The Intra-Corporate Transfer Regulations

The Conditions of Entry and Residence of Third-Country Nationals in the Framework of an Intra-Corporate Transfer Regulations (“Regulations”) were brought into force through Subsidiary Legislation 217.21. These Regulations transpose EU Directive 2014/66/EU into Maltese law.

The scope of these Regulations is to determine the conditions of entry and residence:

1. For more than ninety days in Malta, for third country nationals and their family members; and
2. When Malta is not the Member State which first grants the third country national an intra-corporate transferee permit.

An intra-corporate transfer is defined in the Regulations as

• the temporary secondment for occupational or training purposes of,
• a third-country national
• who, at the time of application for an intra-corporate transferee permit,
• resides outside Member States,
• from an undertaking established outside the Member State, and
• to which the third-country national is bound by
• a contract of employment prior to and during the transfer,
• to an entity belonging to the undertaking or to the same group of undertakings which is established in Malta, and,
• where applicable, the mobility between host entities established in other Member States

The Regulations thus apply to third country nationals who reside outside the EU at the time of the application and either:

• apply to be admitted into Malta under these Regulations or
• have been admitted to the territory of another Member State in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer as managers, specialists or trainee employees.

An application may be refused in certain circumstances such as when the evidence required under the conditions of admission is not presented or the documents presented were fraudulently acquired, falsified, or tampered with.

An application should be submitted whilst the third country national is residing outside Malta. Such application needs to be submitted to Identity Malta, the Maltese Authority, only where the first stay in Europe shall take place in Malta or if the stay in Malta will be the longest overall stay during the transfer. The maximum duration of the intra-corporate transfer shall be three years for managers and specialists and one year for trainee employees after which they shall leave Malta unless they obtain a residence permit on another basis.

For further information about how GVZH Advocates can help you with your residency requirements, kindly contact us on privateclients@gvzh.mt.