Guide
Change of employer Malta: the new application and the 60 day rule
Updated
A Maltese single permit cannot follow a worker to a new job. The new employer files a fresh application, and timing around the old job's end decides how.
Question 1
What passport do you hold?
Nationality decides whether a work authorisation is needed at all, before anything else is considered.
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Why a new employer means a new application
Identità states that a non-EU national's permit is specific to the employer and the designation as applied for and listed on the residence document. Any change in either renders the permit null and void, irrespective of the date validity on the document. A new application is needed (Identità, change of designation or employer).
So there is no transfer of a single permit between employers. The worker cannot file the new application either: as with every single permit, it is the employer who applies.
Change of employer: what the new employer files
- The new employer may submit a Change of Employer application before the worker terminates their previous employment.
- The process follows the same procedure, through the Expatriates Online Portal.
- The applicable fee is €600 for a Change of Employer, and €300 for a Transfer of Business, including mergers.
All three points are Identità's own (Identità, change of employer), read on the updated date above.
If the old job has already ended: the 60 day window
Where the worker has already been terminated, Identità may consider a new employer's application submitted within 60 days of the termination date. That holds even though the worker's migration status is irregular under the Immigration Act (Cap. 217). Past 60 days, an application must meet Subsidiary Legislation 217.17's eligibility and legality criteria in full.
Identità's wording is "may be considered": the 60 day window is not a right to a new permit. Filing before the old job ends avoids the gap altogether.
The old employer's duties on termination
The original permit's employer must submit a Termination Form to Jobsplus and inform the Expatriates Unit at Identità, each within four days of termination (Identità, termination). The holder must separately inform the Expatriates Unit and return the residence card.
Same employer, new role: change of designation
A new job title with the same employer is a change of designation, not of employer. At renewal after a change of designation, Identità requires a Change in Designation Application, at a fee of €300. For health sector occupations and elderly and disability care roles, all fees are €150.
Failing to notify Identità of a change of position or employer may lead to the residence permit being revoked (Identità, change of designation).
| Change | Fee |
|---|---|
| Change of employer | €600 |
| Transfer of business, including mergers | €300 |
| Change of designation | €300 |
| Change of designation, health sector and elderly or disability care roles | €150 |