EU Citizens e-residency process & Health Care info.

Slightly off topic but still health care.  Does anyone know a dentist who is good with nervous patients? I used to be dentist phobic but got over most of it. Just need an understanding one. Many thanks

Hi, new to this forum so be easy!! Only recently started searching about my options for becoming a resident in Malta.
I have done a lot of google searching and come across many different types of information, none of which seem to be conclusive. Even the government website contains little conclusive information, from what I could see.

Just before I found this forum I was going to send out emails to agents, lawyers etc to try and find conclusive answers to my questions before I can make a decision on whether Malta is a suitable place for me to gain residency. Due to the title of this thread being about the residency process and health care, I will leave out the questions I had regarding the tax benefits of being a Maltese resident, so if someone has a link to a forum about that on here, I would be grateful.

Im 31, single, no kids and an Irish and Australian citizen, currently working and resident in OZ.
My criteria when I was looking for a new place of residence is:

1. Cheap and relatively easy/fast option for approval of residency status and little to no ongoing costs or maintenance

2. Low or no tax on foreign income, possibility to work in Malta and I would think anywhere in EU also.

3. Little to no restrictions about having to stay in the country to satisfy the residency status.

I have read about ordinary residency and permanent residency. My understanding is that permanent residency is only granted when you live in Malta for more than half of every year for a continuous 5 years which means due to my above criteria that is a non runner. This leaves ordinary residency which I understand can be broken up into two suitable categories relevant to me, economic self-sufficiency and employment.



The first requires E14,000 capital to be proven and not being in any need of financial support from the government:

Does this money need to be brought into Malta or can it be held in a bank account outside the country? Would this include investments or it has to be cash in a bank account? Do you have to spend this amount in the country each year for residency to be renewed, dont see how this could be proven? I have read that ordinary residents need to live for more than half the year in Malta for their residency to be renewed but also read elsewhere that there are very little restrictions on this? I like to travel and this is important for me. What health cover would I need, is there agreements I could benefit from by being an EU citizen or an agreement between Malta and Australia? Does my relatively young age benefit me in any way?



The second option which isn't ideal for me is employment:

Get a job in Malta but be tied down exclusively to Malta and then be granted residency, Do i get residency only when I have gained employment or is it granted if I am actively seeking work?


All the above is just my thoughts from what I have researched about the subject and I dont know how conclusive it is, happy to be corrected on any of the above and any suggestions also. 

b4bmm wrote:

Hi, new to this forum so be easy!! Only recently started searching about my options for becoming a resident in Malta.
I have done a lot of google searching and come across many different types of information, none of which seem to be conclusive. Even the government website contains little conclusive information, from what I could see.
your correct there is a lot of information out there and some is incredibly out of date however the information contained in this thread isnt - i would however reccomend starting a new post just to answer all your specfic questions
Just before I found this forum I was going to send out emails to agents, lawyers etc to try and find conclusive answers to my questions before I can make a decision on whether Malta is a suitable place for me to gain residency. Due to the title of this thread being about the residency process and health care, I will leave out the questions I had regarding the tax benefits of being a Maltese resident, so if someone has a link to a forum about that on here, I would be grateful.
tax - https://ird.gov.mt/services/taxrates.aspx this is the current rates etc as you will see the real benefits come from being married or a parent

Im 31, single, no kids and an Irish and Australian citizen, currently working and resident in OZ.

I take it you have dual nationality ? are you an EU citizen by birth - this will ultimately make any option to live in Malta easier
My criteria when I was looking for a new place of residence is:

1. Cheap and relatively easy/fast option for approval of residency status and little to no ongoing costs or maintenance
no cost if your applying as an EU citizen and fairly simple to apply and residence is automatically confered on you  the paperwork is essentially for administrative purposes. Non-eu and then it gets more complicated and there is a cost involved and a lot harder to get granted residencey

2. Low or no tax on foreign income, possibility to work in Malta and I would think anywhere in EU also.
no gaurentee you wont get taxed on foreign income especially if your intending to bring that money into malta - your at least obligated to put on your tax return any such income. if you get taxed depends on amount

3. Little to no restrictions about having to stay in the country to satisfy the residency status.


I have read about ordinary residency and permanent residency. My understanding is that permanent residency is only granted when you live in Malta for more than half of every year for a continuous 5 years which means due to my above criteria that is a non runner. This leaves ordinary residency which I understand can be broken up into two suitable categories relevant to me, economic self-sufficiency and employment.



