Citizenship a sovereign matter for Malta, says British High Commissioner

The UK believes that decisions about who is a citizen of Malta are a matter for the Government of Malta, British High Commissioner Rob Luke said in a right of reply to The Times of Malta.

The High Commissioner was reacting to a report in The Times of Malta that said that the UK Home Office yad opposed plans by Malta to sell its citizenship on the grounds that it would give people automatic right to settle in Britain.

Last month, the Financial Times reported that UK ministers were "under growing pressure to intervene" against Malta's individual investor programme, which will sell Maltese and consequently EU citizenship to non-EU nationals.

While the High Commissioner did not confirm or deny that the UK Home Office opposed the IIP - seen as the "biggest rival" to the UK's investor visa programme - Rob Luke said it was up to the Maltese government to take decisions about who is a citizen of Malta.

"At the same time we are clear that any EU citizen who benefits from the right to free movement must adhere to the responsibilities this brings, and we work at domestic level and with our EU partners to tackle any abuse by individuals of that right," Luke said.

On the UK's investor visa arrangement, Luke said the UK Home Office has asked the Migration Advisory Committee to review the investment thresholds for its investor visa.

"The Committee is expected to deliver its findings in February this year and the Home Office will then consider those findings," he said.

The UK government's official advisers proposed that visas for foreign millionaires should be auctioned to the highest bidders or sold in exchange for donations to hospitals and universities.

Investments of £1 million, £5 million or £10 million can be made in gifts, or government bonds, or in British businesses in return for permission to apply for permanent residence in five, three or two years respectively.

Applicants could then seek UK citizenship.