Malta - British Expat Forum

good thinking

My Certificate of Entitlement (Valid for one year at a time) needed renewing.
Should be simples.......by post or call in at Social Security office within Ministry for Gozo. Oh NO NO NO!
Application in person at St John's St, Valletta required.

Off to Valletta, journey time 2 hours 45 minutes. My turn comes up in front of the clerk who takes my old certificate, I.D. and Brit passport and disappears for three whole minutes. She returns, apologising for taking so long as the photocopier was a bit slow (!), and says that my renewed certificate will be put in the post.

No I cannot have certificate for more than one year. Apparently some Dutch woman abused the system years ago and this rule applies ever since.

Back to Gozo, total journey time over five hours for three minutes worth of clerical red tape.

But it doesn't stop there. When I receive the new certificate I must then make an appointment with a consultant at Gozo General who will complete and sign an application for renewal of the yellow card which authorises my 'Pharmacy of choice' to supply my free drugs. The application must be sent by internal post and will take six to eight weeks to process.

Give me strength!

Thank goodness, the very best medicine in Malta is freely available most days...............SUNSHINE.......and that's why I'm here.

And what a beautiful sunny day it is as well

The higher electricity prices for non-Maltese citizens who don't prove they are resident is being challenged on the basis that Maltese citizens are assumed to be resident unless they state otherwise - I wonder if a similar challenge could be made on this basis ?

Ironically you haven't proved anything to them other than that you have an expired ID card, were in Valletta on one day, and are able to receive post at the address in Gozo you gave (from your ID card ?) - you could easily just be on holiday...

Quite right Mark. However, I do have a valid I.D. (5 years) which was renewed when I moved from the big island.
New arrivals might be puzzled by your assumption though - perhaps you will offer an explanation for their benefit 'cos I've had enough 'government' thinking for today. c.

There is a thread on differential electricity prices on the following - I'll read through it and post an explanation of the assumption if its not clear

Sorry Mark, I was referring to your assumption that my I.D. was invalid. c.

Ah

Unless you have applied for an ID card since 2007 (or possibly 2008), your ID card will have expired according to the date on the card. However, each year the Govt passes an act extending its validity - I presume one is either due now, or already passed. The reason behind this is Malta wants to switch to biometric ID cards, but wants the EU to part-fund the cost, and discussions are dragging on. If you apply for a new ID card or a replacement due to loss or change of address, then you get issued with a card with an unexpired date on it.

So there we have it. An annual act to validate the invalidity of I.D. cards and this leaves most of the population walking around with 'out of date' I.D. cards.

Hi there

I'm new to the forum and hope I've got the hang of things. I've scanned the many postings on health entitlement but don't think I've got an answer yet to my catch 22 situation but this post may be the closest.

We want to make Malta our main home - we still have a UK property and paid for the extra tax, AIP permit etc on the flat here so that it counts as a holiday home at present and we pay the higher tariff for utilities and so on. I'm early retired and have to pay tax in the Uk as a public sector pensioner. Still have a GP in the Uk and even get free prescrioptions as over 60. However I was told by Newcastle that they couldn't issue me with an E106 as they're based on NI contributions, which I don't pay as a pensioner. But I should get an E121 when I'm 65. So in the meantime I have to pay tax in the UK but if I movemy main home from the UK I lose free health cover and have to take out private insuranceif to get a residency certificate. Can that be right? Would the RHA be relevant?

Thanks in advance for any illumibaion on this.

Hi Mike, and welcome to the forum

Assuming you hold a UK passport, you are correct - either take out insurance, or use RHA to get basic cover. However, the RHA may not be around for much longer. This is based on my dealings with the Malta health dept in the last week.

I assume you or your partner (if married) haven't paid NI for the last 2 years, and your partner isn't of pensionable age ?

Ho

Thanks, Mark - correct about the NI. I'm not sure I could pay them even if I wanted to - as a "pensioner". How would I go about getting the RHA or should I just wait until it's replaced? Or wait till I'm 65? The more I hear about things the more we're inclined just to keep Malta as a "second home". No great incentive to transfer to the health system here and lose Uk rights. The trouble is we like it here and would like to spend the majority of time here! BTW sorry for the delay in replying but I was under the mistaken impression that we were notified when a post was repled to. M

You should be notified, but I think you need to click a preference in your profile (alternatively, maybe its being blocked by your spam checker).

You can pay NI in Malta as long as you are below official retirement age.

RHA - I've made a detailed post on the members only section (£ 25 pa to join, 50% to Gozo SPCA) of my experiences last month, but there is also info on the following

EU citizen moving to Malta Q&A
http://www.britishexpat.com/expatforum/malta/viewtopic.php?t=8544

this covers the following

1. An EU citizens legal rights - residency, working, students
2. what sort of residency is available ?
3. what do I need to apply for if I want to reside in Malta ?
4. do I need to apply for residency before coming to live in Malta ?
5. do I need an accountant to apply for residency ?
6. do I need health insurance ?
6.1 Do I qualify for public health cover, and if I do, what cover do I have ? Are prescriptions free ?
7. can I work in Malta ?
7.1 How much is income tax ?
7.2 How much are social security contributions ?
8. where do I apply for my residency permit ?
9. where can I get the OR application form ?
10. where do I apply for my ID card ?
11. what documents do I need to apply for OR ?
12. can I vote in Malta ?
13. buying a property FAQ
14. renting a property FAQ
15. Importing a vehicle FAQ
16. What's the procedure for importing/exporting a pet ?
17. Can I use my driving licence in Malta ?
18. Long term residency permit