Citizeship by Registration

We advise and assist individuals entitled to register themselves by way of marriage and decent so that they may be granted Maltese citizenship.

Our legal advisor is available to:

  1. Guide applicants on preparing the necessary documentation and forms required for submission to the Citizenship Unit;
  2. Communicate with the Citizenship Unit and follow up as necessary pursuant to the reviews of the same;
  3. Assist with obtaining any birth, marriage or death certificates which may be registered with the Maltese Public Registry or in local Ecclesiastical records;
  4. Set appointments for the administration of the necessary oaths, including the Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of Malta.

Click below to see whether you are eligible for citizenship under either of the applicable routes or get in touch to discuss.

Marriage

If you may be described as either of the following, you are eligible to register yourself as a Maltese citizen:

 

  • The spouse of a citizen of Malta and as long as you have been married for at least five years and, on the date of the application, you are still married to and living with that citizen of Malta;
  • The spouse of a citizen of Malta from whom you are, on the date of the application, separated de jure or de facto, provided you have lived with that citizen of Malta for at least five years after the celebration of the marriage;
  • The widow/widower of a person who was a citizen of Malta at the time of his/her death and you had then been married to that person for at least five years and was still living with him/her;
  • The widow/widower of a person who was a citizen of Malta at the time of his/her death, and you would, but for the death of that person, have been married to that person for five years on the date of the application;
  • The widow/widower of a person who was a citizen of Malta at the time of his/her death, and on the date of death of such citizen you had been de jure or de facto separated from such citizen but you had lived with such citizen of Malta for at least five years after the celebration of the marriage;
  • The widow/widower of a person who, having passed away before Malta’s Independence on 21st September 1964, would but for his/her death have automatically become a citizen of Malta due to the fact that he/she was born in Malta of a parent likewise born in Malta or was born abroad of a father and a paternal grandparent both born in Malta; provided that you were still living with that person at the time of his/her death or if you had been de jure or de facto separated, you had lived with that person for at least five years after the celebration of the marriage;

Descent

If you may be described as either of the following, you are eligible to register yourself as a Maltese citizen:

 

  • The son/daughter, who was born prior to the 21 September 1964, of a female who was born in Malta and who became or would but for her death have become a citizen of Malta on the said date.
  • The son/daughter of a female citizen of Malta (who acquired Maltese citizenship by birth in Malta, by registration or by naturalization, and who was a citizen of Malta at the time of your birth) and you were born outside Malta on or after 21st September 1964 and before the 1st August 1989.
  • A former citizen of Malta and you do not qualify automatically for dual citizenship because you did not spend six years abroad or because you were formerly a citizen of Malta by Registration or by Naturalization.
  • The direct descendant, second or subsequent generation, born abroad of an ascendant who was born in Malta of a parent who was also born in Malta. (If the descendant is a minor, then the person who at law has authority over that child shall submit the relative application).