Malta Residency Visa Agency (Establishment) (Amendment)

L.N. 156 of 2020

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ACT

(CAP. 595)

Malta Residency Visa Agency (Establishment) (Amendment)

Order, 2020

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 26 of the

Public Administration Act, the Prime Minister has made the following

The title of this order is the Malta Residency Visa Agency

(Establishment) (Amendment) Order, 2020 and this order shall be read

and construed as one with the Malta Residency Visa Agency

(Establishment) Order, hereinafter referred to as the "principal order".

Article 8 of the principal order shall be amended as

(a) sub-articles (2), (3), (4) and (5) thereof shall be

substituted by the following

"(2) The distribution of applications among the

Approvals Board shall be carried out by the Chief

Executive Officer, accordingly, so that each Approvals

Board, as far as possible, is assigned an equal number of

cases. Each Approvals Board shall be composed of a

Chairperson and four (4) other members all appointed by

the Minister.

(3) The members of the Approvals Board shall hold

office for a period of three (3) years, but each board

member may be reappointed at the end of his term. Any

member may, before expiration of his term of office, resign

by letter addressed to the Minister

Provided that the members of the Approvals

Board may be removed from office by the Minister prior to

the expiry of their term of office where, in the opinion of

the Minister, a member is unable to perform the duties of

his office or there are other reasonable grounds for his

removal.

(4) The Chief Executive Officer, employees and the

members of the Board of Directors, are not eligible to be

members of the Approvals Board.

(5) The remuneration paid to members of the

Approvals Board shall be fixed by the Minister.";

(b) immediately after sub-article (5) thereof, there shall

be added the following new sub-articles

"(6) The meetings of the Approvals Board shall be

called by the Chairperson as often as may be necessary for

the performance of its functions either on his own initiative

or at the request of the Chief Executive Officer, but the

Approvals Board shall meet at least once every month.

(7) The quorum at all meetings of the Approvals

Board shall in no case be less than three ( 3 ) members.

(8) Subject to the provisions of this order, the

Approvals Board may regulate its own procedure.

(9) An act or proceeding of the Approvals Board

shall be valid notwithstanding any vacancy among its

members.

(10) In the absence of the Chairperson at any

meeting of the Approvals Board, the Approvals Board

members present may select from amongst themselves a

person to act as Chairperson at the meeting.

(11) The decisions of the Approvals Board shall be

taken by a majority of the votes of the members present and

voting. In the case of equal votes, the Chairperson or other

person presiding at the meeting shall have a second or

casting vote.

(12) The Approvals Board may appoint any

employee of the Agency to act as Secretary to the

Approvals Board.

(13) The Board of Approvals shall review

applications submitted to it by the Chief Executive Officer

of the Agency and shall have the final say on whether an

application is favourably considered for approval or not,

ensuring that decisions made are fair and objective, and

according to law. When reviewing applications, the

Approvals Board shall

(a)

receive and consider due diligence reports

on applicants, and exercise appropriate methods of

inquiry and examination with respect to the

information presented;

(b) request the Agency to conduct further due

diligence or other checks in line with legal and

regulatory requirements when it considers that it is

appropriate to do so taking into account the budget

allocated for such purpose;

(c)

request all necessary information from the

Agency.

(14) Approvals Board members shall treat as

confidential all information concerning applicants and any

information communicated to them by the Chief Executive

Officer or any other officer, employee, or advisor of the

Agency.".

€0.27