S.L. 217.5 Art. 5Conditions for acquiring long- term resident status.

(1) A third country national wishing to obtain long-term resident status shall submit an application in writing to the

Director.

(2) When applying for long-term resident status in accordance with subregulation (1), the third country national shall provide evidence that he has -

(a) stable and regular resources which have subsisted for a continuous period of two years immediately prior to the date of application, declared with the pertinent tax authorities in Malta, which are sufficient to maintain himself and the members of his family without recourse to the social assistance system in Malta or to any benefits or assistance of any type payable under the Social Security Act, the Housing Authority Act and any other law providing any assistance of a social nature and which would be equivalent to, at least, the national minimum wage in Malta with an addition of another twenty percent of the national minimum wage for each member of the family: Provided that benefits or assistance payable under the Social Security Act or any other national legislation, which the third country national is entitled to claim as special assistance in order to meet exceptional, individually determined essential living costs, tax refunds granted on the basis of his income, or other income-support measures, shall be considered as part of his stable resources;

(b) appropriate accommodation regarded as normal for a comparable family in Malta and which meets the standards, which shall be published by notice in the Gazette on the date of the coming into force of these * regulations and subsequently every five years, as defined by the Ministry responsible for housing;

(c) a valid travel document;

(d) sickness insurance in respect of all risks normally covered for Maltese nationals for himself and the members of his family;

* the reference is to Legal Notice 370 of 2010 - came into force on 1st August, 2010.

(e) met the conditions set out in regulation 4.

(3) In order to be eligible to apply for long-term resident status, a third country national shall provide evidence that he has complied with the following integration conditions, namely:

(a) in the last twelve months immediately prior to the application for long term resident status he has attended a course organised by the public employment service or any other competent authority of at least one hundred hours having as its subject matter the social, economic, cultural and democratic history and environment of Malta, and that he provides evidence certifying that he has attended at least one hundred hours of the lessons of these courses with satisfactory attention and that he has achieved an examination pass mark of at least seventy five percent;

(b) has obtained a pass mark of at least sixty-five percent after being assessed by the competent authorities to have achieved the equivalent of Malta Qualifications Framework Level 2 in Maltese; and

(c) provides evidence that the necessary fees charged in relation to the courses, examinations and certificates referred to above have been paid.