Share your source countries and the occupations you cover, and we will explain how Southern Region requests would be checked.
Malta’s Southern Region hosts the country’s airport, its container Freeport, and several of its largest industrial estates, making it a distinct proposition for recruitment agencies abroad. AtoZ Serwis Plus seeks partnerships with workforcesuppliers that can source and screen non-EU candidates for employers in this part of the island. The region’s twelve local councils are Birżebbuġa, Gudja, Għaxaq, Ħamrun, Luqa, Marsa, Marsaskala, Marsaxlokk, Qormi, Santa Luċija, Santa Venera and Żejtun, and its regional administration office is in Qormi.
Under the proposed model, the partner agency would recruit in its home market, give candidates an honest account of the Maltese process and keep their files in order. AtoZ Serwis Plus would review each employer request before sharing it, match profiles to the stated duties, and keep communication moving between the partner and the employer. Selection and the permit filing stay with the Maltese employer. Be exact about roles. AtoZ Serwis Plus holds no Maltese employment agency licence and has no office in Malta. The Maltese employer recruits and lodges the Single Permit application with Identità; a Maltese agency may lodge it instead only when DIER has granted it an Employment Agency Licence, in which case Jobsplus examines both the agency and the client receiving the worker. No vacancy, job order or link with any employer in the region is implied.
Like the other five regions, the Southern Region coordinates its member councils on matters such as waste and regional work plans. Immigration and labour decisions are taken nationally, so the value of a regional view lies in knowing the airport, the Freeport, the estates and the fishing harbour, and in planning housing and travel to them.
Transport Malta lists Malta International Airport as the certified aerodrome operator, with its address in Luqa; the terminal itself lies in neighbouring Gudja, another Southern Region locality. The same authority’s ground handling page sets out the activities carried out at the airport: passenger handling, including help for passengers with reduced mobility, boarding and transfer to aircraft, baggage sorting and reclaim, cargo and mail handling, aircraft refuelling, and towing and pushback. Ground handling organisations based in Malta submit a declaration to the Civil Aviation Directorate. For partners, this suggests requests could cover ramp and baggage staff, passenger service agents, cargo handlers, and ground equipment drivers, each with airside security and training conditions set by the employer.
The Malta Freeport Corporation gives its address as the Freeport Centre, Port of Marsaxlokk, Kalafrana, Birżebbuġa. Its history page describes two container terminals for transhipment, an oil products terminal, a logistics base for the offshore oil and gas industry, and a customs-free zone with warehouses leased to several tenants. The terminal handles mostly transhipment traffic, so work centres on moving containers between ships rather than inland distribution. Possible requests include crane and straddle carrier operators, lashing crews, mechanics, electricians and warehouse staff, and the employer would set out the shift pattern.
The Medicines Authority’s register of GMP-certified sites shows a strong concentration of addresses in the Ħal Far Industrial Estate in Birżebbuġa, as well as sites in the Bulebel Industrial Estate in Żejtun, the Marsa Industrial Estate, warehouses in Luqa and the Central Business District on the Qormi side. This points to regulated pharmaceutical production, packing and storage across the region, where training records and written procedures carry real weight. Other manufacturers and logistics firms on these estates may follow their own sector rules, which the employer would confirm.
The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture runs a hard-standing facility for fishing vessels in the fishing village of Marsaxlokk, which can lift boats for maintenance. Recruitment for fishing crews or boat maintenance starts with the owner’s evidence that the vessel and its paperwork are in order, and with a clear account of time at sea, rest, and shore accommodation. The Freeport also lists an aquaculture operator among its stakeholders. The Freeport would judge fishing and aquaculture requests case by case, since vessel work raises questions about rest periods, safety training, and where crew sleep when the boat is in port.
Each southern site keeps its own clock. Ground handling at Luqa follows the flight schedule, so a roster may start before dawn or end after midnight. Crane and lashing work at Kalafrana follows vessel calls, which can fall at any hour. A Ħal Far plant may plan production around batches and cleaning cycles, and a Marsaxlokk boat goes out when the weather allows. Partners would ask each Southern Region employer for the written roster, the weekly hours fixed in the contract, and what happens to pay when flights are cancelled, or a ship is delayed.
