The Nomad Residence Permit lets a third-country national live in Malta while continuing to work for an employer, company or clients based abroad.
It is run by the Residency Malta Agency and it was designed for remote workers rather than repurposed from something else.
Who it is for
Your income comes from outside Malta
You work for a foreign employer, run a company registered abroad, or freelance for clients outside Malta. Maltese income does not count towards it.
There is a minimum income threshold and it is checked rather than assumed.
Internet and mobile
Contracts and bank statements
Evidence of the work relationship, evidence of the income, health insurance covering Malta, and somewhere to live.
Freelancers need more documentation than employees, because the relationship is harder to prove on paper.
Working here
The nomad permit does not let you take a Maltese job
If you want to work for a Maltese employer, that is a different permit and a different application.
It also brings you into the Maltese tax picture, which is worth understanding before you apply rather than after.
Money and tax
Who qualifies
You must be a third-country national, meaning not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen. You must also be able to prove you work remotely using telecommunications. Beyond that you have to fall into one of three categories.
One of these three must apply
- Employed abroad
- You work for an employer registered in a foreign country and hold a contract of work with them.
- Running a foreign company
- You conduct business activities for a company registered in a foreign country in which you are a partner or shareholder.
- Freelance or consulting
- You offer services to clients whose permanent establishments are in a foreign country. You hold contracts with them.
If you are contracted by a foreign company but providing services to that company’s Maltese subsidiary, you are not eligible. The work has to be abroad, not routed through a foreign entity into a Maltese one.
The income threshold
Income has to be evidenced, not asserted. Expect to provide bank statements covering the previous three months showing the money arriving, from employment or from self-employment as applicable.
What else you need
Required of every applicant
- A valid travel document
- A passport that will remain valid through the permit.
- Health insurance
- Covering risks in the European Union, including Malta, and the United Kingdom.
- Somewhere to live
- A valid property rental or purchase agreement. You need the accommodation sorted before the permit, not after.
- A police conduct certificate
- From your country of residence.
- A background verification check
- Carried out by the agency as part of the assessment.
The ordinary rules for visas and permits apply on top of eligibility, so meeting the criteria is necessary rather than sufficient.
None of this applies to you. EU, EEA and Swiss nationals already have the right to live here and simply register their residence. See moving to Malta as an EU citizen.
Holding the permit and being taxed on your income are two different matters. The treatment has its own rules and conditions. Do not assume a headline rate applies to you. Take advice from a licensed Maltese tax practitioner on your own circumstances before you rely on any of it.
The permit is administered by the Residency Malta Agency, which publishes the eligibility criteria, the application checklist and the current fees. Thresholds have changed before and will change again, so check there before applying.