Updated 7.20pm, adds Chamber of Commerce reaction

The government and the nurses' union have reached an agreement that will reduce bureaucracy for foreign nurses and their immediate family by increasing the validity of their residence permit to three years. 

The government is also pledging to process the residency application within 15 working days and has substantially cut the costs linked to the permit.

Identity Malta bureaucracy has been cited as one of the main reasons why some 140 nurses, equivalent to over a fifth of the nurses who are third-country nationals working here, have either already quit or were in the process of submitting their resignation.

In January, Times of Malta reported that the country was bracing itself for an exodus of foreign nurses – mostly Indian, Pakistani and Filipino – who are being poached by the UK as part of its efforts to control its COVID-19 situation.

The government said on Friday that following two meetings led by Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar, and MUMN president Paul Pace, in consultation with Identity Malta, changes will be implemented with immediate effect.

It has also been agreed that all necessary medical examinations will be free of charge for non-EU state employees. This also applies to those on an indefinite contract with the public sector.

What has been agreed?

Three-year residency permit
Identity Malta Agency will start issuing a residency permit valid for three, instead of one year, to nurses and other health professionals employed by the state on an indefinite contract.

Decrease in fees
Nurses or other health professionals from outside the EU, who are employed by the state, will have the usual application fee substantially reduced.

They will now be paying €250 for their three-year work permit and €82.50 for a residency card that used to cost €27.50 annually.

This means that in total, over a three-year period, they will be paying €332.50 instead of €832.50.

Applications processed within 15 days

Identity Malta Agency will start processing applications within 15 working days. Once the application is approved and the card is ready for collection, the applicant will receive a letter by post to collect it in person.

Conditions to be extended to family members

Wives, husbands and the children of the applicant will also be issued a three-year residency permit, as long as all applications are filed together.

Family members of sponsors who have a long-term residence permit will be issued a permit valid for five years.

Anything but an equal playing field is unacceptable - Chamber

In a reaction, the Chamber of Commerce said while the agreement is welcome, the decision to allow only those employed in the public sector to benefit from it is unjust.

The shortage of nurses and care health workers is felt by everyone and the fact that the public sector is favoured and classified as more important than the private sector “is unacceptable”, it said. 

The private sector, it pointed out, alleviates the burden to the State when offering its services and many operators are also providing their service to the government

“Removing red tape in support of the public sector alone is unwarranted and will only result in foreign health care workers seeking employment within the public health system compounding the problem further for the private sector,” it said.

It added that anything but an equal playing field is not acceptable. 

It asked the government to reconsider its decision and offer the same terms and conditions on work permit duration, costs and applications irrelevant if one is employed in the public or the private sector.