Transport Malta notes that the Grand Harbour'smain waterway runs inland to Marsa. Marsa therefore links the Southern Region’s estates to harbour activity, while Ħamrun, Santa Venera and Qormi, the region’s inner localities, lie close by. The National Statistics Office publishes current employment figures by sector.
Any search would begin with a confirmed request from a Southern Region employer. Sourcing would then target people with matching backgrounds: ground handling or airport cargo experience for Luqa; container terminal or port equipment experience for the Freeport; pharmaceutical or food production experience for Ħal Far and Bulebel; and deck or vessel maintenance experience for fishing at Marsaxlokk.
At the first sift, partners would ask each candidate for a CV and proof of the core skill, nothing more. Proof could be a forklift or crane operator card, a certificate from a previous production site, an employer reference or a short video of a practical task. Passports, police records and educational certificates would wait until a later stage and would follow the employer’s written list.
Candidates also need a fair picture of the role. Airport and Freeport work can involve rotating shifts that include nights, weekends, and public holidays. A Maltese work permit binds the holder to a single employer and job, and the first permit is usually valid for one year. Partners should avoid roles Jobsplus has flagged: it considers the cab driver and food courier markets saturated, and many new applications are being refused; these roles require an EU-issued licence and a Maltese cab driver licence. Recruitment for those roles should not be planned, whatever the locality.
Each employer would be traced on the Malta Business Registry to match its name, registration number, address and directors with the request. If a Maltese agency places the worker with an end user at the airport, the Freeport, or an estate, the parties would confirm the agency’s DIER licence and the end user’s identity, since Jobsplus assesses both.
The request would be in writing and would name the job and its duties, the actual site, the basic pay and any shift or overtime premiums, the weekly hours, the housing offer and the expected start. A draft contract would arrive before the employer asks for anything further. Airport requests would also explain airside badge and security vetting, which the employer arranges. Freeport and estate requests would state the protective equipment supplied and the Conditions of Work Regulation Order for theemployer’ss sector, if one applies; the employer and DIER would confirm which order covers the business.
A southern request would go back to the employer if the company is missing from the register, if an airport request says nothing about who arranges airside vetting, if a Freeport contract names a different terminal or tenant from the request, if rostered hours or pay are vague, or if anyone suggests the worker should pay for a place.
EU, EEA and Swiss nationals may work in Malta without a permit. After three months, they register with Identità for an eResidence document. Where an airport or Freeport employer can find such candidates, onboarding is simpler.
For non-EU nationals, the Single Permit applies to most stays over six months. Before recruiting abroad, the employer posts the vacancy on the Jobsplus portal and EURES and justifies any refusal of Maltese, EU, EEAA or Swiss applicants. Jobsplus then examines the employer’s history of dismissals and redundancies, its compliance with registration duties, and thecandidate’ss fit for the job. Malta sets no national quota; instead, it caps each employer’s growth through non-EU hiring based on its size, and each must retain at least one staff member with Maltese, EU, EEA, or Swiss nationality.
Qualified specialists on higher salaries may qualify for the EU Blue Card, the Key Employee Initiative, or the Specialist Employee Initiative, as described onIdentità’ss working and residing page. A qualified person at a Ħal Far pharmaceutical plant or an aircraft engineer could fit one of these, but the employer would confirm the route.
Each step depends on the one before it.
The permit is valid only for the named employer and job in Malta, never for work in another EU state or for a second employer at the airport or Freeport. A change of employer means a fresh application, and a worker who loses a job has a limited grace period to find a new one. A visit of up to 90 days in any 180 does not allow work.
Initial permits normally last 12 months. Extended renewal periods are available to skilled staff, holders of fast-track permits, and workers in lower-skilled jobs who complete approved accredited training or move up through the Skills Pass, giving southern employers a reason to invest in training. Full guidance is onIdentità’ss Single Permit page.
The Employment and Industrial Relations Act governs employment in Malta, and non-EU staff with valid permits share the core protections of Maltese colleagues. The employer provides essential written terms within the first week, with further details within a month. The employer records the engagement with Jobsplus within a few working days, and theworker’ss social security number is then issued automatically.
