[WATCH] Visa system reform to make it easier for students, Joseph Muscat says

Visa system reform to make it easier for students, Joseph Muscat says

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the morning that Identity Malta would soon be announcing reforms to the system through which individuals can apply for a visa to come to Malta by using web-based platforms, as well as existing international offices to speed up the process of obtaining a visa in countries and regions were Malta does not have a diplomatic presence.  

 “The idea is not to make it easier by removing requirements, but rather to make it easier for a student coming from Vietnam to apply for a visa to study in Malta,” said Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, explaining that as things stood, such a student would first have to travel to China where they would have to stay until a visa could be issued. 

Muscat was visiting the London School of Commerce in Floriana, where he said that since its opening in 2014, the university had gone from strength to strength. He added that the institution was a part of Malta's strategy to become a global education hub, and to attract talented individuals to its shores. 

Muscat pointed to regulatory reforms in education, which he said had created the necessary environment for private institutions.

Ultimately, he said that Malta remained "vigilant" and on the lookout for opportunities that could strengthen its global position, while adding that education could become another pillar of the Maltese economy.

Lord John Tomlinson, the chair of the LSC advisory board, said that the school was an international group, boasting “over 30,000 alumni from over 160 countries”.

He said that since it’s opening, the Malta campus had been a huge success.

"The crux of the success lies not just in the numbers…there is also quality,” he said, adding that the school currently had over 400 students, with over 1,000 having graduated since it’s opening.

He said that during a meeting between himself, the Prime Minister and Home Affairs minister Michael Farrugia - who was also present for the visit – he had discussed issues related to immigration and students’ access to visas and was convinced the government would be taking the necessary measures to address to issue.

Asked by journalists where he had had any contact with the European Commission or any members of the European Council regarding the resolution passed following a European Parliament debate on the rule of law in Malta, Muscat said it would not be prudent of him to discuss conversations he had had with other heads of state, adding that there had been no communication with the Commission since the vote.