The Maltese authority’s proposed scheme would enable individuals to pay €650,000 ($878,000, £545,500) for its country’s passport which would give immediate rights of residency in all member states.
Now the UK’s shadow immigration minister David Hanson is reported by the Financial Times as having “serious concerns” about the Maltese proposal and tabling parliamentary questions to find out what steps the Home Office had taken to oppose it.
Last month, reports in Malta's press revealed that opposition to the scheme had forced it to be placed on hold until the government and opposition can agree on how the measure is to be set up and managed.
The new scheme is still due to be formally opened by the Maltese government this month, and Eric Major, chief executive of Henley & Partners, a residency and citizenship consultancy which processes the Maltese programme, has said that there will be rigorous due diligence on all applications.
