Can a None EU Spouse work in Malta?

newlight1 · Post by **newlight1** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:06 am

Can a non EU citizen originally from Albania married to a UK Citizen if they arrive in Malta does the EU Citizen need to have employment already in order for his Non EU Spouse to apply for a residence card to live and work in Malta? or would the EU Spouse have to wait to get employment before his None EU spouse could work in Malta?

If either

a) The EU Spouse has employment already in Malta, his None EU Spouse arrives, how long does it take before she would be eligible to work?

b) The EU spouse arrives but neither have employment only savings, can they both work, if so how long would it take for the None EU spouse to be eligible to work?

Thanks so much for your help in advance.

mastermind · Post by **mastermind** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:13 am

Check this European Commission's guide: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/ci ... _ec_en.pdf
Hope it answers your question.

newlight1 · Post by **newlight1** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:21 am

Thanks for that...we read that but couldnt seem to figure out the answer??

mastermind · Post by **mastermind** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:35 am

There are no separate "eligibility to work" part of non-EU spouse's rights. As long as the EU national exercises his/her treaty rights (living off savings - "being self-sufficient" - is one of the ways of exercising these rights) the non-EU spouse can stay and work in the same country.
And for the first 3 months there is not even a requirement to exercise treaty rights for EU national.
Obtaining/having residence papers from the member states is NOT a precondition to exercising any rights (Article 25 of the Directive 2004/38/EC).

newlight1 · Post by **newlight1** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:47 am

mastermind wrote:There are no separate "eligibility to work" part of non-EU spouse's rights. As long as the EU national exercises his/her treaty rights (living off savings - "being self-sufficient" - is one of the ways of exercising these rights) the non-EU spouse can stay and work in the same country.
And for the first 3 months there is not even a requirement to exercise treaty rights for EU national.
Obtaining/having residence papers from the member states is NOT a precondition to exercising any rights (Article 25 of the Directive 2004/38/EC).

Ahh that makes more sense, so if a EU Citizen moved to Malta and had savings to live off but was not in Employment his Non EU Spouse could work as soon as they arrived on Malta?

mastermind · Post by **mastermind** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:16 am

Post by **EUsmileWEallsmile** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 9:48 am

newlight1 wrote:Can a non EU citizen originally from Albania married to a UK Citizen if they arrive in Malta does the EU Citizen need to have employment already in order for his Non EU Spouse to apply for a residence card to live and work in Malta? or would the EU Spouse have to wait to get employment before his None EU spouse could work in Malta?

If either

a) The EU Spouse has employment already in Malta, his None EU Spouse arrives, how long does it take before she would be eligible to work?

b) The EU spouse arrives but neither have employment only savings, can they both work, if so how long would it take for the None EU spouse to be eligible to work? For this option, in general the EU national and family members need sickness insurance as well.

Thanks so much for your help in advance.

See comment on b above.

newlight1 · Post by **newlight1** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 11:23 pm

As long as the EU national exercises his/her treaty rights (living off savings - "being self-sufficient" - is one of the ways of exercising these rights)

I was wondering, how much savings would be needed to say we were self sufficient?

Post by **EUsmileWEallsmile** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:46 am

There is no fixed amount. If you have enough to live on that's enough essentially.

newlight1 · Post by **newlight1** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 1:35 am

EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:There is no fixed amount. If you have enough to live on that's enough essentially.

It seems that there is a fixed amount :O

An EEA national does not necessarily have
to work while s/he is living in Malta. However
in order to reside here, s/he must be able to
support himself/herself and his/her family
members accompanying or wishing to join
him/her in Malta, without recourse to public
funds. The EEA national concerned must be
covered by sickness insurance* against all
risks whilst in Malta and have sufficient
resources not to become a burden on the
State. In this respect the above-mentioned
Order [Article 11(5)] lays down that such
level of resources should be the minimum
means which determine the grant of social
assistance to Maltese nationals. Currently
this should be a capital of at least €14,000
or a weekly income of €84.95 or, in the case
of a married couple, a capital of €23,300 or
a weekly income of €93.10.

