Coming to Malta from Nepal: the VFS extended service, the labour permit, the jobs

Nepalis have become one of the largest groups in Malta’s hospitality, delivery and cleaning workforce in a few years, and one of the most targeted by fee-charging middlemen at home. The Maltese side of the route is clear and almost free. The Nepali side is where you must be careful.

Where the visa comes from

Malta has no embassy in Nepal. VFS Global runs a Malta service there with an extended service for employment visas: the application is booked at the centre and processed directly by the Central Visa Unit at Identità. VFS’s page lists the extended-service work permit visa at €250 plus a €150 service fee, and a standard service at €150 plus €100. It requires the original approval in principle from Identità; the centre will not accept an application without it. Six to eight weeks.

Before you leave Nepal

Nepal requires its own labour permit for work abroad; the Department of Foreign Employment is the authority. Check its current rules for Malta and for the agency you use. A Nepali agency may be licensed at home and still be the wrong partner if it is charging you for a Maltese job; on the Maltese side, the employer pays and the agency may not charge you.

The jobs Nepalis take here

Waiters, kitchen porters and cooks, hotel housekeeping, delivery riders, cleaners, warehouse and construction workers, carers. Hospitality work needs the Tourism and Hospitality Skills Pass on top of the pre-departure course. Many Nepalis move from delivery platforms into hotel and restaurant jobs after the first year; a change of employer means a new application by the new employer, €600 to them.

The health screening

Nepal has in the past appeared on tuberculosis-risk lists used by Malta’s health authority. If your country is on the current list, you need a chest X-ray in Malta within six weeks of the application, and a repeat screening a year later for renewal. Tests are done in Malta at private clinics. Nobody in Kathmandu can sell you Malta’s clearance.

Life here

Nepali communities are strongest in the harbour towns and St Paul’s Bay. Nepali shops and restaurants exist in the central area. English is enough for work; Hindi is widely understood among South Asian colleagues.

Debt

The single biggest risk for Nepali workers in Malta is arriving with a loan taken to pay an agent. The debt makes you accept the unpaid overtime and the eight-bed room. Read the contract-traps guide before you borrow. If the fee was demanded in Nepal, it was never a Maltese cost.

The money

The minimum wage is €229.44 a week in 2026, about €994 a month, and many first jobs pay near it. A room costs €450 to €700 a month. Run your own numbers in the salaries guide before you accept. A salary far above the ranges there is a red flag, not a prize.

What never happens

Nobody in Malta charges you for a job. Agencies here are licensed by DIER and commit an offence if they take money from an applicant. Employers may not take money from workers for recruitment. The permit fee is the employer’s. You pay the two official courses, your visa, your health tests and your flight, and nothing else.

Check this at the source

• Identità, long-stay visa policy: where and how to apply, premium process €300, 6 to 8 weeks. https://identita.gov.mt/central-visa-unit-national-visa-long-stay-visa/
• Missions of Malta: embassies and high commissions. https://missions.foreign.gov.mt/embassies/ and https://missions.foreign.gov.mt/high-commissions/
• Identità, working and residing in Malta. https://identita.gov.mt/working-residing-in-malta/
• DIER: agencies may not charge applicants. https://dier.gov.mt/en/faqs/employment-agencies-regulations-and-the-temporary-working-regulations/2/
• VFS Global, Malta extended services in Nepal: fees and process. https://www.vfsglobal.com/one-pager/malta-extended-services/nepal/english/index.html