Malta Startup Residence Programme

1. Residence permit36 months
2. Renew60 months at a time
3. Permanent residencyafter 5 years
4. Citizenshipafter 5 years

• Permanent residency 5 years
• Citizenship 5 years
• Dual citizenship allowed
• Language required for citizenship Maltese or English

Country

Malta

Program

Malta Startup Residence Programme

Type

Startup

Status

Active

Initial duration

36 months

Max duration

96 months

Renewable

Yes (60 mo)

Three-year residence permit for a non-EU founder or co-founder of an innovative startup that is less than seven years old. Malta Enterprise approves the business plan. The Malta company places at least €25,000 of tangible investment or paid-up capital. The permit can be extended once, for five years, if the startup is still eligible. The founder must live in Malta, be employed by the startup, and pay tax in Malta.

Tax regime

Remittance

Regime name

Income Tax Act non-dom remittance

Foreign income taxed

Yes

Capital gains taxed

No

Method

online

Apply from abroad

Yes

Version 4.2 of the eligibility rules, dated 27 August 2025, is the current Agency text. Founders, co-founders, core employees and their families can be included. This record is the founder and co-founder permit. A core employee needs a full-time contract and a gross salary of at least €30,000, and that permit is three years plus one three-year extension. Family members are a spouse or de facto partner, minor children, and adult children who are principally dependent. Their permits match the sponsor's term and do not include labour-market access. Parents are not listed. Later additions of family are case by case. The startup must be in manufacturing, software, industrial services, health, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, blue, green or sustainable industry, or another innovative activity. It must not have taken over another enterprise or been formed by a merger, and the project must meet two of three innovation tests. At most six co-founders. Above four, each extra co-founder adds €10,000 of capital. Before the cards are collected the company is incorporated in Malta and the founders are registered as its employees. Jobsplus charges €690 for the three-year employment licence and €1,150 when that licence is renewed for five years. The programme fee is €750 per adult, including each adult dependant. Identità charges €300 for the three-year card and €500 for the five-year founder renewal. Nationals of Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen and Venezuela, and people the Agency treats as closely tied to those countries, cannot apply. A previous refusal of Maltese residence or citizenship, or of a residence application abroad, blocks the file. No fixed savings amount is published for a founder, only sufficient resources. No day-count is published. The founder must live in Malta and pay Maltese tax. Ordinary Income Tax Act rules apply. A resident who is not domiciled is taxed on Malta-source income and gains and on foreign income remitted to Malta. Foreign capital gains are not taxed on remittance. The 2023 programme brochure says that after five years of residence the holder may apply for long-term residence. S.L. 217.05 grants that status after five years of legal and continuous residence, with absences shorter than six consecutive months and not more than ten months in the five years. Ordinary naturalisation under article 10(1) of Cap. 188 is the same five-year residence test as for other third-country nationals, with adequate Maltese or English, and it is discretionary. Article 7 allows another citizenship to be kept. Dollar figures use the ECB reference rate of 9 October 2026, 1 EUR = 1.1206 USD. €750 is about $840 and €25,000 is about $28,015.

• Nomad Residence Permitdigital nomad visa

1. Oct 10, 2026

   Added

   opened a record for the founder permit under the version 4.2 rules of 27 August 2025 (https://startup.residencymalta.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Malta-Startup-Residence-Programme-Eligbility-and-Requirements-V4.2-August-2025.pdf).