Ukrainian woman says Malta rules ignore the conflict she fled

Updated 8.45am with government reaction

A Ukrainian woman, who came to Malta with her family 10 years ago, is calling for a solution to the legal loopholes in which she – and others like her – are trapped.

Mariia Ivanova is stuck between different laws and regulations.

“After nearly 10 years of living, working, paying taxes, and raising a child in Malta, I find myself in a legal limbo,” said the 31-year-old.

Ivanova said her intention is not to criticise, but to seek guidance and fairness. 

“I respectfully ask: what options are available for families who have integrated, contributed to society, and have no safe country to return to? Malta has been our home for a decade. We only wish to continue living and working here legally and with dignity." 

She spoke up because she is tired of fighting a system which, she insists, “is not fair”.

Ivanova came to Malta in 2015 from Donetsk, a region in eastern Ukraine that has seen conflict since 2014, when Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine’s armed forces began fighting. 

When Ivanova, her ex-husband and their one-year-old son arrived in Malta in 2015 they were granted Temporary Humanitarian Protection. The family settled in Malta, found work, and their son started attending school.

In 2021, their protection status was withdrawn, and she regularised her stay through a work visa, obtained after travelling to Turkey. 

Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Legal loopholes 

Then, in 2024, she lost her job.

At the time, the law gave her only 10 days to find another job before losing her work visa. So, she reapplied for temporary protection, saying the war in Ukraine was ongoing and it was unsafe for her family to return.  

A torn but proudly flying flag is seen along a road in the Donetsk region, a symbol of an invincible free Ukraine. Photo: Shutterstock

However, she and her child were refused protection because they first arrived in Malta in 2015, before the 2022 escalation of war.

“The war in my city started in 2014, but that was not the official war for the rest of the world,” she notes. She was told she can settle in Lviv.

But she does not have ties there and no family. 

Ivanova appealed in February 2025. Since then, she has been living and working in Malta under an appeal document that she has to renew every three months. 

The war in my city started in 2014, but that was not the official war for the rest of the world

The appeal is still pending, and she currently has no valid ID card.

This means she cannot apply for a new work visa because she would need to leave the European Union, something that is both technically and practically impossible for her. Even if this were possible, she notes, it would cost more than many people in her situation can afford. 

She also tried to find another route and completed the ‘I Belong’ Maltese language and cultural integration courses in preparation for applying for a five-year residence card. 

“However, due to my pending appeal and lack of a valid ID card, I am unable to submit this application even though I completed the course,” she notes.

Her certificates will expire within one year, and she may lose the opportunity to apply for long-term residency simply because she cannot formally apply without a valid residence document.

To her, this does not make sense: every route appears to be blocked. 

She is also concerned about her son.

“My son does not speak Russian or Ukrainian. He doesn’t know the alphabet. Can you imagine, he grew up with the Maltese language and English? If we go back to Ukraine, what is he going to do?” she says, adding that turning to the media is now a last resort.

Home Affairs replies

In reply to questions by Times of Malta, the Home Affairs ministry said Ivanova currently had an appeal pending before the International Protection Appeals Tribunal. Pending a decision on this appeal, she retained the status of an asylum seeker in Malta and was therefore entitled to all the rights associated with that status, including access to the labour market.

"Having arrived in Malta in 2015, Ivanova is not eligible for temporary protection.

"In this regard, it should be noted that the council Implementing Decision of 4 March 2022, which activated temporary protection for the first time in response to the mass influx of persons fleeing Ukraine as a result of the Russian aggression, applies to Ukrainian nationals who were displaced from Ukraine on or after February 24, 2022 and who were residing in Ukraine prior to that date."