How we choose sources
When a page on this site makes a claim about a process, requirement, or cost, it is grounded in one of the official sources below, in this order of authority:
- Identità — for Single Permit and employment-related permit requirements.
- Skills Pass official pages — for the Pre-Departure Course and sector-specific Skills Pass operational details.
- Human Rights Directorate — for I Belong Programme updates.
- Other Malta government pages.
Secondary, non-official sources are used only to discover where to look — never as the final authority for a claim shown on this site.
Official sources referenced on this site
Human Rights Directorate
https://humanrights.gov.mt/units/integration-and-anti-racism-unit/i-belong-programme/ (opens in a new tab)Official I Belong Programme overview: the current programme structure (as restructured from 15 June 2026), eligibility, course content, and discontinued courses.
Re-checked directly on 2026-07-14. The page's "Important Updates" section now records a restructuring under Measure 15 of the Integration Strategy and Action Plan (2025-2030): "As from 15 June 2026, the I Belong programme will only focus on the provision of I Belong 100-hour Cultural Orientation course (previously called as Stage 2 Cultural Orientation)." Stage 2 applications received before 15 June 2026 keep the opportunity to take both the I Belong Maltese Language (MQF Level 2) course and the 100-hour Cultural Orientation course. Discontinued courses: Foundation Courses; I Belong Stage 1 Cultural Orientation (participants directed to the new "New Course on Maltese Language and Culture" under the Malta Labour Migration Policy framework, now a requirement for the 100-hour Cultural Orientation); I Belong Maltese Language (MQF Level 1); I Belong English Language (MQF Level 1); I Belong Maltese Language (MQF Level 2). Successful completion of the I Belong 100-hour Cultural Orientation is one of the requirements for Long-Term Residence (LTR). The page NO LONGER publishes the old numeric figures (50 hours/65%, 120 hours/80% attendance/75%) or the 170-hour two-course total that were present as of 2026-06-14 — those figures are gone as of 2026-07-14. "Further changes may be announced at a later stage." Re-checked 2026-07-22 — unchanged. That re-check also recorded the page's Stage 2 eligibility wording verbatim: applicants must hold a "Valid Residence Permit/Asylum Seeker Document/CIO Document" issued by the Maltese authorities, together with an "I Belong Stage 1 Cultural Orientation certificate or New Course on Maltese Language and Culture certificate" — an either/or prerequisite, replacing the pre-15-June rule that only Stage 1 graduates could apply. The page publishes an online registration link and states that submission "does not guarantee eligibility, acceptance, enrolment, or access to any course", with eligibility, access, delivery, modalities AND costs "subject to the applicable legislation, availability of course places, and programme arrangements in force at the time of course delivery". No delivering institution is named for the 100-hour course. NOTE: this host returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches — check it through a browser, not a fetch tool.
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Government of Malta — servizz.gov.mt
https://www.servizz.gov.mt/en/Pages/Inclusion_-Equality-and-Social-Welfare/Civil-Liberties/Equality/WEB06687/default.aspx (opens in a new tab)Official servizz.gov service description of I Belong Stage 2: the application channels, the required document, and the only published processing timeline for the programme.
Read directly via browser on 2026-07-22 (this host returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches). Publishes the application channels — an online application form, the Human Rights Directorate office at "A3 Tower, Level 0, Triq L Arkata, Paola", and 'Servizz.gov' hubs — the required document, and a processing timeline: "Vetting of Application — 8 days; Assessment of Application — 5 days; Approval of Application — 5 days; Delivery of Service — 5 days". IMPORTANT: the page is otherwise STALE. It still describes Stage 2 as two courses ("Maltese Language MQF Level 2", "Cultural Orientation MQF Level 2") and states eligibility as "I Belong Stage 1 Graduates" with an "I Belong Stage 1 Certificate" required — both superseded by the Human Rights Directorate's 15 June 2026 restructuring. Cite this source for application mechanics only, always dated, and never as authority on eligibility or course structure.
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Government of Malta — reforms.gov.mt
https://reforms.gov.mt/service/i-belong-programme-stage-1/ (opens in a new tab)Official Government of Malta service description of I Belong Programme Stage 1 (Pre-Integration Course): eligibility and course content.
Direct fetch on 2026-06-14 returned the page title and site shell, but not the body content previously retrieved via search-engine indexing of this exact URL. Re-check directly when the page body becomes readable.
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Government of Malta — reforms.gov.mt
https://reforms.gov.mt/service/i-belong-programme-stage-2/ (opens in a new tab)Official Government of Malta service description of I Belong Programme Stage 2 (Integration Course): prerequisite, course structure, and Long-Term Residence connection.
Direct fetch on 2026-06-14 returned the page title and site shell, but not the body content previously retrieved via search-engine indexing of this exact URL. Note: the Human Rights Directorate overview changed on 15 June 2026 and no longer publishes the old two-course Stage 2 figures (50h/65% + 120h/80%/75% = 170h); it now describes a 100-hour Cultural Orientation course. Do not treat this reforms.gov.mt entry as confirming those superseded figures.
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Identità
https://identita.gov.mt/frequently-asked-questions/expatriates/non-eu-non-employment/long-term/ (opens in a new tab)Official Identità guidance on Long-Term Residence eligibility for non-EU nationals, including the documentation requirements that name the I Belong Integration Certificate.
Re-checked directly on 2026-06-14 (Identità wording unchanged since). States the Long-Term Residence integration-certificate requirement as "completing Malta's official 'I Belong' Integration Course (100 hours) and achieving a minimum score of 75% in the final exam", plus a separate Maltese-language certificate (MQF Level 2) at 65% — both required within twelve months of application. As of 2026-07-14 the previously documented 100-vs-170 discrepancy is largely resolved: the Human Rights Directorate page was restructured on 15 June 2026 and now itself describes a 100-hour Cultural Orientation course, converging with Identità's 100h. HRD no longer publishes a numeric pass mark for the 100-hour course — only Identità's LTR FAQ still cites 75%. See the updated discrepancy note in OFFICIAL_SOURCES.md.
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Human Rights Directorate
https://humanrights.gov.mt/contact-us-antiracism/ (opens in a new tab)Published contact page for the Integration and Anti-Racism Unit, which administers the I Belong Programme.
Re-checked directly on 2026-06-14. The URL redirects to /units/integration-and-anti-racism-unit/contact-us-antiracism/ and publishes the Integration & Anti-Racism Unit address, dedicated I Belong Programme email, general integration and anti-racism emails, telephone number, and social links.
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When official pages disagree
Occasionally, two official pages describe the same detail differently — for example, how a course fee is broken down. When that happens, we say so in plain language on the relevant page, show both versions, and note that the point needs further verification, rather than inventing a single reconciliation that no official source actually states.