EU Citizens e-residency process & Health Care info.

Thanks robpw2, very helpful!

Hello,

This is the most useful resource that I have found on the net about moving from the UK to Malta so first of all thank you to those who have contributed to it. I wonder if I could clarify my understanding of some important points since information that I have found can be quite contradictory or potentially out of date. 

Myself and my family are looking to move to Malta in the near future along with my mother.  My mum is in receipt of UK state pension and is aged 68.  Myself and my husband are in our 30s and we have two young children of preschool age who we hope to join the education system in Malta.  I intend to secure employment full time and my husband intends to study and work.  I think that the following course of action is the best plan having read most of the above and would appreciate any feedback that anyone more knowledgeable might have. It is perhaps important to note that in the first instance we will live at a family member's place in Malta until we get established and are able to find something of our own.

1. Apply for mums s1 from the international pension centre 28 days before leaving.

2. Notify HMRC, Inland Rev and doctors in the UK of our intentions - anyone I've missed?

3. Upon arrival submit mum's S1 to begin the application for the Certificate of Entitlement.  Are my husband, children and I entitled to apply for RHA as well since we are UK citizens or is this only for pensioners? And do we need to obtain travel insurance for an interim period - including mum?

4. Apply for mum's e-residency on the basis of self sufficiency.

5. All obtain bank accounts (not looking forward to this part)

Then I am a bit lost... since I will be looking for employment and my husband will be securing a place on his course of study is it a case of which comes first regarding our and our children's residency? If so, we will wait a short period until one or the other happens before applying for our own residency.  If neither comes around mum is keen to make up our funds to enable us to apply on the basis of self suffuciency although this is not an idea I want to pursue unless it is necessary.  However, if we did - can we then change our status upon obtaining employment/commencing studies?

Finally, if my husband embarks on his studentship before I secure employment will my children and I be classed as dependants on his application?

Many thanks in advance.

My partner went Evans Building yesterday to get his ID card. He was applying with a completed Form A based on employment. The supporting documentation is clearly stated on page 3 of the form:

1. Original and copy of passport / foreign ID card
2. Original and copy of ETC engagement form issued by ETC or work contract

Both my partner and the French guy in front of him who was in the same position were rejected due to missing ETC engagement form. Both pointed out that it said "or work contract" which did not seem to help as they were sent away.

I have no idea what's going on but apparently the process is now that my partner's employer has to register him in this position with the ETC, they then issue the engagement form to his company who will pass it on to him and then he takes it back to the residency application office.

Just wanted to let you know in case this is the new process.

the thing is now that you are here  you will come across this a lot....things can change on a daily if not hourly basis....and when they do change in one department dont expect other departments or even people in the same department to know things have changed....its just the way things are...but hey at least you are here now...hopefully settled in somewhere nice and enjoying life

Change of address on e-residence card:

I went on last Thursday and needed to fill in Form !D 1A and have a copy of my rental agreement . You take a number in the waiting hall and it took me about 2 hours to be processed. You don't need passport pics as they take your image in the back office.

Today, the following Wednesday, I collected my new card with the changed address with no waiting time after receiving a letter in the mail.

Cheers
Ricky

I have eventually tracked down the RHA form, the link in original is broken and couldn't find it anywhere in the above posts:-

https://health.gov.mt/en/cbhc/Documents … pdated.pdf

Ray

Quick question. It says that all pages of your passport must be copied. However the majority of mine are blank.  Do you really have to copy every page and does every page have to be certified

Hi, Could not find quite the answers I needed in this post so here goes.

My situation may be kind of unique I don't know. I am British but currently resident in Sardinia (Sardegna) with my partner who is Italian and I have two Italian born children.

My long term plan is to learn to sail and have saved to buy a sailing cruiser (cerca 13M) and wish to travel around the med but spend a fare amount of time in Malta (as much or more than i would in italy, Spain or France) and I would like to become resident their for tax and convenience purposes (The Italian tax system is a nightmare and I don't speak good Italian anyway).

I have read here that I need to spend 190 days a year in Malta to be considered resident, but I have also read elsewhere that I can get residency as long as I don't spend more than 190 days a year in any other individual country?

What I want to know is if I spent say 3 months in italy, 3 months in malta, 3 in Spain and 3 in Corsica (france) would I still be able to claim my residency in Malta, how would Malta know I was out of town so to speak? I really would rather it was in Malta for the ease as I can do things myself rather than rely on my partner.

