Employing a third-country national in Malta: the employer's obligations

Before the application: the labour market test

Jobsplus states that the first step in employing a third-country national in Malta is to conduct a candidate search from within the Maltese and EU context, to ensure no qualified candidate from Malta or the EU or EEA is available for the vacant position, and that employers must advertise the job vacancy to comply (jobsplus.gov.mt). Applications submitted to Identità are referred to Jobsplus for that test, and the Police Immigration Office is also involved.

For the Key Employee Initiative, the Specialist Employee Initiative and the EU Blue Card, Identità sets the advert requirement precisely: proof of one job advert for a minimum of two weeks within the two months prior to application, on an appropriate local media platform.

During the application

• Only the employer may submit a single permit application, through the Single Permit Online Portal, and the employer must be registered with Jobsplus.
• The authorised person for the organisation is the Administrator, who logs in with their own personal e-ID. Identità warns that e-ID credentials must not be shared and that unauthorised use of someone else's credentials is liable to prosecution.
• Final submission is only possible once payment has been made online.
• It is illegal to employ the third-country national before the permit or approval is issued. Jobsplus states this in terms.

On the first day: the engagement form

Engagement and Termination Forms are mandatory for registering any paid employment in Malta. The collection and updating of employment records is stipulated in Articles 35 to 45, Part V, of the Employment and Training Service Act No. XXXIX of 2018, Chapter 594 (jobsplus.gov.mt).

• The Engagement Form must be submitted on the first day of employment and no later than four working days from the effective date of employment.
• The Termination Form must be submitted no later than four working days from the effective date of termination.
• Both are submitted online through the Employer Online Services portal.
• For a third-country national the employer uploads a copy of the Maltese Residence Card, or the Temporary Authorisation to Work issued by Identità that authorises work until the residence card is ready.

On termination: two authorities, four days each

Identità states that on termination the employer who applied for the residence permit is obliged by law to submit a Termination Form to Jobsplus within four days of the termination date, citing Legal Notice 110 of 1993, Act No. XXVII Employment Training Services (Amendment) Act and Legal Notice 226 of 2016, and must inform the Expatriates Unit at Identità within four days, either through the online termination request or by email (identita.gov.mt).

Changing role or employer voids the permit

Identità is blunt about this: the permit issued to a non-EU national is specific to the employer and the designation applied for and listed on the residence document, and any change in either of these renders the permit null and void, irrespective of the validity date shown on the document, and requires a new application (identita.gov.mt). The holder is separately obliged to inform the Expatriates Unit and return the residence card, and failure to do so is a violation of the Immigration Act (Cap. 217).

Posted workers: 24 hours

Where a third-country national employed in another EU member state, the EEA or Switzerland is temporarily assigned to work in Malta, no employment licence is needed, but the Maltese company hosting the posted employee must inform the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations within twenty-four hours of the start of work.

Any person legally working in Malta is entitled to the same conditions of work as Maltese and EU nationals. Jobsplus repeats that on every category page, and links employers to the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations for those conditions.