Malta Emigration and Immigration

From FamilySearch Wiki
Malta Wiki Topics
Flag of Malta.svg.png
Beginning Research
Record Types
Malta Background
Local Research Resources

Online Resources[edit | edit source]

Passports and Visas[edit | edit source]

British Overseas Subjects[edit | edit source]

Offices and Archives to Contact[edit | edit source]

Finding the Town of Origin in Malta[edit | edit source]

If you are using emigration/immigration records to find the name of your ancestors' town in Malta, see Malta Finding Town of Origin for additional research strategies.

Malta Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]

"Emigration" means moving out of a country. "Immigration" means moving into a country.
Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the country. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. Sometimes they also show family groups.


Immigration into Malta[edit | edit source]

  • Malta's location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British.
  • Malta became a British colony in 1813, serving as a way station for ships and the headquarters for the British Mediterranean Fleet.
  • Between 1915 and 1918, during the First World War, Malta became known as the Nurse of the Mediterranean due to the large number of wounded soldiers who were accommodated in Malta.
  • Malta achieved its independence as the State of Malta on 21 September 1964 A defence agreement was signed soon after independence, and after being re-negotiated in 1972, expired on 31 March 1979. Upon its expiry, the British base closed down and all lands formerly controlled by the British on the island were given up to the Maltese government.[1]

Emigration From Malta[edit | edit source]

Records of Emigrants in Their Destination Nations[edit | edit source]

Dark thin font green pin Version 4.png One option is to look for records about the ancestor in the country of destination, the country they immigrated into. See links to immigration records for major destination countries below.

For Further Reading[edit | edit source]

There are additional sources listed in the FamilySearch Catalog:

  • {{FHL||subject_id|disp=

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Malta", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta#French_period_and_British_conquest, accessed 28 July 2021.