Preparing to Move to Malta

It's going to be hard, no matter what you do when you move to another country. But your chances of success and a quicker adjustment are a lot better if you prepare beforehand. You've got a lot to do before you leave the country: a will, settling debts (financial), planning a budget and more and more. But you have to do it. Here are the basic steps to take:

1. Make a will. If you have one, look it over and change it if you have to. Go to a lawyer or do it online; it doesn't matter. Things are tough enough in your home country, but if something happens to you abroad, you want your heirs to be able to find your papers and get hold of your property right away.

2. Make a living will. If you get critically ill in Malta, you want your wishes known. As of now, I don't know what the law is in Malta regarding foreign living wills. But it's better to have one just in case.

3. See your accountant. Find out what the tax ramifications are for you for moving to Malta. It may pay for you to become a permanent resident in Malta or it may not. Permanent residency has to do with two things only--the convenience of having to renew your stay here only once a year instead of four times a year (as you do with a regular visa) and a flat tax rate. It has nothing to do with voting, Maltese citizenship or anything like that.

5. If you do go for residency, get all the documents you'll need before you go. It took me about five or more months to get all the papers--and this was while I was in the US.

6. Get your medical records. This will take a very long time, too. If you think it takes a long time to see your doctor when you're still his/her patient, you can imagine how long it will take your doctors to get your medical information for you--when they know you're leaving!

7. Keep an American address. Ask a relative or someone who you know will be at the same address for a long time. You'll need an American address for several things--last bills, credit card stuff, American bank info, etc.

8. Keep money in the US. Don't close out your bank accounts in the US or your country of origin! You never know when you will return or how/when you'll need to use it. (In my case, I have my the income from my writing deposited into my American bank and then I transfer them--in bunches--over to my HSBC account on a regular basis. ) You might want to cut out some inactive accounts in the US--you know, the ones with $4.23 in them. Make sure you keep the right balance in your American accounts so that you don't get charged enormous monthly maintenance fees. I had to take care of this. Those banks are sneaky.

9. Start a Maltese bank account before you leave. It took me five months to get an HSBC-Malta account. And this was the expedient way with a $200 bribe. Well, they call it a loading fee which you never see again. And when I say five months, I don't mean that I just sat back and waited for five months. I had to call at least twice a week--once in the US and once to Malta--to keep my application going. And you'll have to fill out several documents to be eligible for a bank in Malta. Maltese bankers are very strict about this and you will need every document notarized.

10. Think very carefully about your health insurance needs before you leave. If you're going to get Maltese health insurance, do it before you leave. Make sure it's in place the day you get to Malta. The Maltese health insurance is not very good for foreigners who are not from the European Union (EU). The insurance doesn't cover any pre-existing conditions. Ever. So be prepared to pay for your medicines that you regularly take.

11. Come up with a working budget for Malta before you go. This is very important--to try to figure out how much you'll be spending when you get to Malta. Come up with two budgets: one with what you'll think you'll need for start-up costs--rent and security deposit, furniture you might need (although most rentals come furnished); school or course costs, initial health insurance costs, three months living expenses, etc. Then come up with what you think you'll need for every day expenses--both fixed (like the monthly rent, health insurance, utilities, health insurance) and non-fixed: food, haircuts, clothes, entertainment, routine medical care.

12. When you have a budget, convert everything from USD (American $$) to the Euro. This varies each day and you have to check it. But figure on the ratio of the dollar to the Euro as 1.3. You'll be paying in Euros in Malta. Since the dollar is worth about a third less than the Euro, you must account for that by adding on 1/3 more to your cost of living--so that you have enough in Euros to pay for things.

13. As for your budget, take into account that every time you make a transfer from a US bank to a Maltese bank, you spend $30 on a bank transfer from the US account--and you lose three percent of your transfer on the exchange rate when it's received in Malta (or any other EU bank). So basically, whatever you spend in dollars for living in Malta, figure on at least one-third more and three percent every time you make an international transfer. Does this sound complicated?? It is.

14. Settle your debts. I'm very lucky that I finished with credit cards a long time ago before they almost finished me. I don't know what happens if you leave the country with debts and enter Malta. I don't know if bad credit affects you getting a loan to buy or rent a place in Malta or get a job or become a resident. My guess is that bad credit will hurt you in some way.

15. Emergency contacts--Get together a list of emergency contacts for people at home and also for people you will meet in Malta (your landlord, for example).

16. Make copies of every single thing--every single paper, form or original document you'll need. Keep a copy for yourself in a separate place from the originals--and give a copy to someone in the US (or your country of origin) to hold for you. If you lose something, the person back home can scan or fax it to you.

17. Keep your lawyer and accountant in the US. You may need them for unfinished business. And, until you become a resident in Malta--if you do--you will still have to pay taxes in the US.

This all sounds like a lot of work, I know. But that's why I started figuring things out a year before I went to Malta. And I am really glad I did; I don't know how I would have managed if I hadn't put in that time.

Good luck!

Some of this material is taken from the author's blog An-American-In-Malta.com