Malta permanent residence: is it possible to get a loan to participate in the investment program?

Omar and Nur are a married couple from Egypt. Together, they established a catering business that now brings a regular income.

When the most challenging time of developing a business from scratch was behind them, they decided to focus on making their personal life more comfortable. Being able to manage the company remotely, they saw no obstacles to moving elsewhere.

How to get Malta permanent residence

Their main goal was to relocate to a peaceful country with pure air, a clean environment and an opportunity to live by the sea. It must be suitable for raising kids and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Omar and Nur also wanted their child, Mohamed, to enter a European university after finishing school. They hoped it would give him an excellent education and live and work anywhere he wanted.

The couple turned to Immigrant Invest at the end of 2017. They wanted to obtain citizenship so they didn’t have to go through the application process over and over again and renew their statuses every 1—2 years as it would be with residence permits.

We offered them citizenship by investment programs available in the Caribbean region:

• Antigua and Barbuda — $100,000+;

• Dominica — $100,000+;

• St Lucia — $100,000+;

• Grenada — $150,000+;

• St Kitts and Nevis — $150,000+. In 2023, St Kitts and Nevis authorities reconsidered the program’s conditions and increased a minimum investment sum to $250,000.

With the citizenship of one of the countries above, Omar and Nur could move to the Caribbean region as well as travel visa-free around the world. The absence of many taxes and minimal tax rates for companies made these countries attractive for entrepreneurs who want to run their businesses on the most favourable terms.

The ecological situation in the Caribbean area also aligned with Omar and Nur’s demands.

However, the first concern that arose was the remoteness of the region. Both Omar and Nur had elderly parents living in Egypt. The couple didn’t want to move too far away from their country of origin because they wanted to visit their parents regularly.

The second concern was higher education. Omar and Nur learned that entering a European university with a Caribbean passport can take a lot of work. A potential student can’t just enter a European country and start studying there. They need to obtain a student visa that can be denied. Moreover, it is required to renew it every year.

Considering this information, the couple decided not to apply for Caribbean citizenship.

Omar and Nur considered getting citizenship in a European country. We offered two countries: Turkey and Malta. Both of them had citizenship by investment programs.

Turkey had several investment options to choose from:

1. Purchase of real estate for $250,000+. In 2023, the minimum investment in real estate is $400,000.

2. Opening a bank deposit with $500,000+.

3. Purchase of government bonds or securities for $500,000.

4. Opening a business with a capital of $600,000+ or creating 50 jobs.

5. Purchase of shares of an investment fund for $500,000+.

Malta citizenship requirements were to contribute to the National Development and Social Fund at least €650,000 and buy government bonds for €150,000. Besides, the applicant needed to rent or buy real estate for 5 years — €16,000 per annum or €350,000+, respectively. The investor couldn’t choose and had to fulfil all the conditions.

Conditions for obtaining Malta citizenship have changed. From 2020, obtaining Malta citizenship is a naturalisation path. For investors, it takes 1—3 years and requires an investment of at least 690,000.

After comparing the two countries, Omar and Nur preferred Malta. They were lured by a visa-free regime with the Schengen states, which meant they wouldn’t need to apply for visas with Malta citizenship. Turkish citizenship didn’t have such a benefit.

Malta also had a higher quality of life and didn’t belong to the earthquake-prone regions by contrast with Turkey.

However, obtaining a Maltese passport required Omar and Nur to withdraw a significant portion of the money invested in their business. They were unsatisfied with this idea and started looking for a solution.

Omar heard from his business partner that it was possible to take on credit for participation in the citizenship program at one of the banking institutions of Malta. He was also convinced that such a scheme was legal and acceptable.

This idea was attractive but had dangerous pitfalls that our client was unaware of. When Omar told us about it and also about the fact that he had planned to sign a corresponding agreement soon, we reacted immediately.

Such a loan is available only if an applicant always had an amount equal to the investment under the program on their deposit account. In this case, the amount was about €1,000,000. Alternatively, it was possible to provide other documents proving that the applicant could make payments towards the loan at any time without the risk of being broke.

Omar dismissed this idea. Even though his business was functioning well, he did want to have spare money on him in case something unpredictable happened. Thus, he was not ready to take money from business and keep €1,000,000 in the deposit for several years with an obligation to pay off the loan.

Moreover, he knew obtaining citizenship could take at least several months. At the same time, the loan required a significant package of documents and explanations to be prepared and provided, which would certainly prolong the whole process of moving to Malta.

Ten months later, the approval from the government came, granting permanent residence to Omar, Nur and their son, and they became Maltese permanent residents.

Now they live in Sliema and enjoy a seaside location, fresh air and a high quality of life.

They plan to have at least one more child, and they were happy to find out that Malta has an exceptional quality healthcare system. Now, they don’t need to meticulously check all the clinics to choose the one that suits them well or plan a medical trip to another country.

Omar and Nur are also considering expanding their catering business and entering the large European market.