S.L. 217.4 Art. 10Issue and renewal of permits and other documents.

(1) The Principal Immigration Officer shall make a decision as to whether to grant or refuse a first residence permit, or whether to renew same, as soon as possible and in any event not later than six months from the date of application for the permit. The person concerned shall be allowed to remain in Malta temporarily pending a decision to grant or refuse such application.

(2) Where necessary, the Principal Immigration Officer may request from a Member State, be it the state of origin of the applicant or some other Member State, information concerning any previous criminal or conduct certificate of the applicant.

(3) Where the information mentioned in the preceding subregulation is requested of the Maltese competent authority by another Member State, the competent authority shall reply within two months of receiving the request.

(4) Where an application is refused, the person concerned shall, unless this is contrary to the interests of the security of Malta, be informed of the grounds of public policy, public security, or public health upon which the decision taken in his case is based.

(5) The person concerned shall be officially notified of any decision to refuse the issue or renewal of a residence permit or of a decision to remove him from Malta, in which case, the individual shall be asked to leave Malta.

(6) The period allowed for leaving Malta shall be stated in such notification but save in cases of urgency, this period shall be not less than fifteen days if the person concerned had not been granted a residence permit and not less than one month in any other case.