Malta Golden Visa for South African Citizens: The 2026 Guide
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Malta Golden Visa for South African Citizens: The 2026 Guide
Malta permanent residency for South Africans is available on standard terms: South African citizens are eligible under the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP), subject to due diligence. The 2026 changes that matter sit on the South African side: a doubled R2 million discretionary allowance from 8 April 2026, the R10 million foreign capital allowance, and a 2025 court ruling on dual citizenship.
On this page
- Can South African citizens get the Malta golden visa?
- What South African investors need to invest
- Moving the money: South African exchange control in 2026
- Family inclusion for South African applicants
- The application process and payment milestones
- Permanent residence, not a passport
- Malta vs other programmes popular with South African investors
- Frequently asked questions
This guide is general information about the Malta Permanent Residence Programme and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Exchange control figures are stated for context, not as transfer advice. Rules and limits change. Obtain independent professional advice, including from your authorised dealer and a South African tax practitioner, before making any application or investment decision.
Can South African citizens get the Malta golden visa?
Yes. South Africa is not on the Residency Malta Agency’s list of ineligible nationalities, so South African citizens apply on the same MPRP terms as other non-EU applicants, subject to due diligence and the qualifying investment. South Africa is also off both international risk lists.
What the MPRP rules say about nationality
The rules are in Subsidiary Legislation 217.26, as amended by Legal Notice 146 of 2025 (no later amendment as of 25 September 2026). The statute excludes EU, EEA and Swiss nationals and anyone named in the sanctions the Agency follows. It has no country list.
The country list is the Agency’s. Its MPRP FAQ (version 2.6.5, September 2024) names ten countries whose nationals, or people with close ties to them, are ineligible, plus Russia and Belarus. The Agency may revise the list. South Africa is not on it.
South Africa is off the EU high-risk list and the FATF grey list
The EU removed South Africa from its list of high-risk third countries with effect from 29 January 2026, under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/83. South Africa was also absent from the FATF increased-monitoring list published at the 19 June 2026 plenary. Pages still calling South Africa grey-listed are out of date.
What South African investors need to invest
The property or lease route and the fixed government charges
Every applicant picks one property route and pays the same fixed charges:
- Qualifying property: buy for at least EUR 375,000, or lease for at least EUR 14,000 a year, anywhere in Malta or Gozo, held for at least five years. The old cheaper tier for the south and Gozo no longer exists.
- Government contribution: EUR 37,000, the same whether you buy or rent.
- Administrative fee: EUR 60,000 for the main applicant.
- Donation: EUR 2,000 to a local non-governmental organisation.
- Dependant fee: EUR 7,500 for each adult dependant who pays it.
A EUR 30,000 or EUR 60,000 contribution, or EUR 10,000 per dependant, are figures superseded by Legal Notice 146 of 2025.
The capital test
The applicant must also show assets of at least EUR 500,000 including EUR 150,000 in financial assets, or at least EUR 650,000 including EUR 75,000 in financial assets. These are held, not spent.
Costs in rand
| Item | EUR | ZAR | Official basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying property purchase | 375,000 | 7,006,000 | S.L. 217.26, reg 3 and reg 14 |
| Or lease, per year | 14,000 | 262,000 | S.L. 217.26, reg 3 and reg 14 |
| Or lease, 5-year minimum | 70,000 | 1,308,000 | S.L. 217.26, reg 14 |
| Government contribution | 37,000 | 691,000 | First Schedule |
| Administrative fee (main applicant) | 60,000 | 1,121,000 | First Schedule |
| NGO donation | 2,000 | 37,000 | S.L. 217.26, reg 3 |
| Each adult dependant, where payable | 7,500 | 140,000 | First Schedule |
Converted at 18.6836 ZAR per EUR, European Central Bank euro foreign exchange reference rate, 24 September 2026. Rand figures rounded to the nearest R1,000. Recalculate on the day funds are committed. Excludes stamp duty, legal, due diligence, agent and advisory fees (advisory fees are quoted per engagement).
Allowance context. The family-of-four purchase route below comes to about R8.86 million. For scale, the combined SDA and FCA limit is R12 million per adult per calendar year without a Financial Surveillance application. How any transfer is made is a question for your authorised dealer and tax practitioner.
