Malta and the ruling that ended citizenship by investment in the EU
A European court found that granting nationality in exchange for payment was incompatible with EU law. The decision matters well beyond Malta, because of what it says about the whole category.
Malta ran the last citizenship-by-investment programme inside the European Union, structured as naturalisation for exceptional services by direct investment. In 2025 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the scheme was incompatible with EU law.
What the ruling turned on
Not on Malta's right to decide who its citizens are — that remains a national competence. On the fact that a Maltese citizen is also an EU citizen, with rights across every member state. Granting that status in exchange for a predetermined payment, without a genuine link to the country, was found to be a commercialisation of European citizenship that other member states had not agreed to.
The reasoning is the important part. It is not specific to Malta's paperwork; it is about the nature of the transaction.
Talk to a licensed broker: 📲 +971 50 120 32 64 on WhatsApp, @dubai_oleg on Telegram
What survives in Malta
- Residence programmes — a permanent residence route and a tax-status residence programme — were not the subject of the ruling and continue.
- Ordinary naturalisation after genuine long residence continues, as it does everywhere.
- Existing citizenships granted under the programme were not the subject of the decision, though the political conversation about them did not end with it.
Why it matters outside Malta
Because it draws a line under a category. There is now no route to an EU passport by direct payment, and the reasoning makes it unlikely another member state could open one. Anyone still being offered "EU citizenship by investment" is being offered either a residence permit described dishonestly, a non-EU passport, or nothing at all.
It also sharpens what remains available and legitimate:
- Citizenship by descent, where it applies, is unaffected and is the strongest route there is.
- Naturalisation after real residence is unaffected, and is what European residence programmes lead towards for people who actually live there.
- Non-EU citizenship by investment continues in a small group of countries, with its own separate pressures.
The general lesson
Status obtained through a mechanism that a supervising authority dislikes carries a risk that status obtained through residence does not. That risk is rarely priced into the marketing, and it is not the risk of losing money — it is the risk of holding a document whose value is decided by people reconsidering the arrangement that produced it.
Request a consultation
Leave your name, phone and the country you have in mind — I will come back with what your situation actually allows: which status is realistic, what it takes and how long it runs.
- An answer for your country and your circumstances, not a brochure
- What it takes: documents, timelines, the order of filing
- How to tell an operator from someone selling a deposit
Rather not leave a number? Write to me directly: WhatsApp or @dubai_oleg.
Your details
Related reading
Neighbouring write-ups in this section and news on the same subject.
The EU tightening: checks, reviews and revoked passports
European institutions have spent a decade pressing member states on investment migration. The pressure has produced closures, a court ruling, and reviews of grants already made.
Cyprus permanent residency: what it is, and what it stopped being
The island once sold citizenship and now sells residence. The difference between those two sentences is the whole story, and it explains what the current programme can and cannot do.
European repatriation programmes: what works and what closed
Several European states offer routes for descendants of emigrants and expelled populations. They are the strongest routes available, and the industry around them is the least regulated.
Investment passports and the quiet tiering of citizens
Several states now treat naturalised-by-investment citizens differently from others, in law and in practice. It is worth knowing before rather than after.
Island passports: how that market appeared and where it is going
Small island states began selling citizenship for a reason, and the same reason explains why the product is being squeezed from every direction now.
What EU citizenship actually gives you
It is the objective behind most European residence planning and is rarely described precisely. The rights are substantial, specific, and narrower in one respect than people assume.
This write-up is published for information only. It is not legal or tax advice and does not replace a qualified adviser in the relevant jurisdiction. Programme terms, timelines and requirements change — check them against the rules in force on the day you apply.