Although I emigrated as a child 60 years ago I have retained my Maltese citizenship; my wife is a US citizen, born in Slovakia but she emigrated when she was two.

My wife and I retired and re-located to Malta nearly 10 months ago. She is still waiting for her permanent residence permit, which is why I have been following developments at Identity Malta very closely.

I noted with interest that the residence permit process should take no more than two months, yet I still have to journey every month from Kalkara to Valletta to obtain an extension stamp. My wife is disabled, so to avoid discomforting her, I go alone.

Despite being under obvious stress, the staff are great, polite, helpful and always ready with a smile but no one seems to be able to tell us why it’s taking so long to have her permanent residence approved. E-mails to Identity Malta haven’t brought any results.

In the meantime, should my wife need to leave Malta, for example for a family emergency, the temporary visa does not provide for re-entry into Malta. So I understand that the process has to then be re-activated.

I cannot help but be concerned after reading articles in the Times of Malta that outsiders, probably the majority with no real or active ties to Malta and with money floating out of their ears, have been able to purchase their residencies and possibly Maltese citizenship, while citizens with a legitimate reason and family ties in Malta are kept waiting.