The standard working week is 40 hours. Weekly time, averaged over the reference period and including overtime, stays within 48 hours unless the worker signs an opt-out, and declining carries no penalty. Shift work at the airport and Freeport makes it important to see the roster pattern in writing. Details are onDIER’ss hours of work page. Overtime is paid at the sector order rate, or at not less than time and a half where no order applies.
Sector minimums come from Conditions of Work Regulation Orders, which cover areas such as cleaning, security, wholesale and retail, construction, hotels and clubs, and transport. Employers must provide required uniforms and protective gear at no cost, and pay rates no longer differ by age.Malta’ss national minimum wage is revised each year and topped up by the cost-of-living adjustment and statutory bonuses. Annual leave is roughly five weeks for full-time staff, plus days for public holidays that fall on rest days.
Payslips are itemised. Employers may make only the deductions the law or a court allows. Non-EU staff are paid through a bank or licensed financial institution, never in cash. The Final Settlement System deducts tax and social security contributions through payroll and passes them to the Malta Tax and Customs Administration.
A Single Permit file must show where the worker will live: a registered lease in the worker's name, a title deed, or an approved declaration from an employer or other person providing the home. Landlords register leases, and bedroom count caps occupancy in rented homes.
The Southern Region stretches from the inner localities of Ħamrun, Santa Venera, Marsa and Qormi to the coastal towns of Birżebbuġa, Marsaxlokk and Marsaskala. A worker housed in Ħamrun but placed at Ħal Far, or one living in Marsaskala and working at the airport, faces a cross-region trip. Partners would request the full address, how many people share each room, the rent and whether it is deducted from pay. Never describe housing as free unless the employer confirms it in writing.
Housing choices also interact with permits. Because Identità asks for the registered lease or declaration with the application, the address cannot be left until after arrival. Where an employer houses several workers together near an estate, the parties would check that the number of residents respects the bedroom limits and that each worker has a copy of the arrangement in a language they understand.
Shift times decide whether public transport is realistic. Night starts at the airport,, or Freeport can fall outside normal bus hours. The parties would ask whether the employer runs staff transport, how long the journey from the proposed home lasts, and who pays for it.
Asking for documents only when they are needed protects candidates and reduces errors. The agreed order would be:
The Malta’sdMalta’ss Data Protection Act govern candidate data, with the Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) as the supervisory authority receiving complaints. Where candidate files move from the EU side to a partner outside the EU, the transfer would be covered by a GDPR safeguard, for instance, standard contractual clauses signed in writing. Each candidate would be told who keeps the file, for what purpos,e andfor how longn.
Interviews would run online, with the employer taking part or reviewing recordings made with consent. Airport roles would explore customer service, spoken English, physical fitness for baggage work and comfort with security procedures. Freeport roles would test equipment experience, safety awareness and readiness for continuous shifts, perhaps with a filmed demonstration on comparable machinery.
For Ħal Far and Bulebel manufacturers, interviews would probe experience with standard operating procedures, hygiene and batch records. Fishing employers at Marsaxlokk would ask about time at sea, net and engine skills, and safety training. Any skills test would be arrangedat not cost to the candidate, and partners would reject requests topayy for interviews or tests.
First-time applicants must complete the Pre-Departure Course, which is booked only through the official Skills Pass portal. It is the single official cost a candidate handles directly. Partners would explain it plainly, without quoting amounts, and warn candidates against any third party offering to book it.
Before travelling, the candidate should carry the signed contract, the D visa (where required), the housing address, and an employer contact. On arrival, the employer arranges biometrics with Identità, and the worker waits for the interim receipt or card before starting. The first days would include site induction, any airside or Freeport security briefing, protective equipment and a clear explanation of pay dates.
Driving roles need extra care. Truck and bus drivers need a Driver CPC with Code 95 from Transport Malta, and Transport Malta allows licence exchange only for licences from a short list of non-EU countrieAgenciessts wouscreen driving requests for on licence eligibility first.
