A fast-track process for skilled foreign workers, which promises to process applications within 15 working days has begun.

The agency’s new ‘Specialist Employee Initiative’ is open to university graduates or those with equivalent qualifications in a managerial or technical role earning at least €25,000, according to Identità. 

Set up to speed up the application process for skilled third-country nations, the scheme is billed as an extension to the ‘Key Employee Initiative’, which fast-tracks applications of highly paid managers or technicians within five days. 

For an employee to be eligible for the scheme, their employer must prove they are unable to find a Maltese or EU worker to fill the role.  

Identità, formerly Identity Malta, is the government agency responsible for ID cards, passports, visas, residence documents, public deeds and civil status records. It was rebranded to Identità in September.  

The agency published the requirements of the new scheme in a Facebook post on Friday, alongside details of the long-standing ‘Key Employee Initiative. 

Third-country nationals form an increasingly large proportion of the workforce. Data from Jobsplus shows how the annual flow of foreign workers increased from 15,000 in 2012 to 97,000 in 2022.

Last year a Eurobarometer survey found almost two-thirds of businesses in Malta said they were being held back because of skills shortages in the local labour market. 

An explosion of migration, especially from third (non-EU) countries, has resulted in worker exploitation, and pressure on the country’s infrastructure, including housing and traffic, amid vocal concerns from many Maltese citizens.

While the government has said it is taking steps to limit the population growth, Prime Minister Robert Abela has also acknowledged that the local supply of workers does not meet demand.