Also I plan to live permanently on the boat while I travel, would this effect my residency status?

SpinDreams wrote:

Hi, Could not find quite the answers I needed in this post so here goes.

My situation may be kind of unique I don't know. I am British but currently resident in Sardinia (Sardegna) with my partner who is Italian and I have two Italian born children.

My long term plan is to learn to sail and have saved to buy a sailing cruiser (cerca 13M) and wish to travel around the med but spend a fare amount of time in Malta (as much or more than i would in italy, Spain or France) and I would like to become resident their for tax and convenience purposes (The Italian tax system is a nightmare and I don't speak good Italian anyway).

I have read here that I need to spend 190 days a year in Malta to be considered resident, but I have also read elsewhere that I can get residency as long as I don't spend more than 190 days a year in any other individual country?

What I want to know is if I spent say 3 months in italy, 3 months in malta, 3 in Spain and 3 in Corsica (france) would I still be able to claim my residency in Malta, how would Malta know I was out of town so to speak? I really would rather it was in Malta for the ease as I can do things myself rather than rely on my partner.

Also I plan to live permanently on the boat while I travel, would this effect my residency status?

One of the things you have to show in order to register your intention to reside in Malta and apply for your eResidence card is proof of address, in your case I would imagine you would have to have a permanent mooring with an official address which is not practical if you are splitting your time around the Med.
If you do register for residence you also have to register with the tax office. You are liable for taxation in Malta if you reside here for 183 days a year or more.

If you have further posts on the subject it is probably best to start a new topic as this 'Sticky' post and the others are really meant as a point of reference although they have been posted on over the years.

Ray

Hi all, I would like to become resident in Malta on the basis of economic self-sufficiency. I am a UK citizen.

My question is about a proof of address requirement I read about in a couple of posts in this thread from 2015, involving a certified copy of a tenancy agreement. When I looked at the ordinary residency application form: http://iip.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/20 … tional.pdf I couldn't see anything about needing to prove my address in Malta.

Does anyone know if this was a requirement that existed for a while and has now been quietly dropped?

Not as far as i am aware it hasnt...you will need to take the original signed tenancy agreement together with a photocopy of it...remember the landlord needs to sign it and include his id number ( things seem to change on a daily basis so in all honesty its best to take everything you can think of plus photocopies of it all ...you can do that in the uk before you get here....i took P60 of all our various pensions.....wedding certificate...birth certificate...passports...tenancy agreement....S1 form from DWP....copies of our pets passport too lol......) as i said things can change on a daily basis....i have known people go to the Evans building and be in and out in under an hour and some be there literally all day...

ianmalta wrote:

Hi all, I would like to become resident in Malta on the basis of economic self-sufficiency. I am a UK citizen.

My question is about a proof of address requirement I read about in a couple of posts in this thread from 2015, involving a certified copy of a tenancy agreement. When I looked at the ordinary residency application form: http://iip.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/20 … tional.pdf I couldn't see anything about needing to prove my address in Malta.

Does anyone know if this was a requirement that existed for a while and has now been quietly dropped?

Logically in order to be resident in Malta you have to have somewhere to reside!
Your address is printed on your eResidence card and forms part of your ID.

Ray

Ray, I take your point and I appreciate you replying. I didn't explain myself well. I am going to buy a flat in Malta, however whilst the sale is going through I will stay with a friend on the island. So I suppose my question is: do I need a tenancy agreement with my friend ("the landlord") to show the authorities? I don't see on the face of it what part of the ordinary residency application process a tenancy agreement is required for. Thanks for any insight anyone can give!

ianmalta wrote:

Ray, I take your point and I appreciate you replying. I didn't explain myself well. I am going to buy a flat in Malta, however whilst the sale is going through I will stay with a friend on the island. So I suppose my question is: do I need a tenancy agreement with my friend ("the landlord") to show the authorities? I don't see on the face of it what part of the ordinary residency application process a tenancy agreement is required for. Thanks for any insight anyone can give!

I assumed you were renting a property yourself.
You may find that whatever you do, as you don't have a lease on a property in your own name and do not own a property, you may well get the run around at the Evans building. You may need to wait till you are under way with the buying process before applying for your eResidence card!
Unless your friend could get his Landlord to add you to his lease as a temporary measure but I would image the Landlord will want to make something out of it!
The lease is purely to confirm your address, had you already bought a property then you would have had to show your title to the property instead.

