COVID-19 and expatriation in Malta

After reducing corona am ready to work in malta

I'm currently stuck in the UK with a tenancy agreement for an apartment in Malta since 1st April 2020 and there is no sign that I can get out to the rock anytime soon.

I was going to visit Malta the first 2 weeks of March to look for a place to live.  I had to cancel the trip.  All of my plans are on hold until this crisis is over.

Hi
Well, we arrived on the 06 March overland across Europe from Ireland with our 2 🐶 🐶.  We Drove with minimal stops  and after a nights air b& b in Macon France, we took the ferry(GNV) from Genoa ( very hard to navigate through Genoa to port, all one way) to Palermo 22hours ( more like 26!) but I have to say very dog friendly cabins and near empty.  We then drove thought the night to pozzallo to catch the ferry to Valletta the only time our passports or dogs were checked was on arrival in Valletta and we pre- notified prior to our arrival.
Since arriving we have basically been in isolation and doesn’t feel like real living. My other half’s job is on hold due to Covid 19 ( his a barber 💈)  We don’t quite know our next move we play it day by day
One thing for sure is our relationship with our Grandson has blossomed so this is a positive and the endless  blue sky’s...☀️☀️ So for now we stay( not a lot of choice lol)

Driving through countries with the virus should not be recommended at the moment..

I was planning to move over in early June with the aim of getting a job and securing residency status before December 31st when the UK/EU transition period expires and the window closes.

At present the UK government are saying that they’ll not be asking the EU to extend the transition date so it’s looking a little doubtful re my plan.

I’m hoping the current situation ends as quickly as it began but I have a feeling that it will be late summer before Malta opens its airport and starts welcoming people again, at the earliest.  After the 31st I become a TCN which is different in terms of healthcare etc.

What do you think will happen?

Me too

Gozo

Hi everyone
Hope everyone is well and safe.I was planing to move this summer after my son finish his school here but with this situation not sure about anything.Even if everything open it will be along time  for everything to get back to normal and i think nobody knows what is going to happened and when everything will be back to normal
As you all know France ,Italy and Spain started to ease the lock down a bit and i am hopping for the best and hope they know what they doing
God help us all in this

I've pretty much cancelled my plans on going to Malta now and am looking at the Netherlands, purely from technical standpoints. I'm just very fortunate that I have an EU passport so I don't have to worry about Brexit, though my family are on UK passports.  Everything though is on hold, except that I'm taking this time to learn Dutch now!

Good luck everyone, stay safe.

Hello everyone,
My name is Kathy and my husband is David.
I am a Maltese Citizen and David is by way of marriage but has not yet collected final papers from Maltese Consulate in U K or Malta, which ever was to come first.
Here is our Covid story:
We have sold our British property and we’re ready to move back to Malta, we just need a new home. On the 18th March we had flights booked to fly out and do just that but Covid hit and isolation began. Malta said people had to quarantine for two weeks but that was no good we were only coming over for a week to view a few properties and choose one. It’s a good job we didn’t go because the hotel bill would have been astronomical. We checked!
Anyway like so many others,  our flights were eventually cancelled.

Our home is packed  in boxes  and we now have nowhere to live.

We keep looking for temporary accommodation in U.K. until Covid has run its course and we can return home.
We can’t repatriated as we have no home address in Malta at this time at least that’s what we’ve been told.
Our money is disappearing fast on wasted storage when it should be used on setting up our new life back home in Malta.
I have a Maltese passport but not ID as no residence so if you can help. In anyway

All we were looking for was a 2/3 bedroom place to rent that would accept our dog ( Chihuahua) and cat preferably ground floor, house or maisonette if apartment must have a lift as my mobility is not so good at times. David will be finding work, hopefully, when we get there. Otherwise if there is space for me to craft great if not , I’ll make space. Plenty of outside space too.
I love too swim so easy access to sea would be great.
This info applies to U.K. too until we can move back home. We need something and quick in the U.K.
I know it’s wishful thinking giving all this information but it helps keep our spirits up.
You never know there might be a way to get us home we haven’t thought about.
And somebody might just have something or where we can live because right now we haven’t and the next place we look at is going to take an even bigger amount of money but hey if we do take it , it’s a roof over our heads.
What a mess one virus can cause. STAY SAFE EVERYONE AND STAY HOME. Love you all God Bless.

Hi the, just an up date

We think we have found somewhere temporary to live until the Covid -19 is over   
Our next move after that will be to try and get back to Malta. Which has always been our plan. As soon as the airports open we will be on a plane. Our property will be in transit ASAP and we can continue life the way it was meant to be.
Stay safe everyone.

Let’s hope your wait will not be too long, good luck.

Thank you. I know I have family in Malta but just not sure who they are so I hope they are all okay.
God Bless. Stay safe everyone. X

I also had a trip to Malta at the end of March which was cancelled so I cannot look for a place to live there. I am moving to Malta by early August but I do not know where to live. Good luck!

Spanish are forbidden to enter in Malta at least until 12 June so I do not know when I will be able to travel by Ferry from Barcelona.

Hi,

I was planning to move over to Gozo in early June but that’s not going to happen any time soon obviously, certainly not in time for a departure that soon anyway.

Given I’m British, my worry is that I’ll miss the chance of applying for/securing Residency status by December 31st, the end of the UK-EU Transition period. I was intending to apply on the basis of Employment/Self Employment but given that vacancies are likely to be scarce I’ll probably switch to a Self Sufficiency application now.

I’d still like to fly over and begin my new life as soon as possible, with a serious eye on safety in terms of the virus of course, not only for myself but for the Maltese/Gozitans and expats as well. But that depends on the airport opening and the governments view re allowing UK travellers in given the extremely high infection rates in the past and, relatively at least, at present. I have heard murmurings that Spain will not allow UK nationals in until Spring 2021 at the earliest, how true it is I don’t know because similar to Malta, the British holiday maker represents a significant proportion of their tourism market.

We shall see of course but my question is - can I apply remotely and secure Residency status if I dispatch all of the required documentation via email, including a scanned copy of my passport?

If you could answer this question with any clarity I’d be most obliged to you.

Best Wishes
Joe T

You have to attend to apply I am afraid.

Indications are that the transition period will be extended, time will tell.

You cannot apply until you are here as when you take your application in they also take your photograph, I think you will be allowed in even if it’s at a later date.

Thank you, I thought that may well be the case, hopefully the Transition period will be extended.

Thank you, I think it’s best to get there as soon as possible, assuming it’s safe to do so for all concerned of course.

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