Post by **EUsmileWEallsmile** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:57 pm

Newlight1, I would always encourage people to confirm information for themselves, which you have done. Good for you.

The actual words in the directive are from article 8.4

Member States may not lay down a fixed amount which they regard as "sufficient resources", but they must take into account the personal situation of the person concerned. In all cases this amount shall not be higher than the threshold below which nationals of the host Member State become eligible for social assistance, or, where this criterion is not applicable, higher than the minimum social security pension paid by the host Member State.

I will leave you to judge whether the Maltese transposition into national law complies...

newlight1 · Post by **newlight1** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:02 pm

EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:Newlight1, I would always encourage people to confirm information for themselves, which you have done. Good for you.

The actual words in the directive are from article 8.4

Member States may not lay down a fixed amount which they regard as "sufficient resources", but they must take into account the personal situation of the person concerned. In all cases this amount shall not be higher than the threshold below which nationals of the host Member State become eligible for social assistance, or, where this criterion is not applicable, higher than the minimum social security pension paid by the host Member State.

I will leave you to judge whether the Maltese transposition into national law complies...

Thanks for that. Maybe I just dont have a high enough IQ or my dyslexia is getting in the way but I am still none the wiser, I am trying very very hard to understand this.
Is what you are saying in a nutshell that there is no minumum ammount set reguardless of what I found.

Post by **EUsmileWEallsmile** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:12 pm

Goodness no! Your IQ will be fine.

Basically, if you've got enough to live on, then you're self-sufficient. That's impossible to quantify really. Some people are frugal and get by with little, others need a lot more. What it does say is that if you have at least the amount that you would not qualify for social assistance (as the state thinks you've enough already), then you would be by definition self-sufficient as you would not get any help from the member state.

You would need comprehensive sickness insurance.

Does this make sense?

newlight1 · Post by **newlight1** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:23 pm

Thanks for your help. So there is no set amount that they say "you musy have this amount in savings before you can settle here"

Basically what may happen is at some point if I marry my girlfriend, she is a Non EU National and I am British and if we moved to Malta we wanted to know if she and I could work right away when we got there? Or would to get us a work visa we have to say "OK look at our bank statement, this is how much we have in savings" and they would say "ok thats enough here is a work visa for you and your wife" or they would say "sorry thats not enough neither of you can work here"

I have been told that a UK national I dont need health insurance but my Non EU to be Spouse would need to buy some but its not very expensive. Like about 100 Euros a year?

Post by **EUsmileWEallsmile** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:31 pm

If the EU national works, the whole thing becomes even easier. No resources, no bank statement, no sickness insurance required for EU national nor family members. Both EU national and family member could work right away.

Definitely no work visa required.

mastermind · Post by **mastermind** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:56 pm

newlight1,
The way freedom of movement rules work is that neither EU nationals nor their non-EU family members need a permission to work.
It is kind of the other way around: you need to work in order to secure your residency rights (it is just one of possible ways to exercise treaty rights of course). The documentation member states may issue (residence certificate/cards) are not permits but just documents certifying your rights. And having a job at the time of application for these papers is a prerequisite (one of the options).

newlight1 · Post by **newlight1** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:24 pm

Thanks, for that. Just what it is, is that its hard to get a job there without being there. But if one of us somehow got a job offer there before we moved there, then either spouse, the EU or none EU spouse could then also work.

We were thinking of just moving there with our savings and then looking for work BUT if we didnt find any then it could end up being an expensive long holiday.

Post by **EUsmileWEallsmile** » Wed Apr 04, 2012 4:59 pm

newlight1 wrote:Thanks, for that. Just what it is, is that its hard to get a job there without being there. But if one of us somehow got a job offer there before we moved there, then either spouse, the EU or none EU spouse could then also work.

We were thinking of just moving there with our savings and then looking for work BUT if we didnt find any then it could end up being an expensive long holiday.

You generally have three months where you don't need to be doing anything special (you don't need to be working, a student or self-sufficient).

Ultimately, like you posted, if you can't find work, you'll start running through savings.

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Can a None EU Spouse work in Malta?

Can a None EU Spouse work in Malta?

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