Malta: the 2027 budget raises charges for non-EU residents

In brief

• Malta's 2027 budget was announced on 26 October 2026. Measures on foreign nationals take effect once legal notices are published; some are tied to 1 January 2027.
• The fee for a new work permit for third-country nationals rises from EUR 600 to EUR 800. An annual infrastructure contribution of EUR 400 is added for new permits and renewals; minors are exempt.
• Foreign driving licences will be usable for 12 months from entry. A fee of EUR 83 a month is introduced for category B and B1 licences, with exemptions for EU citizens, long-term residents and citizens of the UK, Australia and the UAE.
• From 1 January 2027 free public transport will remain only for Maltese nationals, EU citizens and long-term residents.
• The government expects the new charges to raise around EUR 80 million a year. The tourist eco-contribution is rising separately.

What the budget announced

The Finance Minister justified the new charges by the fact that Malta's population is growing quickly through workers from outside the EU, while the load on roads, transport and social services falls on the budget. The budget's logic is that those who benefit from the economy should contribute to infrastructure costs. The government estimates the charges on foreign workers will bring in about EUR 80 million a year.

The main figures are in the table below. They are taken from the minister's speech and budget analyses by major audit firms published on 26 and 27 October. Note that some reports say the permit fee rises by EUR 200 and others say from 600 to 800. It is the same thing. A new hire will cost the employer, or the worker, EUR 1,200 in charges in the first year: 800 for the application and 400 for the contribution.

A budget is a policy statement. For the measures to apply, the government issues legal notices and amendments to the rules of Identità, the agency that issues permits. Exact dates, payment procedures and exemptions will be set out in those documents. Until they are published, details may change.

What this means for you. If you work in Malta on a permit or plan to move for a job, budget an extra EUR 400 a year per adult from 2027 and a more expensive first permit.

Who is affected and who is not

Most of the measures target third-country workers who receive a single work and residence permit. This is the largest group of foreign nationals in Malta: hotel and restaurant staff, construction workers, drivers, couriers, carers. For them the permit and renewal will cost more, and free transport and childcare will be restricted.

A separate group is foreign nationals with long-term status. They keep free transport and are exempt from the licence fee. Reports citing the minister refer to long-term residents holding a five-year residence permit. EU citizens are not affected at all.

What is unclear is how the measures will apply to investors. Holders of permanent residence under the MPRP do not receive an employment work permit, so by the budget's logic the application fee does not affect them. But whether the infrastructure contribution, the licence fee and the transport rules apply depends on whether they count as long-term residents. As of 27 October there is no official clarification. The same goes for holders of the GRP tax status and the nomad residence permit, who have no employment in Malta.

What this means for you. Holders of permanent residence and tax statuses need not panic, but they cannot count on an exemption in advance either. Wait for the legal notices and check how they define a long-term resident.

Licences and transport: what changes day to day

The most noticeable everyday measure concerns driving licences. A foreign national with a residence permit will be able to drive on their home licence for 12 months from the date of entry, after which a Maltese or EU licence is needed. Separately, an administrative fee of EUR 83 a month is introduced for category B and B1 licences issued or renewed from 1 January 2027. That is about EUR 1,000 a year. Exempt are EU and EEA citizens, long-term residents, citizens of the UK, Australia and the UAE, and holders of permits for driving jobs.

Since 2022 free public transport in Malta has been available to all residents with a personalised card. From 1 January 2027 it will remain only for Maltese and Gozitan residents, EU citizens and long-term residents. For others, according to the local press, travel will cost around EUR 33 a month. More on a family budget on the island is in our piece on the cost of living in Malta, and on daily life in general in the article on life in Malta.

Family benefits are also being restricted: free childcare and the atypical work payment will be available to third-country nationals only after five years of living in Malta. Families moving with young children should factor this in; general rules for family residence are in the guide to residence for the whole family.

What this means for you. If you live in Malta and drive on a foreign licence, check your date of entry and allow time to exchange your licence. The EUR 83 monthly fee makes driving on a foreign licence for long unattractive.

