Once an Approval in Principle letter has been issued, the non-EU national may book an appointment via the online booking system.

On the day of the appointment, the applicant is to be present at the Identità office (Malta or Gozo) on time and in possession of the list of supporting documents listed on his Approval in Principle letter, as well as a copy of the documentation that had been submitted online at the time of application.

During the appointment session, the biometrics will be taken. using the ICAO standards for taking photographs and fingerprints, which include:

• looking directly at the camera;
• not wearing tinted eyeglasses or glasses with heavy frames;
• keep eyes open;
• hair must be swept away from the face;
• no head coverings except for religious reasons, but facial features from bottom of chin to top of forehead and both edges of the face must be clearly shown.

For the appointment do not wear tops without sleeves and remove bags with straps away from the torso area.

Once the biometrics are captured and documentation presented satisfactorily, the applicant will be issued with an Interim Receipt, printed on security paper. The Interim Receipt is not a travel document and is time sensitive. Up until the expiry of the document, the holder is legally authorised to stay in Malta. Should the Interim Receipt be close to expire and the collection letter not yet arrived, holder may e-mail singlepermit.identita@gov.mt or non-eu.identita@gov.mt requesting an update on the residence document issuance and requesting an extension of the Interim Receipt.

In the case of employment-related residence permits the Interim Receipt will include a stamp for ‘Temporary Authorisation to Work’. This allows the non-EU national to take up employment immediately and not need to wait until the residence document to be issued.