Has anyone here naturalized as a citizen of Malta through the MPRP? I’m interested in applying for this program but I haven’t heard and stories from people who have successfully gone through it. As far as I know, the MRPR is relatively new and the first cohort of immigrants will just be finishing up their last year of PR before applying.
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Yes, with the increasing likelihood that Portugal’s Golden Visa will fail to lead to citizenship, those for whom EU citizenship with US access is their ultimate goal will need an alternative.
Other than Portugal, Malta and Ireland are the only EU countries with US access that also have active residence programs and allow applications for citizenship within 5 years of residence. And unlike Portugal, Malta and Ireland’s non-dom programs are feasible for most new residents.
(Cyprus has a non-dom and investment visa options, but not US access. If you’re already stuck in the GV program, holding a US passport that you’re not thinking of renouncing, and you just want an EU citizenship while living in a non-dom country, it’s probably easier and cheaper to choose Cyprus than Malta or Ireland, but if you have any thought of renouncing your US citizenship and want to retain access to visit your US-remaining family members, then Cyprus doesn’t work as of now.)
How are you getting citizenship for this? You need to actually live in Malta like anyone else right?
Yes, living in Malta appears to be required; however, as I mentioned, unlike Portugal, Malta’s non-dom program appears to still be available.
First, you probably don’t need much creativity to qualify for IFICI in Portugal. Making an investment in a startup is one option, but you can also set up a consulting company that have one or two foreign clients and no local clients.
As for Malta’s MPRP program (their Golden Visa, which is still available), it’s pretty useless if your goal is citizenship. For that you’ll need to live and integrate in Malta for at least 15-20 years.
See this section of our MPRP article for details.
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Thanks, that article is very useful; hadn’t seen elsewhere that the MPRP wasn’t leading to citizenship in a reasonable timeframe.
Regarding IFICI, I don’t view as acceptable the “invest (probably donate) $100k to a startup to get a board seat” pathway that may have to be repeated if the startup fails.
If there is an implementation of the consulting company structure that holds up to tax authority scrutiny, that might be interesting, depending on how much it costs.
But even then, with Portugal’s likely new 10-year wait to apply for citizenship plus 3-year citizenship processing time, even if you can fulfill the new physical presence requirements, the timeline is just… so… long…