Divorcing in Malta as a foreigner: domicile and residence explained

You do not have to be Maltese to divorce in Malta. Nationality is not the test. What matters is whether a Maltese court has jurisdiction to hear your case, and that turns on where you live or are domiciled. Article numbers refer to the Civil Code unless stated.

The Maltese test

Under article 66N, a Maltese court can hear a divorce only if at least one of these is true:

• at least one spouse was domiciled in Malta on the day the application was filed;
• at least one spouse was ordinarily resident in Malta for the year immediately before the application was filed; or
• a case for personal separation between the same spouses is already pending in a Maltese court.

Only one spouse has to meet the test. It does not matter where the other lives or what nationality either of you holds.

Three ideas that are easy to confuse

• Nationality is the country whose citizen you are.
• Ordinary residence is where you habitually live.
• Domicile is a legal idea, roughly the country you treat as your permanent home. You can live in one country and be domiciled in another.

Which applies to you depends on the facts, such as where you work, where your family lives and what you intend.

If another EU country is involved

When your case is connected with another EU country, the Brussels IIb Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/1111) decides which country’s courts can hear it. Under article 3, an EU country’s courts can hear a divorce if, for example, both spouses live there, if it is where they last lived together and one still lives there, or if the spouse who applies has lived there for a set period. These grounds are alternatives, so the courts of more than one country can often hear the same divorce.

Malta’s own rule in article 66N applies only as a back-up, where no EU court has jurisdiction under articles 3 to 5 (Regulation, article 6).

Why timing matters

If divorce cases are started in two EU countries, the court that was approached second must pause until the first has decided whether it has jurisdiction (Regulation, article 20). That is why it is worth taking advice before anyone starts proceedings anywhere.

If you are already divorced abroad

A divorce granted in another country may be recognised in Malta. See is a divorce granted abroad valid in Malta?.

Where to start

Bring details of where each of you has lived and worked, and your marriage certificate. See divorce for foreigners and expats for more detail.