Working in Malta from South Africa

Hi,

just to clarify before I answer. You say you are an EU resident but what passport do you hold?

If you hold an EU passport your husband will be also entitled to the same rights as an EU citizen.

And welcome to the forum.

Regards
Ricky

Thanks for your reply, yes I hold a UK passport. So there would be no problem with him working or setting up as self employed as long as we are married and living together (which of course we would be doing!)?

Also having looked today it seems even if he is travelling with me to Malta for a holiday he would need a Schengen visa still.

So am a bit surprised that he would still need a visa to get into the country but then before affored that rights as an EU citizen? So would he need a different visa to get into and live in the country?

Thanks again, all advice is much appreciated!

Hi,

Yes, you are right!

The UK ( through their own decision ) is not part of the Schengen area. Your husband will need to go through the whole Schengen visa procedure and rely on your position as EU citizen to get his legal rights in Malta.

As a SA citizen he will need the visa before he comes to Malta with you but it should not be a big deal. Here in Malta you will have a bit of a hassle but in the end you should both be ok and he will be able to work or be self-employed. But it could be a fight with the authorities as usual in Malta. He will depend on your entitlement to residency too ! Job or money counts .....

So first step is to apply for a visitors visa for  him and then , here in Malta, for residency as he is your husband and you can apply for him to be with you and have the same rights as an EU citizen. Sounds complicated and can be too ....

Regards
Ricky

PS. Make sure that he ticks the box that says he wants dual citizenship if he applies for the UK passport , otherwise he will lose the validity of his SA passport

Oops! The first part of my post didn't go through. I suggested that your husband applies for a UK passport if he discovers that he can't open a business in Malta with a SA passport. He will have to pass the 'Life in the UK' test first that is done online at one of the government centres. It might take a few months to sort out so could be worthwhile investigating sooner rather than later. Because my husband and I came into the UK on Anscestral Visas it took us nearly 6 years to get our UK passports and cost us in the vicinity of £1,300 each to get through all the stages of red tape!

Hi Furrysheep,
Great to hear you are looking at coming to Malta.
We've just arrived a few months ago and although we haven't met other South Africans yet we have heard there are a number around (I would imagine to be found near the rugby games ).
Unfortunately (?) my wife and are are both on UK passports so don't have direct experience but we've been looking at helping friends come over who are in the same boat as you.
I think Ricky is right and most of the officialese is in this link below (this is my 1st post so I don't know if links can be posted, but I guess I'll find out soon enough). If the link doesn't work go to the Residence section and its number 3 (leaflet CEA/L/7).
Good luck!

So that's a negative to links - my bad, off to the posting guidelines section i go!

Hi scatty,

welcome to the forum.

Normally links should work but the precedures for non-EN third country nationals have been discussed and linked in the past ( see sections on visa's and work permits).

In the end every case has to be considered on it's own circumstances and there can be large differences in the problems that are encountered with.

And yes, there are many South African's in Malta. The one I know would probably not be found near a rugby game but in Mellieha -)))

Cheers
Ricky

Hi,

I have recently come back to South Africa from Malta where I found a job at the international school. I needed to come home to sort out visas but I wanted to know if someone could help me as to what visa I would need to get.

A work permit was approved in malta and the school is going ahead and getting everything prepared from their side but I need to get everything done on this side and
I am not sure if I would need to apply for a business/work or a long stay visa because I need to be able to stay in the country to work for a year because that is how long my work contract with the school is.

Please if anyone could help clarify what I need to do in SA to get things done smoothly and quickly.

Thanks