Presenting a birth certificate is not always a must for wealthy individuals seeking to buy a Maltese passport, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici has confirmed.  

At least two applicants under the government passports sale scheme who were unable to present a birth certificate have been given provisional Maltese identity cards, documents seen by this paper show.

The scheme allows wealthy individuals to pay €1.1 million in various contributions and investments in order to obtain Maltese citizenship. The government boasts a four-tier due diligence process in order to weed out any undesirable applicants.

Questioned how applicants managed to get through the process without presenting a document as vital as a birth certificate, Dr Bonnici assured that nothing was amiss.

He said applicants under the programme qualified after a very rigorous process which was overseen by a regulator.

The Justice Minister said that people hailing from some countries found it difficult to present a birth certificate.

“Not every jurisdiction is the same. There are some countries which have different systems to our own, so we have catered for those applicants as well,” Dr Bonnici said, adding that other forms of identification were sought.

Dr Bonnici insisted the government was not “reinventing the wheel”, as even some Maltese people were unable to present birth certificates.

The scheme allows wealthy individuals to obtain a Maltese passport for €1.1 million.

“I can guarantee the process is very rigorous and very strict,” Dr Bonnici said.

Asked if it was a worry that certain applicants could not even present such a basic document, Dr Bonnici insisted it all depended on the jurisdiction.

“Not every jurisdiction has the same system. It is very easy for us to say that a birth certificate is a basic thing, but not every jurisdiction has the same system that we have.

“We have catered for that system in the same way that the previous government has catered for Maltese citizens who were unable to present their birth certificate.

“Rest assured that when you sit down and see all the files and systems, it is very strict and rigorous,” Dr Bonnici said.

The two applicants hailed from India and Lebanon.

Although the exact circumstances of the two individuals are not known to this paper, research shows that birth certificates can be obtained in both these countries.

jacob.borg@timesofmalta.com