Author
With the closure of fresh applications for the Specific Residence Authorisation,[1] introduced in 2018 for specific groups of rejected yet well-integrated asylum-seekers, Malta’s only route for alternative forms of regularisation for rejected asylum-seekers remains Temporary Humanitarian Protection, described above (see National forms of protection). In recent years, various communities of rejected asylum-seekers organised demonstrations demanding legal recognition for their social and financial integration efforts, yet the Government has repeatedly underlined that it will not reintroduce any form of regularisation for rejected asylum-seekers or otherwise undocumented persons
Exceptionally, the Principal Immigration Officer may choose to regularise any person on the basis of discretion granted by the Immigration Act. Practitioners confirm that this exceptional measure has been successfully relied upon in the past, particularly for extremely vulnerable persons.
[1] Ministry for Home Affairs, Law Enforcement and National Security, Policy regarding Specific Residence Authorisation, 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/4aw3xNO.