Identità Public Registry

Identità is the Maltese government agency that looks after identity documents, visas, residence permits, civil status records and public deeds, and the Public Registry is the unit that holds the records of births, marriages and deaths together with notes on wills and property. It matters to UK readers in practical ways: anyone buying a home, settling an estate, registering a life event or dealing with a foreign document on the island may end up using it.

Identità is a public office, not a venue, although the Public Registry's Marriage Registry means couples dealing with marriage paperwork come into contact with it. We list it in our directory of wedding venues in Malta for that reason. This page only describes what the office does and does not give legal advice.

What the Public Registry covers

The agency was set up in 2013 under subsidiary legislation and works under the Public Administration Act. Within it, the Public Registry records and issues certificates of civil status acts, including birth, marriage and death. It also registers enrolment notes, which include wills, along with hypothec and privilege notes, and it processes searches on individuals and firms that relate to transfers of immovable property.

The Public Registry is organised into a Civil Status and Customer Care section, an Annotations and Adjustments section and a Marriage Registry section. Its pages also carry forms, a list of translators and a policy on how foreign public documents are recognised.

Searches on people, companies and wills

Searches are the most detailed service. They look at a person or a company rather than at a property, and they return summary notes of contracts and wills, not the documents themselves. Records of transfers, divisions and causa mortis deeds held by the unit go back to 1859. Questions about property or land go to the Lands Registry, and copies of contracts or wills come from the Office of the Notary to Government.

Four search types are offered. A normal search checks whether someone has been party to transfers, mortgages or ground rent redemptions. It needs a deposit of €15.85, costs €3.20 for each note found and takes up to ten working days. A priority search follows the same method in up to three working days, with a deposit of €31.70 and €6.40 a note. Some extra notes, such as maternity and different-property notes, carry a €0.95 fee. A will search costs €13.85 where the period begins before 1972 and €10.00 for later periods, takes up to seven working days and is sent by post. A decontrol certificate, which shows whether a property is decontrolled, costs €2.60.

Ordering a search

Searches can be submitted through an online portal, where you choose the Malta registry, the Gozo registry or both and state whether the search is for a person or a firm. You need names, parents' names, place of birth and the dates to cover for a person, or the company name and C number for a firm. At the front office, staff enter the details for you, and payment is by card, cheque or cash. Cheques must be for more than €20.

Appointments, visiting and contact

Appointments for the Public Registry and other units are made through the booking system on the agency's site, which has separate booking pages for passports, the Public Registry, single permits, e-ID cards, EU nationals, non-EU nationals and visas. Public Registry searches have their own contact points for Malta and for Gozo.

If you are in the Valletta area, our guides to hotels in Valletta and where to stay in Malta show places close to the Marsa office, and our Valletta guide covers the capital itself. UK readers moving over can start with our relocation guide.

To ask which unit deals with your question, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to Identità.