Documents, arrival and housing

Skills Pass names ten topics for the first module, including Documentation Needed When Moving to Malta, a Pre-Departure Checklist, and Accommodation and Cost of Living in Malta. Use your official course materials first; this page practises the rules behind those areas.

Identità's checklist for a new application includes a full copy of your passport (blank pages too, valid for more than eight months), a work contract signed by you and your employer showing your basic wage and how long the job lasts, a health screening approval email, and the Pre-Departure Course certificate unless you are exempt.

If you rent, it asks for a lease naming you as the tenant, the Housing Authority's approval letter for the property, and a lease attestation form: the landlord signs it, and a lawyer, notary or legal procurator completes and officially stamps it. People living in a hotel give a Keeper's Declaration instead, and people given free accommodation give a Declaration of Accommodation. Health insurance must cover at least €100,000 throughout the permit's first year. Some jobs need more, such as full Skills Pass certification for tourism and hospitality or a food handlers certificate for catering.

Biometrics means your fingerprints and photo. After the Approval in Principle letter, you book a biometrics appointment online and bring the documents the letter lists, the original of every document you uploaded, and copies. After satisfactory biometrics and document checks, you get an Interim Receipt: it lets you stay legally while it is valid, but it is not a travel document. If it carries a “Temporary Authorisation to Work” stamp, you can start work before your residence card arrives.

Start preparing a renewal about 90 days before your permit expires. If you need health screening, you can only submit 30 days before expiry. You can only apply while your current permit is still valid.

A long residential lease lasts at least one year and must be in writing, with any deposit and a signed inventory (a list of the home's contents and condition). The landlord must register the lease with the Housing Authority; a delay in registering cannot be used against the tenant.

Under the standard rule for a long lease shorter than two years, you can end it after six months by giving at least one month's notice by registered letter. An agreed yearly rent increase applies only after the first year, follows the Property Price Index (an official measure of property prices), and can never be more than 5%.