Is there age discrimination in job seeking?

Hi Duffy,

Welcome to the Blog.

Your sign in from Anchorage (Alaska?) makes me think that you might hold a US passport! If so, you have two options:

1) If your independent income is enough to live from and you can also fulfil the requirements for permanent residency then it is no problem getting the residency permit ! But you are not allowed to work - not full time , not part time and not even self employed.

2)Find a company that is willing to hire you and apply for a work permit for you.If granted you are also entitled to a residence permit for as long as you work but for not longer than 3 or 4 years.

If you also hold an EU passport things are a lot easier.There are quite a few info's on this already about getting work permits and so on.

Regards

Ricky

Hi Ricky,

Thank you for the welcome.  I do live in Alaska and hold a US passport, so it looks like it would either be option (2) or find another EU country, then move?  Malta is where I really want to be though. 

My biggest worry is the age thing.  When I worked in Japan, nobody would even consider you if you were older than late 20's - early 30's.

The no "self employment" seems kind of harsh though.  Could I sell crafts on line?  Would it not benefit the country if I started a small business?  Somehow, I had gotten the impression that I could, but I might be wrong. Sorry if this is a dumb question.

I've also thought about a house/apt exchange for a month or so, if my chances would be better job hunting in person. I try to be nice and most people like me even if I'm not 20 any more. Just don't know if they'd hire me

Thanks for the info.

Duffy

Hi Duffy,

No , there is no age discrimination in Malta. Not more or less than anywhere else.

You could sell crafts online to customers outside of Malta.But it would still mean that you would have to apply for a residence permit on the grounds of your foreign,non-maltese income or wealth.
Malta does not care about business you do outside of Malta.
To start a business in Malta as a non-EU you would have to invest at least 100.000 € in your business to get the necessary documents and permits.

Without a residence permit you stay a tourist for 3 months and would then have to leave the island.Sometimes you can get an extension for 3 months but you can't count on that

Whether you are staying in Malta or not does not really help finding a job.As a non-Eu third-country national you can only take up a job that a company cannot find a Maltese capable of doing.Your future employer has to prove this and apply for your work permit. You cannot apply yourself.

Malta is rather strict in this but it also applies to basically all EU countries too.

If you want you can send me more details of your cv through a private message.

You can also visit the island and see for yorself if this is the place for you.

Regards

Ricky

Hello Ricky,

I just realized it's 530AM and I haven't been to sleep yet, so will drag out my CV tomorrow - or later today, actually.  I have the summer off so I can sleep late.

I'm a perpetual student, so if somebody DID want to hire me, they could probably find a way to call me "unique".  Our immigration rules are fairly similar in that respect, but if somebody really wants you, they can almost always show that you are the ONLY person in the entire world qualified for that particular job

That's why I thought I might have better luck on an extended vacation, rather than looking from here.  I tend to do better in person; people can see intangibles like my manners, dress, capability for small talk, as well as what I wish to be paid for.  On paper, they seem to focus on my age instead of my experience.

Worst case, I could get a PR visa and live frugally, because I really do want to live in Malta. The only thing I don't really like is the concept of the EU, because from where I sit (as an outsider), it seems to be homogenizing what were once unique cultures and imposing blanket regulations, but this is probably the wrong thread for that sort of thing.

I'm one generation too far away for dual citizenship in Germany, so I might pursue that (my father refuses to sign the papers, but I've got the genealogical info and the ship my ancestor came over on).  And we're just as bad - some people have suggested breaking up the US into 5 or 6 regions but probably not in my lifetime.  We tend to think of ourselves as another country up here anyway.  When I'm traveling and people ask where I'm from, I don't say "the US"; I say "Alaska".

Thanks again and I'm off to get some sleep.

Duffy

Hi Duffy ,

Well , have sweet dreams!

I don't want to dissapoint your dreams and hopes but what you say would be true if there were jobs for ' perpetual ' students in Malta but the plain truth is that there are no jobs at all ! The only jobs for non-EU third country nationals are really highly qualified academic jobs, banking ,accounting ,internationl lawyers and so on.All the other jobs are low paid jobs that often require Maltese language skills and are only open to EU nationals.

My girlfriend is US and is a highly qualified English teacher with a well-known school applying for her work permit and getting their request turned down.The school director is well known and ranks high in Malta but it did not help!.