The first requires E14,000 capital to be proven and not being in any need of financial support from the government:

Does this money need to be brought into Malta or can it be held in a bank account outside the country? Would this include investments or it has to be cash in a bank account? Do you have to spend this amount in the country each year for residency to be renewed, dont see how this could be proven? I have read that ordinary residents need to live for more than half the year in Malta for their residency to be renewed but also read elsewhere that there are very little restrictions on this? I like to travel and this is important for me. What health cover would I need, is there agreements I could benefit from by being an EU citizen or an agreement between Malta and Australia? Does my relatively young age benefit me in any way?

you will need to prove income for the amount relevant to economic self sufficiency to apply for your residence card this could be bank statements, etc- the amount required depends on if your an EU citizen or not and you will need to have health insurance to cover you for when you apply.   

The second option which isn't ideal for me is employment:

Get a job in Malta but be tied down exclusively to Malta and then be granted residency, Do i get residency only when I have gained employment or is it granted if I am actively seeking work?

your entitled to residency as an eu  citizen and you have up to 6 months to find work  but you need to apply for your e-residence card after 3 months so it is possible to apply without work  it is of course easier to apply with a job and in terms of healthcare you will be able to access the public health care system


All the above is just my thoughts from what I have researched about the subject and I dont know how conclusive it is, happy to be corrected on any of the above and any suggestions also. 

essentially these are some of the responses to your questions it all depends on whether your an eu citizen or a tcn - obviously its easier to apply if your an eu citizen

you have 3 months from arrival in Malta before you need to apply for your card and if your actually intending to spend less than 6 months a year in Malta - there is not really any benefit to applying for residency unless your a non-eu citizen in which case you will need to apply for residency in order to stay .

Yes I am an EU citizen as I was born in Ireland. I have dual citizenship and two passports now.
I will start a couple new threads, under the appropriate sections to satisfy my residency and tax needs.
Thanks for your effort in responding.

We are British pensioners currently residing in South Africa and wanting to relocate to Malta. Our concern is health care and want to know if we would qualify for membership of the Malta National Health Service and what the approximate monthly cost would be. We have looked at a number of blogs and information from the British and Maltese Health Services but cannot seem to arrive at a clear answer.

Are you receiving UK state pension ?

Yes we are receiving a British state pension

In that case you can transfer your UK state healthcare benefit to Malta

- identitymalta.com/citizenships-expatriates/
please note that the website for downloading the forms is as follows

What about my situation ,I  have got    Family Members - CEA Form F  ID card    because my sister is EU citizen but I m from third countrys ,in that  case I have a right to  work legal with that card in Malta or no? Tnx

What about my situation ,I  have got    Family Members - CEA Form F  ID card    because my sister is EU citizen but I m from third countrys ,in that  case I have a right to  work legal with that card in Malta or no? Tnx

You should check your residency document!

It is difficult to answer your question without knowledge of your circumstances but :

1) You probably have a residence card and not an ID card.

2) As a TCN you should not be able to work in Malta but check with the ETC! A TCN dependent family member of an EU citizen has to be dependent . Working in Malta is the opposite of being dependent!

Cheers
Ricky

exacly I have residence card

but EU law says  family of Eu citizen   (CEA Form F Family members (including family members who are Third
Country Nationals). have the same right as EU citizen

Exactly - but strictly speaking as a sister you are not a family member of the EU citizen  ( your sister) !

You have probably received your residency as a ' dependent ' family member . THat means you depend on your sister. If you were to work you do not depend on her and need to apply for your own residency.

But check that out !

