Public services and online portals

Key authorities

• Identità (identity agency, formerly Identity Malta): residence card for Europeans (eResidence card, via the Expatriates Unit), e-ID account, civil status (Public Registry), visas. Sheet MT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001.
• Department of Social Security (social security): social security number, benefits, Maltese pensions. Sheet MT-NIF-TOUS-001.
• Jobsplus (public employment service): Engagement Form that declares every hire and every start of self-employed activity; work authorisations for non-EU nationals.
• MTCA (Malta Tax and Customs Administration, tax and customs authority, formerly Commissioner for Revenue): tax number, income tax, VAT, duties on property purchases, customs. Phone number 153 for individuals, 144 for businesses. Sheets MT-IMPOTS-TOUS-001 and 002.
• Entitlement Unit (healthcare entitlement service, Ministry of Health): registration of the S1 form and Certificate of Entitlement. Sheet MT-SANTE-TOUS-001.
• Malta Business Registry (MBR, company registry) and Business First (Malta Enterprise's business one-stop shop, number 144): setting up a business. Sheets MT-ENTREPRISE-TOUS-001 and 002.
• Servizz.gov: single entry point for government procedures, in person (offices throughout Malta and in Victoria, on Gozo), by phone (153, or +356 2125 5153 from abroad), by email (servizz@gov.mt) or online. A specialised office, Servizz.gov EDU in Floriana, brings together the education-related services.
• Transport Malta (transport, driving licences, vehicle registration) and the Kunsilli Lokali (local councils, the equivalent of town halls): to be contacted as needed; their procedures have not been detailed here.

Online services

1. Get your residence card from Identità: its number (which ends with the letter "A" for foreigners holding a residence permit) serves as your login.
2. Ask for your e-ID account by ticking the box provided on the card's ID10 or ID10a form. Anyone who has a Maltese identity card or a valid residence card can ask for it. An activation link arrives by email: within three working days according to the Identità FAQ, within six according to the "e-ID Virtual Account" page (the two pages do not say the same thing, so count six days to be safe). Rechecked live on 24/10/2026, by reading both pages directly (unlike mtca.gov.mt, identita.gov.mt did not block the reading): the discrepancy still exists today. The FAQ (identita.gov.mt/identity-cards-unit/faqs/) says word for word "within 3 working days if the applicant subscribes for an e-ID account in his/her ID Card application" (and 1 working day for a separate application by email); the "e-ID Virtual Account" page says "This link is provided within six working days" for the same situation. Neither page refers to the other or points out the disagreement: the cautious choice of this book (counting six days) is still the right one.
3. Turn on two-factor authentication (code by email, by SMS or authenticator app) in your account settings on eid.gov.mt.
4. Log in on government sites with the Login with e-ID button (card number and password). The password has to be changed every year.
5. For sensitive procedures (financial services, calls for tenders), the card itself contains certificates; you then need a card reader and the PIN codes received by post.

What you can do online, according to the pages consulted: residence card application (Identità's Expatriates Portal, before the biometric appointment), social security number application, tax return on myTax, MTCA forms (reduction of advance payments, registration of expatriates), VAT registration, Servizz.gov forms, company creation on the MBR's online portal (you can log in with the e-ID).

What requires you to go in person: the biometric appointment for the residence card at Identità, handing over certain originals, collecting the e-ID card (at the Identità office after six working days, or at a Servizz.gov office within ten days).

Recommended order of procedures

1. Residence card (Identità) if you are staying more than three months.
2. Social security number (through your employer via Jobsplus, or by yourself).
3. e-ID account (with the card).
4. Tax number (automatic for an EU citizen who has a social security number; otherwise MTCA form).
5. Healthcare entitlement (contributions or S1 with the Entitlement Unit).
6. Depending on your situation: registration as self-employed, VAT, children's school.

Common pitfalls

• Looking for the "Commissioner for Revenue". The tax authority is now called the MTCA; the old name (and the old site cfr.gov.mt) is still around.
• Confusing Identity Malta and Identità. It is the same agency, renamed.
• Waiting too long for the e-ID. Without an e-ID account, many procedures have to be done at the counter. Tick the e-ID box as soon as you apply for your card.
• Forgetting to update your email and phone number in your e-ID account: that is how codes and resets are delivered.
• Gozo: the same authorities apply; Servizz.gov has an office in Victoria, the MTCA has an office in Gozo, and the island has its own network of schools (Gozo College) and its general hospital.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens: procedures as described above.
• Swiss nationals: Identità handles them with Europeans: same portal and same residence forms ("Swiss National" box), but their document is called a residence permit, to be applied for as soon as you stay beyond three months (Identità form A, version 3 of 08/06/2025; sheet MT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). Once you have the residence card, the e-ID account follows the same rule.
• British nationals (Scots included): Identità's Expatriates Unit has a dedicated section for them (Withdrawal Agreement for those settled before 2021, residence permit otherwise). Their registration as a worker goes through Jobsplus, with a work authorisation if they do not fall under the Withdrawal Agreement.