Yes Malta is definitely small and seemingly isolated, so it was never on my list. However when I investigated more it seems to be easy and relatively cheap to hop on a plane and explore the rest of the EU? Not as easy as hoping on a train in Spain or wherever, but still not terribly difficult? My thought was to use Malta as a home base and get a “cheap” apartment there (minimum 14000 euro per year as per the rules). If I could do this on the mainland EU somewhere for around the same cost I would do it, but I don’t see that availability? I want the ability to not HAVE to live there while I establish residency also. Do you think Portugal’s residency scheme is a better deal?

I see the Golden Passport program was ruled illegal, but not the Golden Visa program, which is what I’m considering. Are you pursuing citizenship in Portugal? With my English only language issues I don’t think I could ever pass a citizenship test anywhere it’s not done in English. Malta is 88% English speakers supposedly? I thought that would make setting up banking much easier as forms seem to be in English also? How was it for you setting up banking in Portugal?

We are planning a trip to Malta later this summer to see it all in person, and will to try to test flying from Malta to other places in the EU to see how easy or difficult that is.

Forbes article on the illegal golden passport schemes
forbes.com - As malta golden passport likely ends demand for golden visa rises