John Hutchinson has high hopes of receiving the green light from the Maltese authorities in time to link up with the national squad for next month's World Cup 2010 qualifier away to Sweden.
The Central Coast Mariners midfielder, whose grandmother is Maltese, is still waiting to be issued with a Maltese passport.
"We are just trying to get through all the paper work which has been a little bit tougher than what we first expected," Hutchinson, 29, was quoted as saying on the website of the Asian Football Confederation (www.the-afc.com).
"My wife is acting as my secretary and she has been doing all the work for me, so hopefully she can get it all sorted with the Maltese government and the Maltese consulate in Australia so I'll be free to play for them."
Earlier this week, Manny Muscat, who plays for A-League side Wellington Phoenix, told Australian media that he had received a call-up from Malta coach Dusan Fitzel for the friendly match against the Czech Republic on June 5 and the qualifier in Gothenburg five days later.
Hutchinson had been keen to represent Australia at international level but he's now made up his mind to wear the colours of Malta.
"Obviously my first preference would have been Australia but now the opportunity with Malta has come up, I think it is the right time in my career," Hutchinson added. "In international football, I'll be playing against some of the world's best players and some of the greatest teams."
Hutchinson took part in a two-day training camp for A-League players last year but failed to persuade Australia coach Pim Verbeek to call on his services for subsequent international matches.
"It was tough because obviously when I went in I was hoping to get a call-up but it didn't happen for me," Hutchinson said.
"Australia has a lot of very good players in midfield and when you are competing against international players there's not much hope. But, I was hoping with the A-League camp, I could have got a call-up but it didn't work out that way and I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
"But it added a bit more desire to play international football and this Maltese call-up couldn't have come at a better time. I was very positive about being eligible to play for Malta and when they called me I was pretty excited about it."
Muscat and Hutchinson are expected to be the only new faces in Fitzel's squad for next month's international assignments. Sources confirmed to The Times that two Australia-based players are in Fitzel's plans for the games in Czech Republic and Sweden and their clubs have already been notified about their potential involvement with the Maltese squad.
Michael Mifsud will not be in Malta's party for the upcoming trip as he's suspended for the Sweden qualifier, having collected his second yellow card in the 3-0 defeat in Hungary last month.
The 28-year-old striker returned to Malta last week after the end of his loan spell with Barnsley who also have Malta winger Daniel Bogdanovic on their books. Mifsud is expected to join a new club in the summer as his contract with Coventry City expires at the end of this season.
Malta are bottom of Group One with one point from seven matches, five behind Albania. Sweden also have six points but they have played only four qualifiers.