Cheers
Ricky

Family members

When an EU national is working abroad in another EU country, family members also have the right to reside and work in that country, regardless of their nationality. Children have the right to be educated there.
The right to reside

Administrative formalities:

Family members who are EU nationals
Family members who are not EU nationals

The right to work

Family members:

do not need a work permit to work, even if they are non-EU nationals.
have the right to equal treatment, including access to all social and tax advantages.

Once again slowly ..............

non-EU other family members can be granted residency if they show that they are dependent . Dependent means , apart from other things, financial dependency.

If you work against income you are not financially dependent but independent. That could mean that you made a wrong declaration when applying for residency with Form F.

AS a sister you are not a family member of your sister. You are both family members of your parents and all of you are related  -))

You will have to check if they make an exception in your case of being a citizen of Bosnia- Herc.

Cheers
Ricky

I m sister of EU citizen  and I have got that Form F (they are consider me as a family member-  for what EU lows says I have the same rights like EU citizen including work ....Now i dont know what think...

This discussion is not going anywhere !

If you know that you are allowed to work under your specific circumstances why did you ask in the first place? 

Cheers
Ricky

I am confused  because many people told me I have that all rights ,rest of them  I dont have ...I just asked for opinions...

Ok , so count me with the 'rest of them ' opinion.

Your 'problem' hinges on the term ' other family members ' and dependency - financial dependency , as I already said. There can be different interpretations of this in different EU countries so it is worthwhile contacting the department and asking!

Your real option is to find a job and to apply for a work permit on your own accord and then get your own residency.

Ricky

Just wanted to inform you that I managed to get my MALTESE RESIDENCE CARD in almost 40 days after application.
EU citizen

I m happy because of you I have got as well

I've got my card in about 30 days, same with my husband card. I guess we've got a Lucky Days promotion. 

Don't spam this thread please it's for the subject matter

Hi,
I got my card after 7 weeks wait just because I showed up there eith my ID.It was ready after 3 weeks but they did not informed me.
As for my husband third country national  they said it was not ready yet althought we applied on the same day.

hiya....couple of things...my wife and i have been over here in Malta for just over a year now..we have our Residence Documentation card which has our pboto on the front and on the back has a chip which i believe has our biometric info on ...is this different from any other.....secondly...we have our pensions paid into our english bank and once a month i phone them and transfer living expenses into our maltese bank...do i still need to register for tax as its already been paid in the uk ??

the e-residence card doesnt contain any biometric data - it is not an id card it is just a residence card

mdillyd wrote:

hiya....couple of things...my wife and i have been over here in Malta for just over a year now..we have our Residence Documentation card which has our pboto on the front and on the back has a chip which i believe has our biometric info on ...is this different from any other.....secondly...we have our pensions paid into our english bank and once a month i phone them and transfer living expenses into our maltese bank...do i still need to register for tax as its already been paid in the uk ??

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=460237

You will get dif answers to the tax issue. I haven't registered for same reason you ask about. They know from documentation  for residency you have a UK taxable pension and there is dual taxation rules

YES you do - you are legally obliged to register for tax in Malta irrespective of whether you are working or not, or are earning or not or whatever or indeed where your income is sourced and taxed.... you then deploy the DTT agreement to offset tax paid in the UK. Every tax year you are required to complete a tax return for Malta... and i assume UK too...

Residency has no links in terms of operation of the Inland Revenue.

As far as i know the chip cannot be used to hold biometric data of a non national.... whether that happens in reality of course is a different matter.

Hi, I was wondering if you could please help me. I've read a lot of this thread but I'm becoming more and more confused the more I read!!  I've just moved to Malta from England, I'm self-employed, I run an online business. I called up The Department for Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs and am filling in their form to apply for a registration certificate. Their paperwork requires me to show details of self-employment (ETC registration, National Insurance registration etc).

I looked in to becoming self-employed and was told the first thing is to obtain a Social Security Number. I started filling in their online form and as I don't have an ID card, I'm required to send them letters from ETC and so forth. I called up ETC and they told me as I'm self-employed, I don't employ any staff, I'm not looking for work/training etc, that it's nothing to do with them and that I need to go back to the Social Security Department.