Ray

OK understood. My friend is the owner of a house and rents out rooms in it anyway, so if it's just a proof of address that is required, as you say, I suppose a contract to rent one room will be just as good as a contract to rent a whole property.

Thanks for the advice mdillyd and Ray.

If you use your friends address you will have to reapply when you move into your own property.

Wow OK, that is good to know. Can't I just apply to change my address?

There is a thread on here about changing address. It looks possible:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=473467

Your card has your addess printed on it so if you move, like we did, you have to apply for another card with some form filling.

ianmalta wrote:

Wow OK, that is good to know. Can't I just apply to change my address?

There is a thread on here about changing address. It looks possible:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=473467

Of course it is possible to change address but to do it you have to submit most of the forms again as you can see from the link you put in your own post where several members, including myself, have said what they were asked to provide just to change it!

Ray

OK understood. Thanks GozoMo and Ray.

There is no requirement for a lease agreement / rental contract in respect of a non-Maltese EU / EEA / Swiss resident applying for an ‘e-Residence Card' according to EU law.

In this regard, please see Freedom to move and live in Europe: A Guide to your rights as an EU citizen, published by the Directorate-General Justice European Commission:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/ci … nt_low.pdf

Accordingly, the only mention of a lease agreement / rental contract in the Identity Malta website is in respect of Non-EU applicants for ‘e-Residence Documents'.

Please see: https://identitymalta.com/citizenships-expatriates/

Nice! That makes a lot more sense. Thank you Fionn for the invaluable advice. Although from what others have said whether the requirements as enforced actually match the requirements in theory could be another matter. I will report back on my experience.

Fionn wrote:

There is no requirement for a lease agreement / rental contract in respect of a non-Maltese EU / EEA / Swiss resident applying for an ‘e-Residence Card' according to EU law.

In this regard, please see Freedom to move and live in Europe: A Guide to your rights as an EU citizen, published by the Directorate-General Justice European Commission:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/ci … nt_low.pdf

Accordingly, the only mention of a lease agreement / rental contract in the Identity Malta website is in respect of Non-EU applicants for ‘e-Residence Documents'.

Please see: https://identitymalta.com/citizenships-expatriates/

There is no requirement under EU law for you to apply for a residence card in Malta at all, but this is Malta, and their requirements are, that you notify the Authorities of your intention to reside here if you are intending to live here permanently. That process means applying using the eResidence system and you will be required to show evidence of your address!

Quoting EU regulations means nothing to the Maltese Government!

Ray

Ray is absolutely correct ...the Maltese government only take note of eu regulations when it suits them....this doesnt so take everything you can think of ( more if you can)  and copy it all ...

Fionn wrote:

There is no requirement for a lease agreement / rental contract in respect of a non-Maltese EU / EEA / Swiss resident applying for an ‘e-Residence Card' according to EU law.

In this regard, please see Freedom to move and live in Europe: A Guide to your rights as an EU citizen, published by the Directorate-General Justice European Commission:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/ci … nt_low.pdf

Accordingly, the only mention of a lease agreement / rental contract in the Identity Malta website is in respect of Non-EU applicants for ‘e-Residence Documents'.

Please see: https://identitymalta.com/citizenships-expatriates/

I assume you have not applied for your card?

F0xgl0ve wrote:

Fionn wrote:

There is no requirement for a lease agreement / rental contract in respect of a non-Maltese EU / EEA / Swiss resident applying for an ‘e-Residence Card' according to EU law.

In this regard, please see Freedom to move and live in Europe: A Guide to your rights as an EU citizen, published by the Directorate-General Justice European Commission:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/ci … nt_low.pdf

Accordingly, the only mention of a lease agreement / rental contract in the Identity Malta website is in respect of Non-EU applicants for ‘e-Residence Documents'.

Please see: https://identitymalta.com/citizenships-expatriates/

There is no requirement under EU law for you to apply for a residence card in Malta at all, but this is Malta, and their requirements are, that you notify the Authorities of your intention to reside here if you are intending to live here permanently. That process means applying using the eResidence system and you will be required to show evidence of your address!

Quoting EU regulations means nothing to the Maltese Government!

