Coming to Malta from Bangladesh: the visa route, BMET, the jobs, the fees that do not exist

Bangladeshis fill a growing share of Malta’s kitchens, construction sites, delivery fleets and cleaning companies. The permit route is the standard Single Permit: the employer applies and pays. The fee you are quoted in Dhaka is not a Maltese fee. This page is the Malta side, verified, and the Bangladesh side, flagged where you must check.

Where the visa comes from

Malta has no embassy in Bangladesh. Either a VFS Global Malta service in Bangladesh, if VFS lists one, or Identità’s premium process for countries without a Maltese mission: email the Central Visa Unit with your approval in principle, receive a token, upload documents, pay €300 covering all fees, courier your passport, receive it back with the visa in six to eight weeks. We could not confirm a VFS Malta centre in Bangladesh on an official page at the time of writing. Check VFS Global’s Malta pages and write to the Central Visa Unit directly. The Pakistan page covers the same courier process for Pakistani passports.

Before you leave Bangladesh

The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training has its own clearance process for workers going abroad. Check its current rules for Malta. A Bangladeshi agency with a licence at home may still be charging you for something that is free in Malta. The Sri Lanka page covers the same check for Sri Lankan passports.

The jobs Bangladeshis take here

Kitchen staff and cooks, restaurant and hotel work, construction and manual labour, delivery riders, cleaners, warehouse workers, shop assistants. Hospitality roles need the Tourism and Hospitality Skills Pass (€230) on top of the pre-departure course (around €250). Both are paid on the official portal, never to a person.

The health screening

If Bangladesh is on Malta’s current high-risk tuberculosis list, you need a chest X-ray in Malta within six weeks of the application, and a repeat screening a year later for renewal. Every test is done in Malta.

Life here

Bangladeshi communities are strongest around the Grand Harbour: Marsa, Ħamrun, Paola, and in the central towns. Bengali shops and halal food are easy to find. English is the language of work; Bengali and Hindi are common among colleagues.

The scam

The quoted price in Bangladesh for a “Malta visa” has no legal basis in Malta. A real Maltese employer advertises the job in Malta for three weeks, applies to Identità, pays €600, and waits up to four months. Anyone promising a faster route is selling a fake one. The Single Permit guide covers each of those steps. Read the never-pay-an-agent guide, and if you already paid, the contract-traps guide on what to do about the debt.

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/