Coming to Malta from Ukraine: temporary protection or the work permit, and the jobs

Ukrainians in Malta are on two different legal tracks: temporary protection, granted since 2022 with its own work rights and its own deadlines, and the ordinary Single Permit. Which one you are on changes everything about renewals and changing jobs. Ask Identità which applies to you before you follow any guide, this one included.

Temporary protection

If you are in Malta under the EU temporary protection scheme for people displaced from Ukraine, your right to work, your card and your renewal follow that scheme, not the Single Permit rules on this site. Identità’s Expatriates Unit handles both and can tell you the current end date and what happens after it. Do not let an employer apply for a Single Permit “to be safe” without asking Identità first; the two statuses interact.

The ordinary route, from Ukraine

Your passport enters Schengen visa-free for 90 days in any 180. It does not let you work. For a Single Permit from abroad: contract, employer applies and pays €600, approval in principle, then a long-stay (D) visa. Malta has no embassy in Ukraine; the premium courier process through Identità’s Central Visa Unit (€300 all-in, six to eight weeks) applies, or a VFS Malta centre if one is listed.

The jobs Ukrainians take here

Customer service in Ukrainian and Russian for gaming and tech, IT and software (often on the Specialist or Key Employee routes), hospitality, beauty and spa work, construction, logistics, care. Beauty and spa therapists have hepatitis B requirements in the health screening; hospitality needs the Skills Pass unless you are already a permit holder.

Documents

Degrees through MQRIC; certificates legalised or apostilled in Ukraine and translated by a translator registered in Malta. Passport valid for more than eight months for a new permit application.

Life here

Ukrainian communities grew quickly after 2022 and are spread through the central towns, the office belt and St Paul’s Bay. Orthodox and Greek Catholic services exist; ask in the community. English is the language of work; Russian is understood on many customer-service floors.

The scam

Even for Ukrainians the fake-offer trade exists: a “company in Malta” on Telegram, a fee for “documents”. The never-pay-an-agent guide applies in full. If you are already in Malta, the changing-jobs guide and DIER on 1575 are the practical tools.

The money

The minimum wage is €229.44 a week in 2026, about €994 a month. 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: who needs a D visa, where 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/