S.L. 217.5 Art. 4Grant of long-term resident status.

(1) The Director shall grant long-term resident status to third country nationals who have resided legally and continuously in Malta for five years immediately prior to the submission of the application referred to in regulation 5(1): Provided that the Director shall not grant long-term resident status on the basis of international protection in the event of the revocation of, ending of or refusal to renew, international protection in accordance with articles 10(1), article 12 and article

22 of the International Protection Act.

(2) In calculating the period of five years provided for in subregulation (1), periods of residence for the reasons stated in regulation 3(2)(a), (e) and (f) shall not be taken into account.

(3) (a) In calculating the period of five years provided for in sub-regulation (1), a temporary absence from Malta shall not interrupt such period and shall be taken into account in the compilation of the said period when the periods of absence are shorter than six consecutive months and do not exceed the total of ten months within the five year period.

(b) The Director may consider a longer period of absence than the total of ten months referred to in paragraph (a), by a further period of twelve months when such absence is due to:

(i) health reasons;

(ii) secondment by the employer of the third country national;

(iii) business travel; or

(iv) education or training purposes. In such cases, the period of absence longer than the total of ten months shall not be taken into account in the calculation of the period referred to in subregulation (1).

(c) As regards persons to whom international protection has been granted, the Director shall take into account, in the calculation of the period referred to in sub-regulation (1), half of the period between the date of the lodging of the application for international protection on the basis of which that international protection was granted, and the date of the grant of the permit in terms of regulation 14 of Procedural

Standards in Examining Applications for Refugee Status Regulations or the whole of that period if it exceeds 18 months.