22.09.2026
As global mobility becomes routine corporate policy, employers are increasingly asked to sign off on staff relocating to Malta under the Nomad Residence Permit. The criteria are refreshingly clear compared to many residence schemes: a non-EU employee, earning at least €42,000 gross annually, employed by an entity registered outside Malta, can reside on the island while continuing to work remotely. Handled well, it's a smooth way to support an employee's move without disrupting the underlying employment relationship. Getting the structure right at the outset is what keeps it that way.
The one boundary worth setting clearly
Residency Malta Agency's rules exclude two categories of remote worker:
individuals contracted by a foreign company to provide services to that company's Maltese subsidiary or branch; and
individuals who, directly or indirectly, provide services to Malta-based businesses or residents.
In practice, the Agency looks past where an employee is paid or who signs their contract, to where the functional benefit of their work actually lands. An employee working under a genuinely foreign contract, whose responsibilities stay foreign-facing, sits comfortably within the scheme. The same employee picking up occasional local support work may not — which is why it's worth confirming the boundary once, clearly, rather than letting it blur over time.
Why it's worth getting right early
Renewals go smoothly. Eligibility is reassessed at each renewal rather than assumed to carry over, so a role that has stayed within scope from the outset tends to renew without friction.
The tax treatment holds. Under the Nomad Residence Permits (Income Tax) Rules (S.L. 123.210), clarified by the Malta Tax & Customs Administration's Guidelines of 16 January 2026, qualifying authorised-work income is exempt from Maltese tax for the first 12 months and taxed at a flat 10% thereafter. Keeping the role within the authorised categories is what preserves that treatment.
The employer's own position stays simple. Where a role's local involvement grows, it's sensible for the company's own tax advisers to take a look at whether that raises any broader questions under general international tax principles — a separate, manageable conversation to have early rather than retrospectively.
What to keep in view over the life of the permit
The permit runs for one year and is renewable up to three times, for a maximum of four years. To keep it on track:
Income. A minimum gross annual income of €42,000 (employees who applied before 1 April 2024 retain the €32,400 threshold on renewal).
Physical presence. A cumulative minimum of five months in Malta each year — a requirement set out in Residency Malta Agency's own published guidance and renewal checklist and verified at renewal through local bank transaction records.
Scope. Day-to-day deliverables kept clearly within the foreign-facing role the permit was granted for.
Travel doesn't have to stop at the border
The five-month figure is a floor in Malta, not a ceiling on movement elsewhere. As the holder of a Maltese residence permit, a Nomad Residence Permit holder can travel and stay across the rest of the Schengen Area for up to 90 days within any rolling 180-day period, without needing a separate visa. In practice, that means genuine freedom to travel for the remainder of the year — the only constraint is making sure enough time is banked in Malta itself, evidenced through local bank activity, by the time renewal comes around. For employers, this is worth factoring into how a relocated employee's year is planned: the flexibility is real, but it isn't unlimited.
A good habit, not a hurdle
Before signing off on a relocation, it's worth a brief, one-time confirmation: does this role touch any Maltese entity, client, or group affiliate, directly or indirectly? Where the answer is clearly no, the process from here is genuinely straightforward. Where it's not, that's a conversation worth having before the application goes in, not after.
Dingli & Dingli Law Firm advises international employers, HR teams, and individuals on Maltese immigration compliance and cross-border remote work arrangements, including the Nomad Residence Permit.