Malta Startup Residence Programme

1. The Malta Startup Residence Programme is open to: • startup founders and co-founders; • core employees who are vital for the startup to start operating in Malta and who have specialised skills; • family members of the startup founders, co-founders and core employees, including, spouse, de-facto partner, minor children and adult sons or daughters who are principally dependent on the founder/core employee.

3. Founders, co-founders, core employees and family members must: • be third-country nationals, non-EU, non-EEA and non-Swiss. Nationals from the currently sanctioned countries of (or have close ties with) Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Venezuela are ineligible. This list of ineligible countries may be revised from time to time;

1. A startup undertaking shall be considered eligible if it is, or shall be, engaged in one or more of the following activities in Malta: • manufacturing; • software development; • industrial services analogous to manufacturing; • health, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and life sciences; • eco startups involved in the blue, green and sustainable industries;

other innovative economic activities which are enabled through knowledge and technology providing services or products which are currently not readily available in the relevant market or which shall be provided through a process which is novel.

2. The startup must have been registered for no longer than seven (7) years, globally (including Malta), and must meet the following criteria: • it has not taken over the activity of another enterprise • it has not been formed through a merger

3. Eligible business projects must meet at least two of the following criteria: • propose products and/or services that have the potential to generate income from various geographical markets; • produce products and/or services which are new, innovative or substantially improved compared to complementary products on the market; • utilise processes which are new or substantially improved compared to those adopted in current complementary activities.

5. The company’s business plan must be approved by Malta Enterprise;

Applicants are required to submit a mandatory business plan on the provided template both when applying for the Malta Startup Residence Programme as a standalone and even when applying for this programme together with financial assistance from Malta Enterprise.

4. The incorporated startup in Malta is required to place a tangible investment and/or paid up share capital of not less than €25,000. In case where more than four (4) co-founders apply for the Malta Startup Residence Programme, an additional €10,000 needs to be placed per additional co-founder. In any case, the maximum number of co-founders eligible for the Startup Residence Programme is six (6);

be in possession of sufficient financial resources in own bank statement to support themselves and any other dependants;

have a full-time employment contract in Malta with the company which has benefited from the Malta Startup Residence Programme;

have an annual gross salary of at least €30,000 per annum;

4. Any permits issued to founders, co-founders, core employees and families are subject to the startup maintaining the approved business activity and adhering to all other residence permit prerequisites, following the approval, as determined by Malta Enterprise and Residency Malta Agency (the Agencies);

5. Founders and co-founders benefitting from this programme need to have a physical and tangible presence in Malta not only from a business point of view but also in terms of living in Malta. Thus, those benefitting need to be living and paying their taxes in Malta.

collaborate with Malta Enterprise throughout the validity of the permit, including on the submission of a detailed business plan and the timely provision of monitoring reports that may be annual or bi-annual as will be indicated in the approval letter;

3. The residence permit issued to family members does not grant beneficiaries automatic access to the labour market. However, one can make use of an existing processes to submit the necessary applications to take up employment in Malta.

6. The residence permit of founders and co-founders will be issued for three (3) years, which upon successful completion will be extended to a further five (5) years.

2. The residence permit of core employees will be issued for three (3) years, which upon successful completion will be extended to a further three (3) years.

submit their application online after the residence permit is approved for founders and co-founders;

5. Prior to the collection of residency cards, the startup needs to be fully incorporated in Malta, registered with the relevant local authorities and have the founder and co-founder/s residing in Malta registered as employee/s of the Maltese startup;

€750 for each adult applicant / dependant for a 3-year Startup Residence Programme;

Founders, co-founders, and core employees must pay Jobsplus a fee of €690 for the employment licence that covers the duration of the licence for the first three years.