Since 1 March 2026 Identità will not issue a first Single Permit without a Pre-Departure Course certificate, and in tourism and hospitality it has required a Skills Pass from third-country nationals since 2024. Both are completed online from the Philippines, both end in a live interview, and both are the step most likely to delay a hire when they are started late. This page sets out the content, the fees, the timing and how we build them into a recruitment round.
Identità introduced the course for third-country nationals applying for their first Single Permit: the portal opened on 5 January 2026 and since 1 March 2026 the certificate is checked as part of the permit decision. Part 1 is the integration course: two online modules, Living and Working in Malta and Rights and Obligations in the Workplace, each of 10–12 hours of video lessons, reading, practice assignments and an end-of-module assessment, followed by a 20-minute live online interview that checks English and understanding of the content, conducted by ITS Malta or an authorised Global Assessment Centre. Candidates have 42 days to complete Part 1 and may revisit the material before the interview. The fee is €250 on Identità's page; the ITS portal lists €245.
Part 2 exists only where a sector authority requires it, based on national occupational standards. For tourism and hospitality Part 2 is the Skills Pass; other sectors may be added — the Government said in July 2025 that it intends to extend the Skills Pass model beyond tourism.
The Skills Pass is the Institute of Tourism Studies' accreditation for people working in tourism and hospitality. It has been obligatory for third-country nationals since its introduction in May 2024 — more than 13,000 workers had been accredited by July 2025 — and becomes obligatory for Maltese and EU nationals on 1 January 2027 after a one-year deferral (Legal Notice 113 of 2025). Part 2 consists of three online units — Customer Care, the Maltese Tourism Product and a Skills Assessment — followed by an online face-to-face interview booked at ITS or the nearest VFS centre once Phase 1 is passed. The fee is €230 including a €5 interview booking fee, paid after the Pre-Departure Course.
Since 5 January 2026 some roles in hospitality businesses are excluded: accounts, marketing, HR and stores staff, cleaners and kitchen porters among them. Everyone else who will work in tourism and hospitality needs both certificates; without them the employer cannot file the Single Permit. A Skills Pass holder who renews after a clean first year may receive a two-year permit, and a three-year permit where the qualification level improves.
Started on day one, the course and the pass finish before Identità's decision and cost no calendar time. Started after approval, they add four to eight weeks to every hire.
Under the employer-pays principle that governs Philippine overseas recruitment, the course fee (€250), the Skills Pass (€230), the permit fee (€600), the visa and the Philippine documentation are employer costs. No worker pays for a place on a shortlist, a test, a course or a permit, and no cost is recovered from wages.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in Rome, which serves Malta from the Philippine Embassy in Italy, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. Recruitment follows the employer-pays principle: no applicant pays for an interview, a trade test or a place on a shortlist. Your company is the employer from day one; we never employ or lease the workers.
Everything here is subject to Subsidiary Legislation 217.17, the Malta Labour Migration Policy as implemented by Identità and Jobsplus, Maltese employment law and Philippine DMW rules.
Identità requires a valid certificate for all first-time Single Permit applications. Workers already holding a Maltese permit are not first-time applicants.
There is no separate English test for the Single Permit. The 20-minute live interview verifies English proficiency and understanding of the modules; Filipino candidates, schooled and trade-trained in English, pass it as a matter of course.
From 5 January 2026: accounts, marketing, HR and stores staff, cleaners and kitchen porters, on the Institute of Tourism Studies' non-exhaustive list. Cooks, waiters, bar staff, housekeeping attendants, receptionists and supervisors need it.
Online. The Pre-Departure Course interview is conducted by ITS Malta or an authorised Global Assessment Centre; the Skills Pass interview is booked at ITS or the nearest VFS centre. We coordinate the appointments in Manila.
Yes, but we do not ask candidates to pay for anything before an offer exists. We register selected workers the day the employer confirms them.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.