Workers looking for a job in Malta are often charged thousands of euros by foreign recruitment agencies - but Identity Malta's CEO says there is nothing the agency can do about it.  

Times of Malta contacted Identity Malta after an illegal recruitment agency in the Philippines offering jobs in Malta was closed by the country’s authorities.  

The Philippines agency, operating without a licence, charged €7,000 as a processing fee for those hoping to find work in Malta or Poland as hotel workers, cleaners, or waiters.  

“We often hear that in foreign jurisdictions, especially in Asia, agents charge up to €12,000 for their services,” agency CEO Mark Mallia said. 

But Identity Malta cannot do anything about it, he said.  “Identity Malta does not have any legal authority over practices and actions happening abroad,” Mallia added.    

“Throughout the process, Identity Malta Agency only deals with the employers and applicants themselves and does not recognise any other third parties”. 

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) in the Philippines shut down OVM Visa Assistance and Travel Consultancy at the beginning of this month after investigations showed the company was providing foreign recruitment services without a licence.  

The company was charging prospective workers ₱420,000 (€7,000) in processing fees, a downpayment of ₱60,000 (€1,000) and an additional ₱100,000 (€1,650) once a work permit was issued, according to the DMW. 

The recruitment agency’s owner will be charged with illegal recruitment, the DMW said.  

"Surveillance operations conducted by the DMW-MWPB revealed that OVM offered jobs as kitchen helpers, housekeepers, waiters, and waitresses in Malta and Poland," it said.

The number of non-EU workers in Malta increased tenfold in a decade. In 2011, fewer than 5,000 foreign nationals outside the EU were working in Malta. The number increased to over 50,000 by August 2022.  

Only India provided Malta with more third-country workers than the Philippines between 2012 and 2022. Image: Jobsplus

A significant portion of those workers come from the Philippines. According to Jobsplus data, there were more than 8,200 Filipinos registered as working in Malta in December 2022. The only non-EU country with more of its nationals working in Malta at that point was India. 

Most third-country nationals (TCNs) need a single work permit that expires yearly to live and work in Malta legally.   

TCNs who need a visa to get to Malta face a lengthier process. 

Local companies often make use of temping agencies to fill employment gaps, meaning that workers are subcontracted to companies but are technically employed by recruitment agencies.  

Several have been stained by workers’ rights controversies.   

RecruitGiant engaged food couriers with an attractive employment contract, only to make them sign a second contract with much less favourable conditions when they arrived in Malta.   

When workers resigned in protest the company informed them they had to pay €4,000 for quitting, Times of Malta revealed last August.   

An April investigation also revealed that food delivery couriers employed by several agencies are still working under precarious conditions despite government regulations.