A family of four, worked through
Main applicant, spouse and two children under 18. The spouse and minors pay no dependant fee.
| Route | EUR | ZAR |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase: property 375,000 + contribution 37,000 + fee 60,000 + donation 2,000 | 474,000 | 8,856,000 |
| of which non-recoverable government charges | 99,000 | 1,850,000 |
| Lease, year one: 99,000 in charges + 14,000 rent | 113,000 | 2,111,000 |
| Lease, across the 5-year minimum | 169,000 | 3,158,000 |
An unmarried, principally dependent child aged 18 to 28, or a qualifying dependent parent or grandparent, adds EUR 7,500 (about R140,000) each. The two adults each have an R2 million SDA and up to R10 million FCA per calendar year, while the children under 18 have no SDA. The capital test applies on top. Same rate and exclusions as the cost table.
For the itemised figures, see Malta permanent residency cost.
Moving the money: South African exchange control in 2026
The single discretionary allowance: R2 million a year from 8 April 2026
The 2026 Budget Review, Annexure E, announced an increase in the single discretionary allowance (SDA) from R1 million to R2 million “for all purposes, including travel, gifts, remittances, investments and donations”. SARB implemented it through Exchange Control Circular No. 6/2026, dated 8 April 2026, and it took effect from that date, not on Budget day and not on 1 January.
The SDA is R2 million per resident aged 18 or over per calendar year, usable for any legal purpose abroad including investment. Under the Authorised Dealer Manual, no documentary evidence is required for it except a passenger ticket where it is used for travel outside the Common Monetary Area.
The foreign capital allowance: up to R10 million a year via a SARS AIT
The official term is the foreign capital allowance (FCA), not “foreign investment allowance”. It allows up to R10 million per calendar year per individual aged 18 or over who is a taxpayer in good standing. It runs through an Approval for International Transfer (AIT): SARS issues a TCS PIN letter, your bank verifies it on eFiling, and the bank may not transfer more than SARS approved. The funds may be held in a resident foreign currency account.
Together, the SDA and FCA give R12 million per adult per calendar year, or R24 million for a couple, without a Financial Surveillance application.
Above R12 million: a SARB Financial Surveillance application
Above the R10 million FCA, the SARB Financial Surveillance Department (FinSurv) considers applications, again through an AIT. That is an application process, not a refusal.
Financing: no offshore commitments with recourse to South Africa
Under the Currency and Exchanges Manual for Authorised Dealers, residents may not export capital indirectly, for example through a foreign commitment with recourse to South Africa. They may borrow abroad without recourse to fund foreign assets. If a foreign loan is involved, check the terms with your authorised dealer.
On tax, South African tax residency and any exit consequences are questions for a South African tax adviser. For the Maltese side, see our guide to taxes in Malta.
Family inclusion for South African applicants
One MPRP application can include:
- your spouse, with no dependant fee;
- children under 18, with no dependant fee;
- children aged 18 to 28 (under 29 when the application is filed) who are unmarried and principally dependent on the main applicant, at EUR 7,500 each;
- parents and grandparents of the main applicant or of the spouse who are not in full-time employment and are principally dependent on the main applicant, at EUR 7,500 each;
- adult children with a certified disability, with no dependant fee.
Children under 18 have no SDA, only a travel allowance of up to R400,000 a year, so the investment is usually funded by the adults.
The application process and payment milestones
- Submission to the Residency Malta Agency through a licensed agent. Evidence of the capital test is presented with the application, and EUR 15,000 of the administrative fee is due within one month of submission.
- Due diligence on the main applicant and each dependant.
- Letter of Approval in Principle. The remaining EUR 45,000 of the fee is due within two months of it.
- Government contribution. EUR 37,000 within eight months of the Letter of Approval in Principle.
- Property, donation and health cover. Within the same eight months, title to the qualifying purchase or lease is presented, the EUR 2,000 donation is made and health insurance is in place. The capital must then be held for five years.
We do not quote a processing time. The payment deadlines are the fixed points, so line up your transfers against them. Under the foreign capital allowance the bank may not transfer more than SARS has approved, so apply for the AIT in good time.
