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Kurt Sansone
More than 50 per cent of the foreign nationals that have acquired Maltese citizenship over the last four years were British, further confirming the strong social and historic links between the two countries.
Additionally, just over 51 per cent of foreigners registered or naturalised, as citizens of Malta were women.
Figures obtained by MaltaToday from the Ministry of Home Affairs show that since 2000, 3,719 foreigners were granted Maltese citizenship either through naturalisation or registration. Of these 1,877 were British nationals.
The second highest number of foreign nationals to be granted Maltese citizenship hailed from Italy. These accounted for 12 per cent (429 individuals) of the total.
Malta’s strong immigrant links with Australia, Canada and the United States are also reflected in the figures with 789 nationals from these countries obtaining Maltese citizenship.
There were 366 Australians (10 per cent), 222 Canadians (6 per cent) and 201 Americans (5 per cent) over the past four years who took up a Maltese passport.
Another significant statistic is the number of Libyans granted Maltese citizenship totalling 91 or two per cent of the total.
The number of foreigners granted a Maltese passport and hailing from North Africa and the Middle East totals 191 or five per cent of the total.
The rest of those granted citizenship over the last four years hail from various countries around the world including the tiny island state of St Kitts and Nevis and the kingdom of Nepal.
Legislative changes enacted in 2000 made it more restrictive for people to apply for citizenship. In a bid to curb marriages of convenience, foreigners married to a Maltese spouse are only able to apply for citizenship after five years of marriage.
The Home Affairs Ministry told MaltaToday it does not intend to change the conditions for the acquisition of citizenship in the foreseeable future.
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