Malta issuing highest rate of residence permits in Europe

Malta issued out 9,895 first-time residence permits to third country nationals last year, by far the highest rate in Europe.

Eurostat statistics reveal that Malta handed out 23.2 first-time residence permits per 1000 citizens in 2014, by far the highest rate in Europe. The second highest donor was Liechtenstein (19 residence permits per 1000 people), followed by Cyprus (16.2 residence permits per 1000 people).

Out of these 9,895 people, 2,077 were granted residence permits for family reasons, 2,924 for education reasons, 2,044 for employment reasons, and 2,850 for ‘other reasons’.

By far the biggest proportion, 3,100, of residence permits issued by Identity Malta last year went to Libyan nationals. It also issued 866 residence permits to Russians and 602 residence permits to Serbians.

Identity Malta, the government agency in charge of citizenship and residence, has found itself in the midst of a political storm in recent months, as questions arise over its granting of residence permits.

Auditor Joe Sammut, who served as Labour treasurer between 1993 and 1992, has been arraigned in court over charges that he set up around 800 false companies as a means of helping Libyan nationals fleeing their country’s civil war obtain Maltese residence permits.

Police have also raided Identity Malta’s offices, as part of an investigation into a “racket” in the issuance of residence permits.  

The Opposition has called for the resignation of its executive chairman Joe Vella Bonnici in the wake of “institutionalized corruption” within the agency. However, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has claimed that the “racket” has been ongoing for five years and that his government is determined to fight corruption “unlike its predecessors”.