Question about not losing residency

The way things work over here I doubt anyone official would notice, or care!

If a lot of your traveling is in Europe then it could be that no one would notice as there are no proper checks as you enter other countries (Schengen).

Ray

This is not entirely correct, Ray.  I myself experienced some difficulty re entering Malta from the UK where they are increasingly vigilant.  I think it very much depends on where "abroad" in this case actually is.

Ozchook wrote:

This is not entirely correct, Ray.  I myself experienced some difficulty re entering Malta from the UK where they are increasingly vigilant.  I think it very much depends on where "abroad" in this case actually is.

Couple of things, I was not stating 'facts' when I said they (Maltese) would care or bother about how long you were in or out of Malta, but an opinion based on experience of Maltese officialdom, nor did I or the original poster mention difficulty in entering the country but the length of time spent in Malta!

Also I specifically said 'Schengen' with regard to checks, the UK is not in the Schengen agreement area and so naturally the checks are more stringent.

The OP was an EU citizen and can travel freely in Europe whereas I believe you are a TCN (Australia?) and so further restrictions would apply in your case.

Ray

This is quite true, of course.  Conditions for non EU persons much more stringent.   My re entry also involved length of time spent in Malta.  But I do think that the amount of vigilance concerning the length of time spent in Malta and out of Malta is very dependent on the Shengen country in question .... hence where "abroad" is, is probably pertinent.    Getting in and out of the country usually involves airports and airport authorities which do vary enormously according to the Shengen country involved and don't always involve Maltese officials.  It is usually at the point of entry that one would be questioned don't you think?
I would be enquiring from the Immigration Dept. before taking it all for granted really.  You may of course get different answers and sort of doubt you would get anything in writing really!

will it be 7 continuous months abroad?

Thanks for the replies, that's quite the weight of my shoulders

I'm indeed a Schengen national and I only spent about 1 month outside Schengen with no plans to spend any more time there for the year. The plan as is would be to be absent from the country for about 5 continuous months and a couple 1, 2 or 3 week trips.

As for the contacting the immigration dept, that seems like bad advice here. If Maltese authorities have rules they don't care to enforce it's best to let sleeping dogs lie because they won't tell you you can break the rules and you just put yourself on their radar.