Single Permits can now be issued from Gozo

Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana and parliamentary secretary Julia Farrugia Portelli announced jointly with Identity Malta that as from October 2017, Identity Malta shall begin accepting applications and issuing single permits from its Victoria office. A single permit is required for third country nationals who would like to obtain a permit in order to reside and work in Malta or Gozo. A work permit is issued for a third country national since the latter do not enjoy an inherent right to work in the European Union. Through the single permit, a third country national shall work with a specific employer to perform a specific job. Therefore, the employee cannot use the obtained employment license to take up a different job or to work for a different employer.

It is worth noting that out of the 8,600 permits issued in 2016, 2% of those permits were issued to Gozo-based residents. Thus, the need was felt for Identity Malta to provide the service of the issuance of single permits from an office that would be located in Gozo.

Before Identity Malta introduced the issuance of single permits from a Gozo office, Gozitan entrepreneurs had to cross over to Malta every single time to process the necessary documents for non-European Union workers. The rendering of the service pertaining to single permit applications from Gozo shall bring less bureaucracy and less loss of time for Gozitan businesses.

In relation to this matter, Parliamentary Secretary Julia Farrugia Portelli, remarked that the Government is anticipating that the demand for these permits will continue to increase because of certain major projects such as the Barts Medical School and the investment in the medical sector by Vitals Global Healthcare. Moreover, with the expansion of the Gozo General Hospital, the Government is expecting more foreign workers to establish themselves in Gozo.

By way of concluding, a single permit shall narrow the gap in relation to rights between citizens of the European Union and Third Country Nationals working within the Member States. The issuance of a single permit shall also avoid exploitation of non-EU workers and at the same time it shall act as a safeguard of social security.