Malta’s Golden Visa Has Received 1,600 Applications, But Backlog is Growing Due to Agents’ Sloppy Filing

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The MRVA’s new chief executive says Malta’s golden visa has received more than 1,600 applications so far but that some 1,000 remain unprocessed due to missing documentation. To tackle the backlog, the MRVA will no longer accept incomplete applications.

“The program has been very successful, the applications keep coming in and we’ve also noticed an increase in the number of monthly applications received since I joined on February 1st,” says Charles Mizzi, the new man in charge at the Malta Residency Visa Agency, which manages Malta’s popular golden visa, the Malta Residency Visa Program (MRVA).

Application volumes, he indicates, appear to be continuing their upward trend, a feat he attributes in part to the program’s preceding administration.

Overall, he says, since opening in late 2016/early 2017, the program has received some 1,600 applications.

“We’ve processed around 600 of them, with a rejection rate of around 10%,” comments Mizzi, who explains that out of the remaining 1,000 unprocessed applications, about 40% are ready for processing, while the remainder are on hold pending agent feedback.

To deal with the backlog, the MRVA, under Mizzi’s inaugural tenure, have undertaken an analysis of the caseload to determine where the bottlenecks are and explored steps to reduce their impact.

The chief constraint to faster processing, Mizzi explains, is the large proportion of submitted applications that are incomplete.

“We’re receiving a lot of applications with missing documentation, missing passports, bank statements, police clearances, and so on, without which we cannot process the applications,” he points out.

As part of a more comprehensive plan to address the delays, the new CEO says that, starting next month, the MRVA will no longer accept incomplete applications from agents.

Watch the full interview with Charles Mizzi below: