Malta - British Expat Forum

Myself and my family are considering relocating to Malta after falling in love with the place after many visits. It has become apparent that we seemed to spend most of our time longing to be back in Malta.

I am an experienced IT professional with 20 years experience, including Senior IT Management (aged 44), My wife is a qualified Nurse who has worked for the last 10 years as a senior NHS Manager (aged 43). We also have an 18 Year old son who has just left school.

We are looking to somewhat simplify our lives and not do the 100 mile a day commute. I would quite happily work in IT but would be open to other job roles. My wife would work as a Nurse or whatever, as long as we can get work. My son would be happy doing anything, sales, manual work, anything really.

Financially we have been hit hard so will not be flush with money. We will look to rent for the first 12 months before we decide where to buy. If we can luck out with redundancy payments we may come with around £60k cash and maybe another £20k from sales of various goods. If we don’t get lucky we will come with very little, a few thousand maybe.

There may also be the possibility that we also bring my 71 year old mother in law who is in excellent health (she is still working and enjoying it).

Also will need to bring 1 dog and two cats. I would also like to bring my 21 year Motorcycle and my son’s new 125cc bike. We have two cars and would like to bring the oldest (2003 Renault Megane 1.6 Petrol).

As far as shipping stuff down is it better to rent a container and ride the bikes/cars down or rent a van and self drive. We are well used to driving across Europe so the distance doesn’t bother us more the best cost option.

So, please feel free to offer an opinion on any of the above, I would be interested in learning about job prospects, where to rent, etc.

Thanks for reading.

Fubar

Hi Fubar, and welcome to the forum

You've covered a lot of topics, there, and its best if you split them up, and put them in the relevant sections (many may well have been covered already)

a good starting point is

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

covers

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 certificate ?
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 ?
17.1 Applying for driving licence
18. Long term residency certificate

Thanks Gozomark, read all those links and it seems fairly simple as a UK citizen to relocate to Malta.

I was just wondering if people had any opinions to offer, how likely are we to find work? How easy is it to get work before you arrive? etc.

Can't wait to make the move now, need to start sorting house sale, selling off stuff we won't/can't take.

Hopefully get it sorted so we can take the plunge this year!

Fubar

You are more likely to get help on working if you post a question in the working forum

Just thought I would log in and say Hi, we did it, we are in Malta. We arrived at the end of March. I found work for a software company within a few weeks. My wife started work as a district nurse last week. My mother in law arrives this Sunday to live here. Loving Malta at the moment, still need to sort out registering my car and getting my motorcycle shipped over, not to mention the rest of our belongings but I am not going to stress about that, it will have to wait for finances.

This board has provided us with so much information and really made our transistion as easy as possible, so a big thank you to all who run and participate on the forum.

Fubar

Thank you so much for the update, and your kind words Sounds like your new life is all going to plan

Many thanks from Kay and me too - glad to hear you've made it over safely, and hope everything continues to go smoothly for you!

Wishing you and the family all the best in Malta, Fubar, I don't think you will be disappointed with the lifestyle change