The passport, along with the national identity card, allows for free rights of movement and residence in all member states of the European Economic Area, as well as Switzerland.

The note inside of a Maltese passport states: The Maltese Government requests all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer every assistance and protection as may be necessary.Every citizen of the Union shall, in the territory of a non-EU country in which the Member State of which he is a national is not represented, be entitled to protection by the diplomatic or consular authorities of any Member State, on the same conditions of the nationals of that State.Visa requirements for Maltese citizens are administrative entry restrictions imposed by the authorities of foreign states on citizens of Malta.

[6] Malta began a citizenship by investment scheme in 2014 known as the Individual Investor Programme (IIP)[7] where non-citizens could apply for Maltese citizenship in exchange for a significant contribution to a national development fund and other Maltese investments, contingent on maintaining residence in Malta and passing criminal background checks.

Malta's Data Protection Commissioner confirmed that the publication of the number of passport buyers and their country of origin “may prejudice relations with a number of the countries of origin” and that revealing the agencies that handled their application “could reasonably be expected to prejudice commercial interests and, ultimately, the competitiveness of approved agents as it would reveal commercially-sensitive information”.

Maltese politicians and commentators outside of the country viewed this process negatively, due to its potential for abuse by rich individuals who wished to acquire EU citizenship.

[14] Many who were granted a Maltese passport were found to be large-scale international criminals with ties to money laundering in multiple countries.