Malta Student Visa Over 90 Days: The Long-Stay (D) Visa, Explained

If you want to study English in Malta for more than three months, you’ll usually need a long-stay (D) visa — a national visa for stays longer than 90 days — and you apply for it before you travel. But the real trigger is a course of 105 days or more, not simply “over 90 days”, and the fees and funds figures on many school pages are out of date. Below is the current 2026 process, end to end, in plain English.

We’re a Malta-based team who help English learners get here, and we’ve kept this in step with the rules as they changed (November 2023, then 1 March 2024, then updates into 2026). A quick note before we start: if you hold an EU passport (Italian, French, German and so on), none of this applies to you — you don’t need a visa at all, only a simple residence-registration formality if you settle here long term. This guide is for non-EU students.

Key facts (2026)

• The line that matters: courses of 105+ days (15 weeks) need a pre-arrival D-visa. Courses of 90–104 days can enter on the 90-day visa exemption and extend in-country.
• Where you apply: through VFS Global (a private company that handles visa paperwork for the Malta government), Standard or Extended service. In force since 1 March 2024.
• Fees: €100 (Standard) or €150 (Extended) appointment fee, plus a VFS admin fee of about €25–30.
• Processing time: 4–8 weeks.
• Funds you must prove: €26/day if your accommodation isn’t fully paid in advance, or €18/day if it is. (Ignore the old “75% of minimum wage” figure.)
• Work rights: up to 20 hours/week, but only after your first 3 months of study.
• Japan & Korea: since 2 September 2024, a special flow — you keep your passport at the appointment and travel only after Identità emails you.

Do you actually need the D-visa? The real 90-vs-105-day line

Most guides tell you a visa kicks in “over 90 days”. That’s the part they get wrong. The mandatory pre-arrival D-visa only applies to courses of 105 days (15 weeks) or more.

If your course is 90–104 days, you have another route: enter Malta on the standard 90-day visa exemption (if your nationality qualifies for it) and extend in-country. That route needs a minimum 8-week course plus a minimum 8-week extension. So the honest question isn’t “am I over 90 days?” — it’s “is my course 105 days or longer?” If yes, you apply before you fly.

D-visa simply means a national long-stay visa — a stamp in your passport that lets you stay in Malta for more than 90 days, up to a maximum of 365 days from the day you enter.

Step by step: applying before you travel

Since 1 March 2024, every non-EU student on a 105+ day course applies through VFS Global, even if your country is normally visa-exempt for short trips. There are two service levels:

	Standard service	Extended service
Appointment fee	€100	€150
Slot availability	booked 21+ days ahead	often next-day slots
VFS admin fee	~€25–30	~€25–30
Total processing	4–8 weeks	4–8 weeks

The service level changes how quickly you get an appointment, not the overall 4–8 week processing window. Book early — that window plus a course start date is what catches people out.

The broad order of events: pick your course and pay the school, get your Letter of Acceptance, book a VFS appointment, attend it with your documents, wait for the decision, then travel.

Documents and the Letter of Acceptance

The document everything hinges on is the Letter of Acceptance from your school. It must be an original and state your course dates, duration and fees, together with proof that you’ve paid. Without a course that’s genuinely 105+ days and a matching paid-fee letter, the application doesn’t stand up.

our accommodation type comparison

Proving funds: the real 2026 numbers

Here’s the correction that saves the most confusion. Many aggregator and school pages still quote “75% of the national minimum wage”. That figure is out of date. The current standard is a simple per-day amount:

• €26 per day if your accommodation is not fully paid in advance.
• €18 per day if your accommodation is fully prepaid.

So prepaying your accommodation lowers the funds you need to show — worth planning around. (For context only: Malta’s 2026 national minimum wage is about €994/month, roughly €229.44/week — but the funds test uses the per-day figures above, not a wage percentage.)

Landing in Malta: extending your D-visa vs a residence permit

A common myth is that every student must get a plastic residence permit card. For general English-course students, that’s not true. Your D-visa already covers up to 365 days from entry, and if you need longer you renew or extend the D-visa rather than switch to a residence permit.

A residence permit is only mandatory for Year 1 to Sixth Form students and for MQF Level 5+ (higher-education) students. If you’re on an English language course, you’re in the D-visa-extension lane, not the residence-permit lane.

Working while you study: the 20-hour rule and the 90-day wait

Students on courses over 90 days (outside regulated higher education) may work a maximum of 20 hours a week — but there’s a catch that trips people up: you can only start after your first 3 months of study in Malta. Don’t build a budget that assumes wages from week one.

Japan and Korea: the September 2024 process

Since 2 September 2024, Japanese and Korean applicants follow a modified flow. You attend the VFS appointment without handing over your passport, then wait for a confirmation email from Identità (Malta’s national identity agency). Only after that email do you travel, and the visa is affixed once you’re in Malta. The key rule: don’t book flights around the appointment date — travel only after Identità confirms. If you’re planning European trips before or after your course, count your days carefully against the Schengen 90-days-in-180 rule.

If your visa is refused

You can appeal a refused D-visa to the Immigration Appeals Board within 15 days of the decision. Note the deadline — it’s short.

FAQ

Can I study English in Malta for more than 90 days without a visa? Only if your course is 90–104 days and your nationality qualifies for the 90-day visa exemption — then you can enter and extend in-country (minimum 8-week course + 8-week extension). A course of 105 days or more needs a pre-arrival D-visa.

How long does the Malta student D-visa take to process? Typically 4–8 weeks. Extended service can get you an earlier appointment, but the processing window is the same, so apply well ahead of your start date.

Do I need a residence permit to study English in Malta? Generally no. English-course students stay on the D-visa (up to 365 days, renewable). A residence permit is only mandatory for Year 1–Sixth Form and MQF Level 5+ higher-education students.

Can I work while studying English in Malta on a student visa? Yes, up to 20 hours a week — but only after your first 3 months of study.

do you actually need a Malta student visa? the 90-day line