Last chance for expats living in Saudi Arabia to take advantage of the current Malta citizenship regulations

16 July 2020

Residence appointments must be submitted before August 14th. Following this date, the new regulations will likely see an increase in the non-refundable contribution of €150,000

Latitude's Dubai arm, RIF Trust, the Middle East's leading Residency and Citizenship by Investment Advisory headquartered in Dubai, is making one last call for the current Malta Individual Investor Programme to book an appointment before August 14th, 2020 and likely save €150,000 as its quota is now almost full, according to Malta's Authorities. Following this date, the new citizenship programme is expected to be €150,000 more expensive as the revised regulations will likely see an increase in the non-refundable contribution of €150,000 to off-set the removal of the bond purchase requirement.

In 2013, the Malta government allowed for a concession of 1,800 families to obtain a limited number of passports. The programme has proven popular with Saudi Arabian expats from neighboring countries with limited visa-free travel, such as Yemen Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, and other gulf state residents in the UAE who make up a large share of the applicants. Subject to due diligence checks, this programme grants EU citizenship in exchange for a €1 million capital outlay for a single applicant and has become world’s most prestigious and powerful Citizenship by Investment Programme.

The Malta programme has been extremely popular with Saudi Arabian expats as it offers several benefits; such as visa-free access to 184 countries, the ability to live, travel, work and study anywhere in the European Union’s 26 countries; Malta also has a visa-waiver programme with the USA allowing visa-free travel for business or leisure for up to 90 days and flexibility to do business anywhere in Europe. Given COVID-19, Malta’s free and strong healthcare system has become increasingly attractive for its citizens. In addition, Malta has many strong historical links with Arabic culture with 32% of the Maltese language based in Arabic.

Mimoun Assraoui, CEO of RIF Trust and Vice-Chairman of Latitude, says, “Our clients in Saudi Arabia are high net-worth individuals who are looking for greater access to Europe and the USA for themselves and their families. With a Malta passport, they can truly access any part of the world. For those that cannot afford the €1 million capital outlay or are seeking permanent residency instead of citizenship, we have many Saudi Arabian clients choosing Malta’s Residency and Visa Programme for €190,000. This programme gives to the main applicant and their family permanent residency immediately and visa-free access to the EU’s 26 Schengen countries’’.