Work visa trends: Albanian workers on the rise, as rush for Filipinos eases

The arrival of Albanian workers in Malta has increased tenfold over the last five years while the number of work visas issued for Filipinos this year is 10 times lower than in 2017, according to government data. The figures indicate a shift in trends, although Albanians remain a fraction of the foreign working population. The data was provided to Times of Malta in follow-up questions to figures presented in parliament showing that Malta’s high commission in New Delhi, India, had issued 13,140 travel visas in just 13 months – from September 2021 to September 2022. The Foreign Affairs Ministry subsequently told Times of Malta that 10,958 of these were work visas for Indian, Nepali, Sri Lanka and Bangladeshi nationals. A spokesperson added that the acceptance rate of work visa applications stood at 63 per cent. As of October, Bangladeshi nationals have started applying for a work visa in their home country. Over recent weeks, Times of Malta has reported that third-country nationals are resorting to paying recruitment agencies thousands of euros to find employment in Malta for a permit that costs just €280.50. Expat community leaders and businesspeople said they noticed the increase...