Second generation Maltese living abroad will soon be able to apply for Maltese citizenship, provided they can prove their links to the island.

Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg said the decision to alter the law was, more than anything, an emotional one. “On my last visit to Australia and New Zealand, I became aware that there are so many first and second generation Maltese, who were not born here, but still love these islands as much as we do and possibly more,” he said.

Dr Borg said the amendments to the law would primarily affect people whose parents, and they themselves, were born abroad, but were second generation Maltese.

He explained that since 1964, the law had limited the granting of Maltese citizenship to first generation Maltese who had one Maltese parent. The latest set of amendments meant that anyone interested could apply and would benefit from Maltese citizenship and passport which, he pointed out, was also a passport to Europe.

Dr Borg said it was a Nationalist government in 1989 that first began the liberalisation of legislation related to this subject. He said that the new legal amendments would be extended to people who could prove that their ancestors were born in Malta and who had at least one Maltese parent.

“We will also extend this to third, fourth and fifth generation Maltese, provided that the family takes an interest and keeps applying from one generation to the next,” he said. However, he added, with this second generation, one only has to prove parentage, as some people might have passed away after having had their Maltese passport rescinded on moving abroad.

Dr Borg said this would mean that people of Maltese descent in places such as Alexandria and Tripoli would also be able to apply. He explained that in 1989, the government initiated reforms under which Maltese emigrants could apply for dual citizenship.

In 2000, there was another amendment, under which anyone who had Maltese citizenship at birth no longer had to qualify for citizenship with certain criteria. This also eliminated the system by which people had to choose their citizenship at the age of 18 or 19 so that they could henceforth elect to keep both.

Another change that would be implemented with this, the third reform, would mean that anyone born outside Malta before 1964 could claim citizenship through their mother or father. The anomaly was in that those born before 1964 could only claim Maltese citizenship through the father (provided he was Maltese-born). Now, people could claim citizenship through the mother.

Between 1989 and 2000 there were 12,250 people of Maltese descent who had

successfully applied for dual citizenship.

The parliamentary debate on the issue will begin on 15 May.