Permanent residence, not a passport: dual citizenship after the 2025 ruling
The MPRP gives permanent residence in Malta, not Maltese citizenship. Malta’s investor citizenship route closed after the EU Court of Justice ruling in case C-181/23 of 29 April 2025. See the Malta golden visa vs citizenship comparison.
On South African citizenship more generally, the Constitutional Court ruled unanimously on 6 May 2025, in Democratic Alliance v Minister of Home Affairs and Another [2025] ZACC 8, that section 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 is unconstitutional and invalid from 6 October 1995. That section removed citizenship automatically from anyone who voluntarily took another citizenship. People who lost citizenship under it are deemed not to have lost it, and no retention permission is needed before taking a second citizenship. Confirm how Home Affairs applies the ruling with a South African adviser.
Malta vs other programmes popular with South African investors
| Programme | Entry route | What it gives | Note for South Africans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malta MPRP | Property from EUR 375,000 or lease from EUR 14,000 a year, plus EUR 99,000 in charges | Permanent residence | Standard terms, direct property or lease |
| Hungary Guest Investor | Units in an MNB-registered real estate fund from EUR 250,000, or a EUR 1,000,000 donation | Residence permit | South Africans need a Schengen visa, so the route runs through the guest investor visa, and the permit is filed within 30 days of first entry |
| Portugal ARI, fund route | EUR 500,000 in Portuguese non-real-estate funds, at least 60% in companies seated in Portugal, maturity of at least five years | Residence permit | Collective investment route |
| Cyprus, Regulation 6(2) | Property of at least EUR 300,000 plus VAT, and income of EUR 50,000 plus EUR 15,000 for a spouse and EUR 10,000 per dependent minor child | Permanent residence permit | Official estimate of about two months to examine a complete application |
The Hungarian fund option and the Portuguese fund route invest through collective investment schemes. Foreign collective investment schemes marketed to the South African public require approval under the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act 45 of 2002, so take advice before subscribing to any fund. This guide does not promote any fund.
Malta’s route is a direct property purchase or lease. For a direct comparison, see Hungary vs Malta golden visa, and for the full checklist, the Malta MPRP requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Can South Africans get Malta permanent residency?
Yes. South Africa is not on Residency Malta’s list of ineligible nationalities, so South African citizens apply on the standard MPRP terms, subject to due diligence and the qualifying investment.
How much money can I take out of South Africa for a Malta property?
Each adult has a single discretionary allowance of R2 million a year from 8 April 2026, and a foreign capital allowance of up to R10 million a year through a SARS AIT. That is R12 million per adult without a SARB application. Above that, SARB Financial Surveillance considers applications.
What does Malta PR cost a South African family of four?
From EUR 474,000 (about R8.86 million) on the purchase route, or EUR 99,000 in government charges plus at least EUR 14,000 a year in rent on the lease route. The household must also meet the capital test.
Will I lose my South African citizenship?
Malta PR is residence, not citizenship. On citizenship generally, the Constitutional Court ruled on 6 May 2025 that automatic loss on acquiring another citizenship is invalid (Democratic Alliance v Minister of Home Affairs [2025] ZACC 8). Confirm your position with a South African adviser.
Is South Africa still on the FATF grey list?
No. South Africa was not on the FATF increased-monitoring list published in June 2026, and the EU removed it from its high-risk list with effect from 29 January 2026.
Can my children use their own allowance?
Children under 18 have no SDA. They have a travel allowance of up to R400,000 a year, so the investment is usually funded by the adults.
The bottom line
For South African citizens, the Malta golden visa means the MPRP on standard terms: permanent residence for the family through a property bought or leased anywhere in Malta or Gozo, plus EUR 99,000 in fixed government charges. The South Africa-specific work is exchange control, and the 2026 numbers help: R2 million SDA from 8 April 2026, up to R10 million FCA through an AIT, R24 million a year for a couple before FinSurv is involved. For the full programme, see the Malta Permanent Residence Programme and Malta residency by investment. For a family-specific plan, the Aegir Global team can help, and advisory fees are quoted per engagement.
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