Article 25A of the Maltese Citizenship Act, Cap. 188 provides that the Regulator may investigate complaints received in the prescribed form, by the applicant or his duly licensed agent - as defined in the Commission Agents (Licences) Regulatations 2020 as per L.N. 435 of 2020 - on behalf of the said applicant, about the process undertaken during the eligibility assessment, which led to its refusal in the manner prescribed under this Act, which findings the Regulator shall present to the Minister for any decision the latter may wish to take in the light of such findings in the circumstances of each case. In essence, this Article of the Act empowers the Regulator to carry out all the necessary investigations that he deems fit and proper in order to establish whether or not the process undertaken by the Agency entrusted by Government with the assessment of such applications was just, correct and totally in line with the provisions of the relative Regulations and the innate duties devolving on such Agency in this respect.
Requests for reviews by the Regulator may also be made in line with the same scope and principle as referred to above and in accordance with the above procedures in the case of refusals by the Minister in respect of applications for Maltese citizenship submitted under the Individual Investor Programme. In this case: -
(a) such requests need not be made on any particularly prescribed form, and
(b) at the end of his review the Regulator may transmit his final decision to the applicant or his Agent, as the case may be, without the need of presenting his findings to the Minister, unless the Regulator finds himself in disagreement with MIIPA/CMA over the negative recommendations made by the latter to the Minister in which case the Regulator shall present his findings to the Minister for any decision the latter may wish to take in the light of such findings.
Any form of complaint or request for a review in any of the manners referred to in any of the foregoing paragraphs received by the Regulator after the lapse of 180 calendar days from the date of the written communication to the applicant (or his agent) of the Minister's refusal shall not be entertained by the Regulator.