The Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Communities, Mr Alex Muscat, announced on 3rd of July 2020, the details of the new Malta Individual Investor Programme that will be in effect as from September 2020.
Fundamental changes to residency and investment criteria:
- Similar to the existing IIP programme, applicants will need to be granted residence in Malta prior to being granted citizenship. Applicants will be subjected to a higher level of due diligence and background checks than previous at the residency stage of their application
- Potential applicants may need to spend more time in Malta, although the mobility needs of Private Clients who are often high net wealth individuals has been considered.
- As with the existing programme, applicants will be required to purchase or rent a property in Malta and make a further investment as follows:
- Under the new scheme, applicants who invest €750 000 (up from €650 000) will be able to apply for citizenship after living in Malta for 1 year
- Applicants who invest €600 000 will have to spend 3 years in Malta before applying for a passport
- The minimum value of the property purchase requirement will double to €700,000 from €350,000.
- The rental requirement has been increased by €2000 per annum, to €18 000 per annum
- At this point it is expected that the existing requirement of an investment of €150 000 in government stocks, bonds, or other investment vehicles, will not be a requirement of the new programme. However, the existing mandatory donation of €10 000 will remain in force.
Up to 400 citizenship applications will be approved per year and the new scheme will be caped at a maximum of 1500 successful applicants.
For further information or assistance, kindly contact ARQ’s Private Clients team on privateclients@arqgroup.com