Come for a vacation to see for yorself!

If you give me some idea of your independent income I come give you my personal opinion on your options.

I wish you luck with your plans.

Ricky

Hi Ricky,

Well, I hope your GF finds a good job and the two of you live happily ever after.  Our economy is wrecked too if that's any consolation.  The cost of living is going up, up, up.  I have an interview tomorrow, so need to get some sleep.  It doesn't start until around September though and summers up here are great.

I PMd you my rough income.  It varies.  (PM me back if it looks like I am just dreaming). Or at least I think I did.  Sometimes I have days when I am just flat stupid.  If I could live frugally in Malta and work online, that would be paradise.

Duffy

There are a couple of angles on this. Age discrimination I think does not exist as people are working well into retirement, although it seems unofficial (without declaration of income, only my opinion :-)
due to lack of receipts issued etc,)

As Ricky has pointed out there are a couple of income tests for permanent residency.
The minimum requirements are an annual income of 23000 Euro or an Capital amount of 349000 Euro.

emd.com.mt/advocates/en-us/permanent-residence.aspx

If you are moving from the US, you would be able to take out any pensions etc, which would also add to your capital base.

Even though the requirements seem daunting there are ways of working through this. Setting up your own company is simple and straightforward and once you have selected an adviser can be done in a few days provided all documents are in place.

The only things which take time tend to be getting the personal recommendations from your local bank to the MFSA and the Bank of Your new company.

The minimum capital required to set up a company is around 1250 Euro.(Not 100000) Requires 2 shareholders normally, can be done with one ,neither have to be Maltese.

You do need a local auditor, fees vary for this service, and depends on who you feel comfortable with. So dont feel discouraged its set up quite regularly, think igaming etc. Also depends on what your field is, some are easier to present than others. If you require more info let me know.

Good luck

Hi Eagle,

Thanks for your contribution.

The problem seems to be not setting up the company (1250,-€) but using the company to get a work permit as a non EU citizen
. I habe 2 cases that I know of where a company has been set up ( easy) but where then the work permit for the company owner ( in one case US , the other case Turkey )has been asked to show an investment by the company in Malta of 100.000 € before granting the permit .

What is your advice or work around?

Regards

Ricky

I wasnt aware of those cases thanks for highlighting it. I cant comment on those as the devils in the detail.It would also depend on Who is doing the application from the adviser side and what the experience is.

As you rightly mentioned anyone can setup a company, there are several people offering those from local accountants to internet services. Not all of them are experienced in every aspect.

Normally the adviser would be able to get the work permits with the set up of the company. If they are unable to do so, it means they cannot deal with the necessary negotiations involved and I would stay clear of those ones.

It would also depend on the level of complexity with the setup. A straightforward maltese entity, with a single non eu owner is often going to draw some questions. Which would need to be addressed by the adviser, its not impossible only requires more groundwork.

If it does pose a significant problem which I doubt, as you only need to look at the Business Weekly and see the companies entered in the registry each week and the number of foreign owners, there are some other ways around.

An alternative setup is to have the parent company domiciled in another EU jurisdiction. Eg Ireland and the maltese entity as a fully owned subsidiary of the parent. Legally they would not be able to block the director of an EU entity of opening up a branch in another EU jurisdiction.

It would add some additional overhead into this, and there would be some duplication of costs etc. But not impossible. Also depends on how revenue would be generated. If it is expected to come from sources abroad or local. Normally they would welcome revenue sources from abroad.

I still think with the qualifications the OP indicated, as well as the entrepreneurial spirit, there is a shot at it.

Hi Eagle,

Your last lines seem to be exactly the stumbling point! If you can show that , as a non-EU citizen, you can generate the necessary income and investment from outside of Malta you are on the safe side and will be able to substantiate and press your business model to success.

I'm not sure if your advice is good for someone just thinking of relocating to Malta without the entrepreneural risk taking of setting up a business in Malta just to get here and stay here.

In any caee , as I have been told , you need the funds to go through the whole business of setting up the new business and not always having the guarantee that you will get through the Maltese statutes.

Ricky

Hi Ricky

We would need to discuss this over large quantities of beer and agree to disagree.

As you well know if you speak to 3 officials you get 6 opinions on any matter. I have yet to see any consistency of application in any topic.