I've spoken to them about 3 times and she doesn't know the answer and keeps passing me back to ETC, who keep passing me back to them  I really don't know what to do!! Can anybody please help me, I'm close to tears here!!

Thank you!!

From what I am aware if you have income abroad it is not liable to tax in Malta if you are a Maltese resident.
Once you try to bring this money into Malta/remit the funds to Malta then you are liable for tax on that money but for pensions this may be a different prospect.

I correct in saying that you can apply to become a resident and get an e-residence card before entering Malta or can it only be done when you get there and by bringing all the documentation into the offices in Malta?

Does this card expire?

b4bmm wrote:

From what I am aware if you have income abroad it is not liable to tax in Malta if you are a Maltese resident.
Once you try to bring this money into Malta/remit the funds to Malta then you are liable for tax on that money but for pensions this may be a different prospect.

I correct in saying that you can apply to become a resident and get an e-residence card before entering Malta or can it only be done when you get there and by bringing all the documentation into the offices in Malta?

Does this card expire?

you apply once you consider yourself resident (or after 3 months) therefore cannot apply before to move here. You are not applying for residency, you are informing the authorities you consider yourself a resident. As an EU citizen, you can apply by post once in Malta, no need to go in person


expire in 5 years normally (although under EU law it shouldnt expire)

Hi there,

What happens when you apply five months after the 90 day period as UK national?? I finally applied after i registered a Maltese company and started working, which took a while, but i haven't been fully residing during that time and have been traveling a bit both within the EU and outside of EU. Are there any penalties or explanations i have to make? Also, how long does it take for the application to be processed for EU nationals usually?

Thanks

MissSunshine1986 wrote:

Hi, I was wondering if you could please help me. I've read a lot of this thread but I'm becoming more and more confused the more I read!!  I've just moved to Malta from England, I'm self-employed, I run an online business. I called up The Department for Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs and am filling in their form to apply for a registration certificate. Their paperwork requires me to show details of self-employment (ETC registration, National Insurance registration etc).

I looked in to becoming self-employed and was told the first thing is to obtain a Social Security Number. I started filling in their online form and as I don't have an ID card, I'm required to send them letters from ETC and so forth. I called up ETC and they told me as I'm self-employed, I don't employ any staff, I'm not looking for work/training etc, that it's nothing to do with them and that I need to go back to the Social Security Department.

I've spoken to them about 3 times and she doesn't know the answer and keeps passing me back to ETC, who keep passing me back to them  I really don't know what to do!! Can anybody please help me, I'm close to tears here!!

Thank you!!

Hi there,

You can apply for the social security number online using your passport number no problem. Just make sure you attach the scanned copy of your contract or ETC form and your passport. It took one day for me and i got my number via email. Quite a nice system actually.

Hello all, just wondered how it would work.  I am from UK but husband is Non EU.  We were thinking to move to Malta as he has job offer and I would be stay at home mum.  But from what I gather I have to register for work to enable him to work.  Is this the case??

Hello,
Either he gets a work permit as part of the job offer, which will end as soon as he leaves the job or you get your residency first and then he can apply based on your EU nationality and residency permit number which allows him the same rights as you.

Good night

Hi Cheescake, thanks for your reply.  For me to apply for residency I read I had to exercise treaty rights by working or register self-employed.  I can't really work as 3 kids and if go self-employed route read have to pay 28 euro a week basic for N.I. Etc.  Any ideas???

Hi everyone,
After reading the thread and the Citizenships & Expatriates website, I'm still confused about a couple of things. I know there's a window of 90 days to apply for the residency, but if looking for a job, do I have up to 180 days to apply or has it changed? I couldn't find this information anywhere. Are there any consequences for applying after 90 days? And if case I need to apply for the self-sufficiency residence, can I apply with an online bank statement from a foreign bank or those 14.000 euros they require have to be deposited in a Maltese bank account?

Forgot to mention that I'm an EU citizen.

Many thanks