Most cost pages show one number. Malta has two tracks with different shapes: the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP) is a real programme with published fixed costs and two route options; Citizenship by Merit is a discretionary, merit-based naturalisation framework with no fixed government contribution. This page itemises MPRP in full and offers high-level positioning on Citizenship by Merit.
Two property routes (Rental or Purchase). Same residence card. Same EU Schengen access. Different capital profile.
Route A / Rental
Annual rental of qualifying property in Malta. Minimum €14,000/year for five years, totalling €70,000 in rental commitments. Lower upfront capital; rental payments are consumed, not recoverable.
Route B / Purchase
Purchase of qualifying residential property in Malta. Minimum €375,000, held for five years. Higher upfront capital; property is yours, recoverable on sale after the hold.
Per-additional-dependent fee of €7,500 applies to adult dependents (18+) beyond the four-person tier. Health insurance is estimated; quoted at engagement.
| Family size | Rental Route total est. | Purchase Route total est. |
|---|---|---|
| Single applicant | €171000-174000 | €476000-479000 |
| Couple | €173000-177000 | €478000-482000 |
| Family of 3 | €174000-179000 | €479000-484000 |
| Family of 4 | €183000-195000 | €488000-500000 |
All figures EUR. 21 CBI advisory fee on MPRP: 5% of the program fees (€60K admin + €37K government contribution + €2K NGO = €99K), or €4,950 for a single applicant. Bespoke for cases with additional complexity. Live BTC/EUR equivalents at the Cost Calculator.
Applicants must meet one of two asset thresholds, verified by the Residency Malta Agency during the four-tier due diligence. The thresholds are independent of the program fees; this is the applicant capacity test, not an additional payment.
Threshold A
€500,000 total
Of which at least €150,000 must be liquid or financial.
Threshold B
€650,000 total
Of which at least €75,000 must be liquid or financial.
Citizenship by Merit is a discretionary, merit-based naturalisation framework administered by the Community Malta Agency under the Citizenship by Merit Act. It is not a programme. There is no published government contribution figure. There is no fee table. Costs are assessed case-by-case and discussed in private consultation; merit is the criterion, and merit is what cannot be priced in advance.
MPRP is the entry point for most clients who want EU residence first and merit-based naturalisation later, when the merit case is ready to make. We advise on both, and we hold the same low-time-preference position: build residence first, earn the merit case over the years that follow, and let the Community Malta Agency assess on its own framework. We do not promise outcomes on a discretionary framework. Nobody can.
For applicants seriously evaluating Citizenship by Merit, the conversation happens on a confidential call. We will give you our honest reading of whether your merit case is plausible before we ever quote a fee.
BTC, Lightning, and USDT are our payment rails for the 21 CBI advisory fee and the due-diligence engagement fee; credit cards and bank transfers also accepted as needed.
The MPRP government contribution, admin fee, NGO donation, and property settlement must move in EUR through regulated Maltese banking channels per program rules. We handle the EUR conversion via licensed banking partners, lock the BTC/EUR rate at the moment of wire, and document the settlement for the Residency Malta Agency.
The Residency Malta Agency runs a four-tier due-diligence review covering security, AML, source of wealth, and reputational checks. Source-of-wealth documentation for Bitcoin-origin positions is the same package we build for every program: origin discovery, custody mapping, on-chain analysis, reconciliation. The agency is more rigorous than most Caribbean equivalents; a clean documented file clears.
The full methodology is public: Bitcoin source-of-funds methodology.
At €169,000 MPRP rental-route minimum, Malta sits in the same band as Türkiye on headline cost but delivers a different output: EU permanent residence with Schengen access, not citizenship. Citizenship by Merit is the framework that, when ready, can lead to full EU naturalisation; that is the multi-year horizon. Other programs in the portfolio deliver citizenship directly.
For a single applicant on the Rental Route, €169,000 total over five years (€60,000 admin fee + €37,000 government contribution + €2,000 NGO donation + €70,000 in minimum rental commitments over the five-year hold + health insurance). For a single applicant on the Purchase Route, from €476,000 (the same €99,000 in fees and contribution + €375,000 minimum property purchase). Family of four adds roughly €15,000 across both routes via per-additional-dependent fees and higher insurance.
No. Citizenship by Merit is a discretionary, merit-based naturalisation framework under the Citizenship by Merit Act. There is no published government contribution figure equivalent to the MPRP€169,000 figure. Costs are assessed case-by-case during private consultation, depend on case complexity and the nature of the merit contribution, and are not committed publicly. The framework is never guaranteed regardless of contribution; merit is the criterion, not capital.
Both routes grant the same MPRP residence card; the difference is how the property requirement is satisfied. Rental: minimum €14,000/year in qualifying property rental for five years, totalling €70,000 in rental commitments. Purchase: minimum €375,000 in qualifying property purchase, held for five years. Rental is the lower-capital path; Purchase builds EU real-estate equity and may be preferable for families who plan to use the property as a Malta base or who want the asset on the books. Both routes carry the same €60K admin + €37K government contribution + €2K NGO components.
Applicants must meet one of two asset thresholds, independent of which route they choose: (a) total assets of at least €500,000 with at least €150,000 in liquid/financial assets, OR (b) total assets of at least €650,000 with at least €75,000 liquid. The Residency Malta Agency verifies the asset position as part of the four-tier due diligence. The thresholds are independent of the program fees; this is the applicant capacity test, not an additional cost.
No. The €60,000 admin fee, the €37,000 government contribution, and the €2,000 NGO donation are non-refundable. The property component IS recoverable in the purchase-route case (you own the property and can sell it after the five-year hold) and partially recoverable in the rental-route case (rent paid is consumed; you do not get rental payments back, but the property is not yours either). Net of property recovery, MPRP Purchase Route nets out at roughly €100,000 in non-recoverable spend plus the carrying cost of the property over five years.
BTC, Lightning, and USDT are our payment rails for the 21 CBI advisory fee; credit cards and bank transfers also accepted as needed. The MPRP government contribution, admin fee, NGO donation, and property settlement must move in EUR through regulated Maltese banking channels per program rules. We handle the EUR conversion via licensed banking partners and lock the BTC/EUR rate at the moment of wire. The Residency Malta Agency requires settlement in EUR; we coordinate the conversion end-to-end with full transparency.
On MPRP, the advisory fee is 5% of the program fees (€60K admin + €37K government contribution + €2K NGO = €99K), which works out to €4,950 for a single applicant. On Citizenship by Merit, we charge a bespoke advisory fee determined during engagement; because there is no fixed government contribution to apply a percentage against, the CBM advisory fee is sized to the scope of the engagement and discussed during private consultation.
Four to six months from filing to residence card issuance under the program's current published timeline. The 21 CBI engagement typically runs six to nine months from first call to card-in-hand, accounting for the engagement-to-filing window plus the agency review. The property decision (rental or purchase) is usually the longest applicant-side step; we coordinate property sourcing through our Maltese legal partner.
If Malta is the right shape (MPRP first, then Citizenship by Merit when the case is ready), the next step is a confidential call. We will give you our honest reading on both tracks against your specific situation. Encrypted. No obligation.
Adam Juchniewicz, CEO, 21 CBI