No candidate pays. Maltese rules prohibit agencies from charging jobseekers, and employers that take money from workers in connection with recruitment risk being barred from hiring non-EU staff. AtoZ Serwis Plus never charges candidates under any circumstances, and partners would provide the same commitment in writing.
Workers can raise problems with DIER, which enforces employment conditions, investigates reports from serving employees, handles claims from former employees and accepts anonymous complaints through its claims service. Illegal employment brings sanctions for employers, and Jobsplus inspects alongside the police. A dedicated police unit handles trafficking, and victims can be granted residence permits.
Fraud checks in the south would verify on-site identity. A request naming the airport, the Freeport or an estate would be matched to a company actually operating there, through the business register and, where an agency stands in between, its licence and the enduser’ss name. We would keep written records of every contact with candidates. Hypothetical example: a ground handling company at Luqa asks for four ramp agents on a roster that starts before dawn. Before moving any CV, the parties would ask who arranges airside vetting and how long it takes, whether staff transport covers early starts from proposed housing in Birżebbuġa or Żejtun, and whether the badge must be in place before the first paid shift.
Agen.cies with experience in airport services, port equipment, regulated manufacturing or fishing crews are invited to register with AtoZ Serwis Plus. Describe your source countries, the occupations you cover and how you verify skills, and we will set out how Southern Region requests would be checked before any candidate is contacted. For the national picture, see the Malta overview for recruiters.
If your agency screens ground handling, port equipment, production or fishing candidates, register your interest. We will describe how Southern Region requests would be verified first.
The Southern Region has twelve local councils: Birżebbuġa, Gudja, Għaxaq, Ħamrun, Luqa, Marsa, Marsaskala, Marsaxlokk, Qormi, Santa Luċija, Santa Venera and Żejtun. Its regional administration office is in Qormi. The airport terminal lies in Gudja, and the Freeport and the Ħal Far and Bulebel estates are also within the region.
No. The regional council coordinates its member councils on shared matters such as waste and work plans. Identità issues permits; Jobsplus assesses the labour market side, and DIER enforces working conditions, all at the national level.
Transport Malta lists Malta International Airport as the certified aerodrome operator with its address in Luqa, while the terminal building lies in Gudja. Both are Southern Region localities. Workers placed at the airport may live in another locality, so travel time to shifts would be checked.
Transport Malta’s ground handling page lists passenger handling,, including assistance for passengers with reduced mobility; baggage sorting and reclaim; cargo and mail handling; aircraft refuelling; and towing and pushback. Southern Region requests could therefore cover ramp, baggage, passenger service and cargo roles.
Airside work can require badges and security vetting arranged by the employer. A request from a Luqa employer would explain these steps, required training, ired and who pays for them. Partners would not shortlist candidates until the employer had described the process in writing.
The Malta Freeport Corporation gives its address as the Freeport Centre, Port of Marsaxlokk, Kalafrana, Birżebbuġa. Kalafrana and Birżebbuġa both lie in the Southern Region, so Freeport requests fall under this page.
TheCorporation’ss history page describes two container terminals for transhipment, an oil products terminal, a logistics base for the offshore oil and gas industry, and a customs free zone with warehouses run by several tenants. Most terminal volume is transhipment between ships.
Possible requests include crane and straddle carrier operators, lashing crews, mechanics, electricians and warehouse staff. Each would come from a named employer at Kalafrana in the Southern Region, with the licences, shift pattern and protective equipment stated in writing.
The Medicines Authority’s register of GMP-certified sites includes many addresses in the Ħal Far Industrial Estate in Birżebbuġa. That points to pharmaceutical production, packing and testing. Other firms on the estate may work in different sectors, which each employer would explain.
Yes. The Medicines Authority lists a certified site in the Bulebel Industrial Estate in Żejtun, a locality in the Southern Region. Partners would confirm the exact address and sector of any Bulebel employer on its written request.
The Medicines Authority’s list includes addresses in the Marsa Industrial Estate, warehouses in Luqa, and a site in the Central Business District on the Qormi side. Southern Region requests from these places could involve production, storage or distribution roles.
