Over 7,000 Britons apply for special residence status

Identity Malta received 7,470 applications from British citizens for special residency status by the end of last year, the Citizenship Parliamentary Secretariat said.

British citizens have until the end of June to apply for the special 10-year residency status afforded by Malta following the UK’s exit from the EU.

“Following Brexit day, Identity Malta immediately reached out to all potential UK beneficiaries in Malta through direct mail and an informative campaign and started accepting new residency applications as early as February 2020, making Malta amongst the first EU countries to start accepting such applications,” the secretariat said.

The UK formally left the EU on 1 February 2020 and had until December to reach a trade deal with the bloc. The trade agreement was finally penned in the dying days of 2020 but there is still a lot of uncertainty on how it will affect commerce between the EU and Britain.

The British form one of the largest foreign communities in Malta, partly because of the historic links between the two island nations.

The number of British nationals with special residential status is expected to grow further in the coming months.