Most migrants are eligible for long-term residence permits after five years, while refugees can apply as soon as they are recognised. Already best in the EU-10, Malta would reach best practice if, as in AT, DK, and the UK, applicants would not be disqualified for having left the country for over six months at a time or ten months total. Long-term residents, like families, are protected by legal guarantees and the right to appeal a decision to withdraw or refuse their permit. But the state does not have to take their circumstances into account. Since Legal Notice 278, long-term residents in Malta enjoy the most favourable rights in MIPEX, tied with GR, NO and PT. Malta would attain best practice if long-term residents from other Member States did not have to pass a Maltese language test.