Example: how much more a family will pay in 2027

To see the scale, take a notional family: two adults from outside the EU, both getting a work permit for the first time in 2027, a four-year-old child and one car. The calculation uses only figures from the minister's speech and press reports, without legal notices, so it is an estimate, not an official schedule of fees.

• Permit applications: 2 at EUR 800, EUR 1,600 instead of EUR 1,200 under the current rules.
• Infrastructure contribution: 2 at EUR 400, EUR 800 a year; the child is exempt.
• Transport for two adults, if the fare is about EUR 33 a month: roughly EUR 790 a year.
• Licences: for the first 12 months a foreign licence can be used. If a Maltese category B licence is then issued, the EUR 83 monthly fee adds about EUR 1,000 a year.
• Childcare: the free option will not be available until 5 years of living in Malta; private nursery costs vary by area.

In total, in the first year the family pays roughly EUR 2,000 more than now, excluding childcare; from the second year, including the licence, about EUR 2,600 a year. For high earners this is modest, for service sector staff it is significant. That is why business associations expect part of the cost to be passed to employers.

What it means for investors and tax statuses

For those choosing Malta for residence or permanent residence by investment, the budget does not change programme terms: MPRP amounts, procedure and due diligence requirements stay the same. The programme is covered in detail in our piece on Malta MPRP permanent residence and in the MPRP guide. But the budget shows the direction: the country is making foreigners' stay more expensive and dividing them into those with long-term status and everyone else.

Malta's tax statuses are changing too. From 2027 a new programme for foreign nationals with a minimum tax of EUR 35,000 and a housing requirement is being introduced; see our news story on Malta's tax statuses from 2027. To compare with current regimes, read the articles on the non-dom regime and the GRP programme, and the page on Malta tax residency.

If predictable costs matter to you, compare Malta with its neighbours. Cyprus permanent residence gives no right to employment but does not depend on permits either; see Cyprus or Malta. The Portugal golden visa requires at least 7 days a year, with citizenship now after 10 years; see MPRP or Portugal. The Greece golden visa gives a five-year permit with no residence requirement.

One more practical point is timing. If you are choosing between Malta and another country, the budget is no reason to rush an application: programme amounts are unchanged, and the new charges mainly concern life on the island. Those who do have a reason to hurry are people already living in Malta on a permit who can file a renewal before the new rules take effect.

Permits issued before the legal notices are published should, in principle, run until their expiry date without new charges, but this too depends on the wording of the transitional rules. Keep copies of all permit decisions and payment receipts so that you can prove when each permit was issued.

What this means for you. For an investor the budget is a signal, not a change of rules. But if you plan to live in Malta permanently, count the full costs for the family, including licences, transport and childcare, not just the programme amount.

Business reaction and what comes next

Malta's business associations gave mixed reactions. The Chamber of Commerce supported the higher tourist charge provided the money goes into infrastructure, but criticised the higher permit fees: in its view, they are a way of raising revenue, and employers will end up paying. The hotel and restaurant association warned of lost competitiveness. Critics in the press call the measures unfair to low-paid workers, for whom EUR 400 is a noticeable share of income.

Next, the budget will be debated in Parliament, and the government will then publish legal notices. Budget measures usually take effect from 1 January of the following year, but the exact dates for each charge will be set by those documents. We will update this story when they appear. The tourist eco-contribution, which will rise from EUR 1.50 to EUR 8 and EUR 10 a night, is covered separately: Malta raises its tourist eco-contribution.

What to do now

Permit types are covered in the article on Malta residence permits, options for Russians in Malta residence for Russians, buying property in Malta real estate. Presence requirements across countries are compared in the guide to residence presence requirements. A country overview is on the Malta page and in the Malta guide. If you need to renew a permit, we can help with renewals; an online consultation will assess your situation. All BRIDGES services are on the home page.

How this article was prepared

Sources: the Maltese Finance Minister's 2027 budget speech of 26 October 2026 (Ministry for Finance, in Maltese); budget analyses by audit firms dated 26-27 October 2026; local press reports on the budget and business reactions. Legal notices implementing the budget measures had not been published as of 27 October 2026, so amounts and dates follow the minister's speech and may be refined. The EUR 33 monthly transport figure is from local press reports. This article does not replace a consultation.