Certified sites work to written procedures and keep detailed batch and training records. Candidates for Ħal Far or Bulebel plants would be screened on experience following standard operating procedures, hygiene discipline and accurate record keeping, plus any qualification the employer requires.
The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture runs a hard standing facility for fishing vessels in the fishing village of Marsaxlokk, where boats are lifted out for maintenance. The facility maintains Southern Region fishing vessels, and any request would come from a named vessel owner.
The owner would show that the vessel and its paperwork are in order. The request would describe time at sea, rest periods, pay, shore accommodation and safety training. Partners would review these details before approaching any candidate for a Marsa Lokk crew role.
Transport Malta notes that the Grand Harbour's main waterway runs inland to Marsa. Marsa sits in the Southern Region, so harbour-related employers there would fall within this Southern Region page’s scope, and the same national permit rules apply as elsewhere.
No. AtoZ Serwis Plus holds no Maltese employment agency licence. The Maltese employer submits the Single Permit file to Identità. Only a Maltese agency with a DIER Employment Agency Licence can do so, and Jobsplus then examines the end client too.
No. AtoZ Serwis Plus has no office in Malta, and no Southern Region vacancy or job order is implied. Contact would be remote, between the partner agency, AtoZ Serwis Plus and an employer that has made a written request.
The parties would trace the company on the Malta Business Registry and match its name, number, address and directors with the request. Any Maltese agency involved would need a DIER licence, and the end user at the airport, Freeport, or estate would also be identified.
The job and duties, the exact site, basic pay and shift premiums, weekly hours, housing arrangements and start window. The request should also name any sector order covering the employer and the safety equipment provided, and candidates should see a draft contract before handing over anything further.
When the company cannot be traced, the contract names a different site, the pay or hours are unclear, the agency is unlicensed, or anyone suggests the worker pays to secure a place. Southern Region says that showing any of these signs means the worker should not proceed.
Yes. EU, EEA and Swiss nationals need no work permit in Malta. After three months, they register with Identità for an eResidence document. A Freeport or airport employer can therefore onboard them faster than non-EU candidates.
The employer advertises the vacancy through Jobsplus and on EURES and justifies any refusal of Maltese, EU, EEA or Swiss applicants. Jobsplus then reviews dismissals, redundancies, registration compliance, and the candidate’s fit for the job before giving its view on the application.
There is no national quota, but each employer’s growth through non-EU recruitment is limited accorbysize, and it must retain at least one emplose or an EUEA or S,wiss national. A g employeerowing Southern Region logistics firm would need to plan within that limit.
They might. The EU Blue Card, the Key Employee Initiative and the Specialist Employee Initiative cover qualified roles with higher pay. An aircraft engineer at Luqa or a qualified person at a Ħal Far plant could fit, but the employer would confirm the route with Identità.
The law gives Identità up to four months to decide. Fast-track applications move morNo onekly. No one can promise a result or a date, so candidattoheading to Southern Region employers are advised to stay in their current job until approval.
Only after biometrics, a complete file and either the residence card or an interim receipt carrying temporary authorisation to work. Starting before that point would be unlawful, regardless of the employer's shift pressure.
Candidates from countries whose nationals need a visa apply for a national D visa before travel, using Identità’s approval in principle. Malta is in Schengen, but a short stay of up to 90 days in any 180 days never allows work.
No. The permit covers only the named employer and job in Malta. It does not allow work elsewhere in the EU or for a second employer at the airport, Freeport or estates. Short Schengen visits are a separate question.
Changing employers requires a new application, and a new job title with the same employer also needs approval. If employment ends, the worker has a short, limited window to secure a new employer, after which they are expected to leave Malta.
Twelve months is the normal length of a first permit. RSkilledposts, fast-track holders,a nd forkers in lower-skilled jobs who complete approved training or advance through the Skills Pass. Can renew for a longer period. That may help Southern Region employers retain trained staff.
First-time applicants complete two online modules on life and work in Malta and on workplace rights and obligations, then a short live interview that also assesses English. Identità checks the certificate as part of the Single Permit file.
Through the official Skills Pass portal only. It is the one official cost the candidate deals with directly. Partners would warn candidates in their home country against anyone offering to book it for them or adding charges.
