declaration is also what triggers your social security number. You can download your employment history from the Jobsplus website later to check that it is correct.
Then deal with the practical things that Malta does differently: plugs are the British type G with a switch on the socket (switch it on, or the charger stays dead), tap water is not recommended for drinking so you will buy bottled or filtered water, and cars drive on the left.
How long does it all take?
Identità gives its first reply within two working days, but it does not publish a manufacturing time for the card, so allow several weeks between the appointment and having the card in your hand. The e-ID activation link usually arrives within six working days after you ask for the card. Your social security number arrives by post or email; the Department of Social Security publishes no deadline. Keep your home bank account and health card active until everything is in place.
What does it cost to complete the paperwork?
Very little. The residence card is free for EU and EEA citizens, the social security number carries no fee, and the tax registration for expatriates has no fee listed either. The real costs are indirect: sworn translations of foreign documents, a notary if you buy, and the car taxes if you import a vehicle. We cover each of them in the dedicated guides on driving in Malta and buying property in Malta.
What changes depending on your passport?
- EU and EEA citizens: everything above, free of charge, no permit.
- Swiss nationals: the same portal and forms, but the document is called a residence permit and you apply as soon as you pass three months. Ask Identità whether any fee applies to you.
- British nationals: if you lived in Malta by 31 December 2020, the Withdrawal Agreement protects you. If you arrive now, you are treated like other non-EU nationals and need a permit. Read moving to Malta from the UK.
What are the classic mistakes when moving to Malta?
- Applying for a work permit that you do not need. EU citizens work freely; the employer files the Jobsplus form.
- Turning up at Identità without originals. The agency keeps a copy and wants to see the original.
- Forgetting the e-ID. Without it, many procedures end at a counter.
- Choosing a flat in July without checking ventilation. Summers are hot and humid; air conditioning matters more than a sea view. Look at our daily life in Malta guide for the climate and the rhythm of the year.
- Planning an errand on a public holiday. Shops stay open, offices do not. Malta has 14 public holidays.
The Maltese state is small, and the agencies talk to each other. If you give the right number to the right counter, you rarely have to give it twice.