Ray

1) On the contrary, according to EU law, ‘You and your family members might be required to report your presence within a reasonable period of time after arrival. This allows the public authorities of the host EU country to be fully aware of population movements in their territory…..'

Please see page 15: 

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/ci … nt_low.pdf

2) However, after 3 months, a non-Maltese EU / EEA / Swiss immigrant is obliged to merely notify the Maltese authorities that they are exercising their Right of residence and in turn, the Maltese authorities are obliged to acknowledge that notification.

The notion of 'applying' for 'permission' or 'applying' for a residence 'permit' (sic) does not arise. 

3) On the contrary, there is no requirement to show evidence of your address:

In this regard, please see: https://identitymalta.com/citizenships-expatriates/

4) On the contrary, quoting EU regulations means everything to the Maltese Government, especially given that they are presently under EU institutional scrutiny regarding various illegalities in this regard.

5) As soon as an aggrieved non-Maltese EU associate informed the Identity Malta that she had filed a formal complaint with the European Commission last week, they complied with the rule of EU law and instantly issued her with her ‘e-Residence Documents' – incidentally, WITHOUT her having provided them with any lease agreement / rental contract.

This is all so confusing - son has a job in St Julian's but waiting for his gaming licence. Needs to open Bank account but Barclays say they don't do references so not sure how he can open account without one? Needs bank account to rent a property - also do I assume he need not apply for ID card yet as he does not know where he'all be living - we are hoping to go over soon to find him a property to rent but not really sure he'all get one without a bank account etc - it's a vicious circle!

Normally you find somewhere to live first then apply for a bank account and residence card. If he has a bank account in the U.K.  he can use that to start off with.  When we opened an account with Banff we did not need references, only a copy of the lease and our passports.

No (Maltese) bank account is needed for finding a place to rent. We use our Austrian bank account to transfer the rent, friends of ours pay in cash every month (although I'd prefer transferring the money, as it is easier to proove you've paid in case there are any issues later on...)

bernie_iris_fabian_david wrote:

No (Maltese) bank account is needed for finding a place to rent. We use our Austrian bank account to transfer the rent, friends of ours pay in cash every month (although I'd prefer transferring the money, as it is easier to proove you've paid in case there are any issues later on...)

We pay cash but get a signature from our landlord every time so have proof.

Slightly off topic but for for what it's worth Barclays will give out reference letters but it depends on who you deal with. I first tried telephone banking but they were adamant that they don't do it, but then my branch did it for a £12 charge.

didnt need reference letters for either BOV or HSBC accounts

I hopefully have a job lined up so am planning on moving to Bugibba where I will get a six month rental.  Does anyone know if I can apply for my e-residence card in Victoria?  It's easier to get to than Valletta and I gather a much quieter office!

Thanks

ecco66 wrote:

I hopefully have a job lined up so am planning on moving to Bugibba where I will get a six month rental.  Does anyone know if I can apply for my e-residence card in Victoria?  It's easier to get to than Valletta and I gather a much quieter office!

Thanks

As far as I am aware Victoria office is for Gozo residents.

Thanks, I will have to head to Valletta then!

I'll tell you of my experience of obtaining an Gozitan id card in Gozo after hearing all sorts on conflicting information like having to go to Malta etc to apply which was wrong.

I am retired and self sufficient and a British citizen. I came on Feb 23rd this year and four weeks later needed some minor medical treatment. I produced my EU medical card at the Gozo medical centre in Victoria. I was given a Gozitan medical hospital number and a hospital note from the doctor. I went to the hospital and they gave me an appointment which was for three weeks thereafter. I was also taken to the bills department where they gave me a year's temporary health certificate.

Then in July I was told by a friend I had to obtain a form S1 from the UK's tax office and apply at the immigration department in Victoria, St Frances Square. When I went to the office they informed me they didn't need the S1 and all I had to do was produce the medical certificate, passport, bank statement to prove my self sufficiency, passport photos and the rental lease for my rented apartment. I filled in three forms and three weeks later I collected my id card.

So there was nothing about the 90 days caveat and the staff were friendly and very helpful. Thereafter I had to go to the ARMS office to produce the id card to get the utilities changed to the cheaper rate.

If you live in Gozo you have not had to go to Malta to get your  e residence card for at least three years.

This is true, however, they do like to make it up as they go. There is always the "official route" and the " Maltese route".  , it does depend on which way the wind is blowing.