The Skills Pass applies to non-EU workers in front-of-house posts in businesses holding a Malta Tourism Authority licence, such as waiting staff in a licensed Marsaskala or Marsaxlokk restaurant. Back-office roles such as kitchen porters and cleaners are outside it. Airport and Freeport roles fall outside it unless the employer is such a business.
The usual week is 40 hours. Across the reference period, the weekly average with overtime is capped at 48 hours, though a worker may opt out in writing and cannot be punished for refusing. Southern Region requests would show the roster pattern in writing.
The rate set by the sector order, or at least time and a half where no order applies. Flat wages that hide an unknown amount of overtime are not allowed, so requests from the airport, Freeport or estates would separate basic pay from overtime.
Where a Conditions of Work Regulation Order applies, employers must provide required uniforms and protective equipment at no cost. In any case, a Freeport, estate, or fishing request would list the items supplied, such as boots, high-visibility clothing, or hygiene wear, and the employer and DIER would confirm which order applies to the business.
Wages are transferred to a bank account or a licensed payment institution, annon-EU staff areis nopaid in cashff. Payslips are itemised, listing hours, overtime, leave, and each deduction, while the Final Settlement System deducts tax and social security through payroll.
Only where the law permits, and the deduction must appear on the payslip. Southern Region requests would state any rent in advance,alongr with the address androom-sharing detailsg so that candidates can judgetheire real take-home pay.
Full-time staff receive roughly five weeks of paid annual leave, plus extra days when public holidays fall on rest days. Sick leave follows the sector order. These rules apply equally to non-EU workers at the airport, Freeport and estates.
A Housing Authority-registered lease in the worker's name, a deed of ownership, or an approved declaration from whoever provides the home. The address is confirmed before the application, and occupancy limits by bedroom count apply to rented homes.
Only if the employer confirms it in writing. Partners would ask for the address, the number of people per room, the rent, and whether the employer deducts it from pay before any Southern Region candidate accepts an offer.
Nightshifts starts at the airpor,t or Freeport can fall outside normal bus hours. The parties would ask whether the employer provides staff transport, how long the journey is from the proposed home, and who covers the cost.
A CV plus proof of the main skill, for example an operator card, a production certificate or a reference. Passports, police records, and diplomas are kept for later stages and followemployer’syer's written list.
Two instruments apply: the GDPR Malta’sta's Data Protection Act. The Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) supervises them and receives complaints. Sending candidate data from the EU to a partner outside the EU requires a GDPR safeguard, for example,, standard contractual clauses signed by both sides.
Interviews would cover equipment experience, safety awareness and readiness for continuous shifts. A Freeport employer might ask for a filmed demonstration on comparable machinery or a test at a recognised centre. No candidate would pay for any test.
Interviews for Ħal Far and Bulebel plants would explore experience with standard operating procedures, hygiene rules and batch records. The employer may set a short written or practical exercis,and share the resultsd with the candidate.
The signed contract, any Drequired visa the housing address ,and an employer contact. Candidates bound for the Southern Region should also know how they will reach the site from their new home on the first working day.
The employer arranges biometrics with Identità, and the worker waits for the interim receipt or card before starting. Induction then covers site rules, any airside or Freeport security briefing, protective equipment, and pay dates.
Never the candidate. Malta bans agency fees to jobseekers, and an employer that takes money from its staff may lose access to non-EU recruitment. No charge to a candidate is accepted in any cooperation with AtoZ Serwis Plus, and partner agencies would sign up to the same rule.
No. Jobsplus has judged both markets saturated and advises against approving many new applications, while a cab driver tag needs an EU-issued driving licence. No Southern Region recruitment should be planned for either role.
DIER enforces employment conditions, handles reports from current employees, pursues claims from former ones and accepts anonymous complaints. Jobsplus and the police inspect illegal employment, and trafficking is handled by a dedicated police unit, with residence permits available to victims.
Use the AtoZ Serwis Plus registration form to describe your source countries, the occupations you cover and how you verify skills. AtoZ Serwis Plus would then explain how it checks Southern Region requests before approaching any candidate.
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