Malta
Nomad Residence Permit: health insurance requirements
Yes: health insurance is required
Yes, and it is strict about the policy type. Malta's Nomad Residence Permit requires comprehensive health insurance covering treatment and hospitalisation in Malta for the full permit period, pre-paid for a year, and travel insurance is explicitly not accepted. It is for non-EU nationals working remotely for a foreign employer, clients or their own foreign company, on income of at least €42,000 gross a year, and runs one year, renewable up to four years total.
The requirements at a glance
| Minimum policy duration | Full permit period (pre-paid one year) |
|---|---|
| Local-licensed insurer required | No: compliant international IPMI is accepted |
| Accepted proof | A comprehensive health insurance policy covering medical care and hospitalisation in Malta for the full permit validity, pre-paid for one year (monthly-payment policies are not accepted). Travel insurance is explicitly not accepted; a foreign policy qualifies only if it demonstrably covers Malta and Europe. No fixed minimum sum is published. |
For third-country nationals working remotely for a foreign-registered employer, as a partner/shareholder in a foreign company, or as a freelancer with mostly foreign clients; you cannot work for Maltese companies or clients. Income of at least €42,000 gross/year (raised from €32,400 for applications from 1 April 2024). One year, renewable up to three times (four years total). Fee €300/person plus €100/person for the residence card.
Who qualifies for the Malta nomad visa
The income bar is what decides most applications, and it is the number people look for first. Here is the current one, with the conditions that come attached to it.
- Income required
- €3,500/mo gross (€42,000/yr)
- Length of permit
- 12 monthsrenewable
- Who can apply
- Employed remotely, Freelancer, Business owner
- Nationality restrictions
- Third-country nationals (non-EU/EEA/Swiss).
Applicants from before April 2024 keep the older €2,700/mo bar.
Tax
10% flat tax on remote-work income after an initial 12-month exemption.
That is a summary of the rule, not tax advice. Residence for immigration and residence for tax are decided separately, and the second one tends to arrive quietly, usually after you have been in the country long enough to stop thinking about it. Take proper advice before the year you need it.
What the income bar really means
Two things get people rejected on income even when they earn enough. The first is proving it: consulates want a documented, repeating history, usually bank statements and contracts covering several months, not a screenshot of a good quarter. Irregular freelance income clears the bar on average and fails on paper. The second is dependants, who almost always raise the threshold, and by a percentage of the base figure rather than a flat amount.
Treat the number above as the floor for the paperwork, not as a comfortable income for living there. It is set by the country’s own cost of living or minimum wage, which means it moves, and in several countries it is re-set every year.
Malta's Nomad Residence Permit requires comprehensive health insurance covering Malta, pre-paid for a full year, and explicitly does not accept travel insurance; income must be at least €42,000 gross/year and the permit runs up to four years.
Our take
Malta is unusually prescriptive: it wants a proper comprehensive health policy covering Malta, paid for a year up front, and it will reject a travel-insurance certificate outright.
Buy the right product early, an annual international or Malta health plan rather than a trip policy, or the permit stalls.
What happens if you get it wrong
Submitting a travel-insurance policy, or one paid monthly, gets rejected, since the rules name both explicitly.
A foreign policy that does not clearly state it covers Malta will not satisfy the agency.
Interactive
Verified pricesWhat would it cost in Malta without insurance?
You pay, out of pocket
$3,400–$13,000
A serious private admission or common surgery.
Bars to scale. A flight home is in another league.
That is the bill you carry alone. Insurance exists for exactly this.
See what cover costsTypical private-care estimates for illustration, not a quote. Actual bills vary by hospital, city and severity.
FAQ
Comprehensive health insurance covering treatment and hospitalisation in Malta for the full permit period, pre-paid for a year. Travel insurance is explicitly not accepted.
The rule specifies comprehensive cover but publishes no fixed minimum sum. The €30,000 figure elsewhere is the separate Schengen short-stay visa rule, not this permit.
At least €42,000 gross a year, raised from €32,400 for applications from 1 April 2024.
One year, renewable up to three times, for a maximum of four years.
Only if it is comprehensive and demonstrably covers Malta (and Europe), and is pre-paid for the year. A monthly or travel policy will not do.
How to apply
- Processing time
- About 30 working days to approval in principle; the residence card is issued roughly 3 to 4 weeks after biometrics.
- Government fee
- EUR 300 non-refundable administrative fee per applicant and per family member, paid by bank transfer, plus a residence card fee (the official process page states EUR 100 per person, paid by card in Malta).
- Where to apply
- Fully online via the Residency Malta portal. Biometrics and card collection happen in person in Malta after approval.
- 1
Prepare your documents: a typed and signed application form, passport, proof of remote work (employment contract, business ownership, or freelance clients outside Malta), income evidence, CV, and a clean police conduct certificate.
- 2
Submit the application and documents online through the Residency Malta portal (portal.residencymalta.gov.mt).
- 3
After Client Relations issues a receipt, pay the EUR 300 non-refundable fee per person by bank transfer from your own account.
- 4
Wait about 30 working days while Residency Malta runs background checks; you receive a Letter of Approval in Principle if successful.
- 5
Within 30 working days of that letter, submit proof of Malta accommodation and a health insurance policy to get the Letter of Final Approval, and obtain an entry visa through the Central Visa Unit if your nationality needs one.
- 6
Travel to Malta, schedule biometrics, give biometrics in person, then collect the residence card in person once it is issued (about 3 to 4 weeks later).
Fees and processing times move, sometimes without announcement, and a consulate can add a document the published checklist does not mention. Treat the above as the shape of the process rather than a guarantee, and check the current requirement with the mission handling your application before you book anything.
What policy actually satisfies this visa
Malta does not publish a minimum figure, which sounds permissive and is not. It means you are judged against somebody's unwritten idea of adequate, and the safe reading of adequate is enough to cover a serious hospital admission in Malta, not the cheapest policy that technically exists.
A compliant international policy is accepted, so you are not forced into a local insurer. That matters more than it sounds: it means one policy can follow you when you leave, instead of expiring at the border.
Repatriation is not named as a condition, though it is the benefit you would most want to have if the worst happened, and it costs very little to add.
The dates are the other thing that gets applications rejected: full permit period (pre-paid one year)
Ask your insurer for a certificate of cover that states your full name as it appears on your passport, the exact policy period, the territory covered, and the benefit amounts. That is a normal request and any decent insurer issues it without fuss. The insurance being real and the paperwork still failing is a more common way to lose an application than being uninsured.
The visa tells you the minimum. It does not tell you what to actually carry. Those are different questions, and the paperwork minimum is nearly always the smaller of the two answers.
Get a policy that satisfies this visa
Three minutes of honest questions, then we'll match you to insurance that meets Malta'srequirements and actually works where you're going.
Find my plan