Malta has imposed a ban and does not accept applications from restricted list of countries for citizenship by investment program (IIP).
The Maltese Government excludes from applying individuals who are nationals of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), or are non-nationals but reside, do business, have significant ties with, or connections to these countries. Citizens from countries included on the US Travel Ban also cannot apply.
The list of banned or blacklisted countries are as follows
- Afghanistan
- Chad
- Iran
- Libya
- North Korea
- Somalia
- Syria
- Venezuela
- Yemen
IIP Agency will frequently update the list and share it with agents.
Visa denial: A person has been denied a visa to a country with which Malta has visa-free travel arrangements and has not subsequently obtained a visa to the country that issued the denial, shall not be approved for citizenship under the Individual investor programme (IIP)
Deprivation of citizenship: the Minister shall in all cases be deemed to have reserved the right to deprive a person of his Maltese citizenship granted under the program if an applicant who has been granted citizenship fails to comply with any requirement to lease, purchase and retain property in Malta or to make and retain investments in Malta, as established by these regulations or has become a threat to national security or is involved in conduct which is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of Malta. In such cases the procedure for deprivation of citizenship stipulated in article 14 of the Act and in any regulations made under the Act in respect of such deprivation shall mutatis mutandis apply
Ineligible applicants: the applicant or any of his dependants shall not be an individual who at any time was found guilty, or, at the
time of the application, is being interrogated and suspected, or has criminal charges brought against him for any criminal
offence, other than an involuntary offence, punishable with more than one year imprisonment.