The daily newspaper is full of the contradictions of island life, court decisions, government wrangling on various topics.

All I am trying to explain to the OP is she has several options available. She would need to take professional advice . Or else bang her head on the desk in dealing directly with a department and kept on being transferred from one contradictory expert to another.

There are alternatives, but not necessarily smooth sailing.

Back on the 6th, will contact you in the week for drinks

Hi Eagle,

Look forward to lots of Maltese Falcons and headbanging!

See you after you arrive.

Ricky

PS Ilene got her residency for 5 years !And work permit !

Eagle,

Thank you.  I had actually visited your website already in the process of doing research.  I can meet the income requirements but the capital requirement would be a bit of a challenge without liquidating everything here.  Plus I'd like the option of returning, so PR status is sounding more like something worth investigating. 

I've been trying to figure out some of the rules from here and I think if I get more serious, I will visit and look for advice from there.  The two of you are being very pleasant in not pointing out that my own country can be very byzantine for legal immigrants - I used to do volunteer work through a Catholic agency to help refugees find jobs and it had its weirder moments.  I love my country but keep thinking about Malta.

duffydoodle wrote:

I can meet the income requirements but the capital requirement would be a bit of a challenge without liquidating everything here.

The test is either the income test or the capital test. You do not need to fulfil both requirements for permanent residence.

The company referenced above has no affiliation to me, other than I have used their services
and found them able to get the job done on my terms.

There are loads of questions you may have which will only be answered by a trip, to see firsthand if the place is something for you or not.

Each country has its own quirks, and Malta has some interesting ones, but imo its a balance of what works for you or not.

Ricky,

Thank you for the advice.  Also I learned a lot from the discussion between you and Eagle. 

It looks like I need to just jump in and come for a long visit - I have lots of airline miles.  That's why I wondered about the idea of working for somebody else first before making a commitment, which brings me back to my original question - which I think you've answered.  For some reason, it seems like Asia is the last place age discrimination is really a problem.  Your visa requirements make my head spin, though.

BTW, does the "Ilene" you refer to in your conversation with Eagle have a blog on teaching English?  If so, she has some funny stories.  Good luck to you both if she is your GF; she sounds nice.

I used to teach English for foreigners (we call it ESL and I was certified) as a volunteer job, but my degrees are mostly engineering.  I wonder if I could teach math and science.  I've also read about Malta's -- umm - maritime practices.  That, and the fact that St Paul was shipwrecked there are intriguing. Plus the cost of living is SO much better than here. 

Thank you very much for your help.

Duffy

Eagle,

Sorry for the misunderstanding about the firm.  I have decided to visit some time this summer, which should answer a lot of questions.  And if I only have to meet the income requirements, that helps a lot.  Thank you for clarifying that.

Duffy

Hi Duffy,

You are on the right track about Ilene and her website

www.an-american-in-malta.com (ha, a little promotion can't harm)

Teaching (American)English in Malta was her way to a work permit(and residence permit) last year but that did not work this year.Her application was turned down !So that is probably what you could expect too if you applied.

Teaching anything in Malta is highly regulated and for just about any teaching job you would need to be certified to teach in Malta and also speak Maltese.

Engineering sounds very interesting as a qualification! Maybe that is a route to persue.

Ricky

Just a word of caution about cost of living, as you called it out in your original post - I can't speak for Alaska, but we recently moved to Malta from Minnesota and overall the cost of living has been higher here than we expected - I know there is a separate thread on this and as Ricky and others point out it is very specific to the individual/family, but this is what we experienced:
imported (durable) goods are limited in supply/variety and tend to be much more expensive than Minnesota;
Petrol/gas is much more expensive than in Minnesota;
Cars are much more expensive than in Minnesota;
Renting accommodation is too different to accurately compare;
Services provided by locals tend to be significantly cheaper than in Minnesota;
Locally produced goods are the same or cheaper than in Minnesota.
Energy (electricity) costs in Malta have gone up dramatically since January 2010 - so you shouldn't base your decision on anything posted about utility costs from before that date - our 3 month electricity bill from Jan to Mar was well over €1000 for a family of 4 in an apartment...there were some odd circumstances, but it does show you that the electricity cost can be significant!;

Just my 2 cents - as Ricky said, the best idea is to come and visit and see for yourself.

Tim