The Minister for the Interior, Security, Reforms and Equality Byron Camilleri announced that during the past year, the programs operated by the Residenza Malta Agency left more than €50 million in the Maltese economy.
Minister Byron Camilleri explained that among the many initiatives the government is taking for more economic growth, the programs offered by the Residenza Malta Agency are important, attractive and relevant to the global market. He added that all this helps in the economic and social development of our country.
The main schemes operated by the Malta Residence Agency are the Malta Permanent Residence Program (MPRP) and the Nomad Residence Permit. The investment residency program, the MPRP, has returned to pre-pandemic application levels.
In 2022, 780 applications came in, with a total of 3,580 applications since the start of the program in 2016. During the past year alone, this program generated €33.4 million. These are distributed in €10 million in the consolidated fund, €6.4 million in the National Social Development Fund (NSDF), €12.5 million in property purchases and €4.5 million in rents. Thus, since 2016, the MPRP will have generated €51 million in the consolidated fund and in the NDSF.
In 2022, the agency also saw an increase in the popularity of the Nomad Residence Permit, where 500 applications were submitted for a total of 668 applications since the program was launched in June 2021. The remote workers who are coming to our country turn out to be getting an average salary of €84,000 per year, and of which they spend an average of €2,800 per month. This means that in a year, 500 remote workers are leaving an impact of around €16.8 million in the local economy.
In collaboration with Malta Enterprise, in October last year the agency also launched a new program, the Malta Startup Residence Programme. The aim of this program is to reach a niche of applications that can make a significant difference in the economy by launching innovative startups. The ecosystem for startups already exists and what this program will do is to facilitate the residence permit for the founders, for the co-founders and for those who are called core employees who come from third countries.
CEO of Residenza Malta Charles Mizzi spoke about how every application for the agency’s programs goes through a rigorous process of due diligence and that the investment in this regard is substantial in order to ensure that only everyone who deserves it will be given a permanent or temporary permit.
Minister Byron Camilleri concluded by saying, “The government will continue to support these results in a sustainable way, while ensuring quality over quantity, with rigorous scrutiny and service excellence. The aim of the government is to create a context from which we will continue to have more economic growth from which we will always strengthen the social framework of our country.”
