Malta — After the 2025 Ruling

The investor route has gone. A narrow, merit-based path remains — and it is not for sale.

Malta operated the European Union’s last standalone citizenship-by-investment route until the Court of Justice ruled it unlawful on 29 April 2025. We include Malta here not to sell a defunct programme, but because clients ask about it and deserve an accurate answer.

The current position. Malta has discontinued citizenship by direct investment. In its place sits a discretionary framework sometimes described as citizenship by merit — reserved for individuals who have made genuinely exceptional contributions to Malta or to humanity in fields such as science, culture, innovation or philanthropy. It is not an investment programme, it is highly selective, and it cannot be acquired by contribution alone.

The realistic Maltese route. For those committed to Malta specifically, the viable path is now residence followed, after a qualifying period of genuine residence, by ordinary naturalisation — the same lawful course that exists across the European Union. Malta retains attractive residence options and a favourable tax framework for the internationally mobile, which we are well placed to advise upon.

Moore Law’s role. We give you the candid current position, assess whether the merit framework or a residence-to-naturalisation route is realistic for you, and — if Europe is the objective — design a plan grounded in substance rather than in a product that no longer exists.