Malta Residence & Work Permit Medical Guide 2026: Insurance, Health Screening, Vaccines, Blood Tests & Documents

Before you start: requirements vary

This guide is written for Third-Country Nationals (TCNs), meaning people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, who are applying to live and/or work in Malta. There is no single medical checklist that applies to everyone. What you need depends on your permit category, your employment sector, your country of birth or residence, whether this is a first application or a renewal, and your own vaccination history.

Requirements can change. Always verify the latest requirements with Identità and Malta’s Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate (HPDP) before you book appointments or pay for tests.

DoctorMalta is an independent health magazine. It is not Identità, the Department of Social Security, the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate or any other government body, and nothing here is an official decision about your case.

Health insurance

Identità currently requires qualifying Single Permit applicants to hold a health insurance policy with at least €100,000 cover. The policy must provide medical treatment including outpatient treatment and hospitalisation, must cover Malta (and other European countries where required), and must cover the applicable period of stay.

A basic travel policy often limits cover to emergencies or short trips, so it may not meet this requirement. Compare your policy wording with the Identità requirement before you submit.

• Minimum cover: €100,000
• Must include: outpatient and hospital care
• Must cover: Malta, plus other European countries where required, for your period of stay
• Basic travel cover: check carefully, it often does not meet the requirement

Not every residence category has identical insurance rules. Certain non-employment permits have their own requirements and exemptions, so check the Identità page for your exact permit type and its current FAQ.

Who needs health screening?

HPDP states that most prospective employees who are not EU citizens must obtain Health Screening approval as part of their work permit application. What the screening involves depends on your country of birth or residence, your occupation (for example healthcare, care or food work), your sex and your vaccination history.

Since 4 May 2026, first-time applicants from low-risk TB countries who were previously exempt now also need screening if they work as administrative workers, construction or manual workers, footballers, hairdressers and make-up artists, transport workers, cleaners and housekeepers, security guards, delivery personnel or non-medical laboratory technicians.

Food handlers must also upload a scan of both sides of their Food Handler’s card issued by the Food Safety Commission. A Food Handler’s certificate is not accepted.

For applicants who do require screening, the official health clearance is part of the residence or work permit process, not an optional extra.

How the 2026 health screening process works

Since 4 May 2026 all health screening applications for work permits go through the online Expatriates Health Screening system. Paper or email applications are no longer accepted. In outline:

• Step 1: Your employer or HR representative, not the employee, submits the application online using their e-ID, with the signed Employee-Employer Declaration Consent Form and a clear scan of your passport bio page.
• Step 2: After submission, a list of registered doctors and clinics authorised to do the screening, plus a checklist of documents for the appointment, can be downloaded.
• Step 3: You or your employer book the appointment with one of those authorised doctors in Malta.
• Step 4: The doctor completes the online health-screening form and uploads the required medical documents.
• Step 5: Any required vaccinations, blood tests or chest X-ray are completed.
• Step 6: The application is reviewed by the health authorities.
• Step 7: An automated “full clearance” email goes to the email addresses entered in the form, so make sure they are correct. Processing can take up to 15 working days from a correctly completed application.
• Step 8: You take a printed copy of the approval email to Identità as proof of clearance.

Where screening is required, do not book or proceed with the relevant Identità appointment until you have received health-screening approval. Incomplete or unclear documents are returned and delay the process, and requests for urgent processing are not considered.

The doctor appointment

The doctor performing the official screening reviews your medical and vaccination documentation, reviews any applicable blood-test results, verifies that required investigations have been done, completes the official health-screening information and uploads medical documents through the appropriate system. Current official guidance states that only one doctor may complete the health-screening form, so choose your doctor before you start.

Vaccinations

Under Maltese law everyone residing in Malta must be protected against diphtheria, tetanus and polio. All screened applicants, whatever their job, must receive one polio/diphtheria vaccine dose in Malta.

Any required vaccination must be given in Malta. If you were fully vaccinated abroad, bring official records and you will receive a booster in Malta. If you were never or only partly vaccinated, or your records are unavailable, the full course must be repeated in Malta; a booster alone is not accepted.

This guide does not give personalised vaccination schedules. The screening doctor will advise based on your records and the current HPDP rules.

Blood tests

Blood tests are not universally required for every applicant. They are required where your occupation or screening category calls for them. Hepatitis B screening for the professions listed above is a common example.

All vaccination records and blood test results must be shown to the screening doctor, who uploads copies to the online portal. Blood tests and investigations must be carried out in Malta through private healthcare providers.

Chest X-ray and TB screening

Not every applicant needs a chest X-ray. For first-time work-permit screening, chest X-ray requirements currently apply to people born in, or who have lived for at least six months in, countries Malta categorises as High or Very High TB risk.

The chest X-ray must be taken within 6 weeks of the application date. If you change jobs and need further screening, an X-ray from the last year can be reused; older than a year means a new one.

The country list is reviewed regularly in line with WHO guidelines, so check the current HPDP list rather than an old copy.

Health clearance: what actually counts

Identità requires the final health approval certificate where health screening applies. Proof that the process has merely been started is not enough for the Single Permit application.

Renewals, new jobs and new employers

Some applicants need one repeat health screening, generally one year after the initial screening, depending on the countries they lived in or their job category. This is a health screening renewal, not a work permit or ID card renewal; see the HPDP renewal page.

If you change to a different job category (for example from administration to healthcare or food handling), further screening may be needed. A Change of Job application through the portal tells you automatically. Changing employer within the same job category does not normally need a new screening.

Malta permit medical checklist

• ☐ Correct permit category confirmed
• ☐ Employer or HR submitted the online screening application
• ☐ Passport and clear passport bio page scan
• ☐ Food Handler’s card (both sides), if a food handler
• ☐ Health insurance (at least €100,000 for Single Permit)
• ☐ Vaccination records
• ☐ Required vaccinations
• ☐ Blood tests, if applicable
• ☐ Chest X-ray, if applicable
• ☐ Doctor screening appointment
• ☐ Medical documents uploaded
• ☐ “Full clearance” approval email received and printed
• ☐ Identità documentation prepared

Need help with the medical side of your application? Doctor St Julian’s Clinic provides private GP and healthcare services in Malta. Ask the clinic directly which permit-related services, such as consultations, vaccination review or blood testing, it can currently provide for your case.

Frequently asked questions