Amid current concerns about the coronavirus, residency permits and work permits will automatically be extended for three months to medical workers, said Junior Minister for Citizenship Affairs Alex Muscat. Such an order will apply to all health workers, namely to those who:

Work in the hospital;
Take care of older people or people with disabilities.

These categories of workers must send information to an official e-mail in order to extend their visas.

There are currently 107 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Malta.

The news of the extension of the visa appeared immediately as soon as the Government of Malta announced the suspension of accepting applications for work permits for third-country nationals if they are not highly qualified specialists.

The news also appeared in the media that hundreds of third-country nationals should leave the country immediately if they are not going to renew their work permits. Otherwise, they will be deported or declared an illegal immigrant.

However, for its part, the government promised to work to help all third-country nationals living in Malta find alternative work if their posts are terminated.

Silvio Schembri, the Minister of Economy of Malta, was forced to apologize to foreigners who live in the country because of the words about the primary attention to the Maltese, and only then to third-country nationals who lost their jobs.

This statement and reference to the old EU law for third-country nationals raised concerns among foreign workers. Currently, 13,000 third-country nationals reside in the country (while a number of citizens is 440,372).

Mass deportations, which were mentioned in the media, will require huge costs, and thousands of people will remain unemployed. At the moment, when the country is going through hard times, it will affect the country's economy even worse.

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Foreign medical workers in Malta will receive an automatic visa extension for 3 months