´ó¿§¸£ÀûÓ°Ôº

mrfin wrote:

Thanks for all the feedback.
I emailed Identity Malta to enquire and although their response wasn't a clear yes/no, you can apply for 'Freedom of Movement' in Malta if married to a Maltese citizen.

I understand that this means, following an interview in person with various documents which need to be presented, you may, on discretion, be given the right to live and work in Malta if approved.

Hello and welcome to the forum.
My husband is  Maltese and I obtained Freedom of Movement soon after we married. This was merely a collection of documents and a stamp in my British passport. I was permitted to live in Malta with my husband indefinitely, work without the need of an additional work permit and entitled to free health care. I basically had the same rights as a Maltese citizen expect I could not vote in a Maltese general election.  I have since obtained Maltese citizenship, as this is available to persons who have been married to a Maltese citizen for 5 years or more. I was not obliged to surrender my British citizenship upon receiving Maltese citizenship as both Britain and Malta allow multiple citizenship.

My son holds Maltese citizenship and married a TCN, so his wife needed to apply for Freedom of Movement last year. It was a very straight forward process, apart from providing various documents, both of them attended the interview you mentioned and they were both asked questions about the other person (sort of Mr & Mrs quiz questions). I assume this interview is a precaution to prove that the applicants have a genuine marriage, rather than a marriage of convenience so the non-Maltese person can stay in Malta. She was issued with a spouse residence permit within a week or two of the interview.

Yes, Identity Malta would in theory have the discretion to refuse an applicant Freedom of Movement if it was considered that a marriage was not genuine and the application was made under false pretenses, but I know many mixed marriage couples settled here with one spouse holding Freedom of Movement.

Please feel free to private message me if you have any further questions.

GozoMo wrote:

Evreham, when you move to Malta I assume the UK were still part of the EU, things may have changed now.

Yes, UK was part of the EU, but at that stage but Malta was not yet part of the EU.

TCN spouses of Maltese citizens are still able to apply for Freedom of Movement until today. This is a procedure that is dealt with by the Expatriates Unit of Identity Malta.

I lived in Malta for 25 years before obtaining dual British/Maltese citizenship in 2007, during which time I was able to work here without applying for any additional work permits and received free medical care including a stay at hospital, due to the fact that I held Freedom of Movement. I enjoyed these benefits not because I was an EU citizen, Malta only joined the EU in May 2004.

To date, these same benefits remain in place to all persons holding Freedom of Movement. As I mentioned in my previous post, my daughter-in law is a TCN and only applied for Freedom of Movement last year (2020).

RobbieSanders wrote:

As I pointed out in my earlier responses (also with a link to the Commission Q&A for Brits' post-Brexit rights), a TCN partner of an EU citizen who is exercising Freedom of Movement has residence rights under EU law which also apply when an EU citizen moves back to his/her homeland. The EU citizen is considered to have "activated" his/her right to be treated as a mobile EU citizen (rather than, eg, a Maltese national) for the purposes of family unification  rights.

This is correct. A spouse of a Maltese citizen will receive a Maltese residency card that states they are a spouse of an EU national rather than a spouse of a Maltese national.