Dreamer

Hello, Im hoping someone will be able to tell us what's it like living in Malta with a family. We've been looking to make a move to Australia recently but Im not 100% sure it's for us and have been thinking about Malta.

My husband works in IT and we have two daughters aged 9 and 7. Any information about living in the country would be most helpful, has anyone made the move with a family, what are the schools like? Are there any English schools?

Thanks!

Dreamer

Anybody?

Mitzyboy

Hopefully someone will be able to help you soon
I've been there on holiday and it was good, but what its like to live there I'm not sure

Dreamer

Thanks for the reply

jenny79

i'm from malta... the cost of living here is waaaaaaaaaayyyyy too high... sydney (which is considered an expensive place to live in) is cheaper than here.

maltese wages are very lower than those in australia, and cost of living is very high here. it's not just me saying it (i've been to australia twice, and studied in tasmania for almost 5 months) but also people visiting from Australia say it... only yesterday my father's cousin was here with his wife, and she was telling us how expensive malta is. in january we'll be switching to the euro, and inflation is expected to skyrocket.

also, buying a house is very expensive here.

then there are the good points. it's a very small island (no trains) and one can reach any destination in a very short time. quite safe too. most of the people are very friendly too. health care is excellent, just now the new hospital (which foreign doctors described as a 'state of the art') is receiving the first in-patients.

as for IT, there's the smartcity project which should produce loads of vacancies in that particular sector.... malta is establishing itself as an IT hub.

you mentioned schools... well, the education is of a very high standard, but lessons in state schools are delivered in maltese. however, english is a compulsory subject since day one at school (and is a failing subject when it comes to exams). you'll probably have to enrol your kids in private schools for them to have lessons delivered in english... again, quite an expensive choice.

all i can suggest is to post specific questions to which i can reply. though they might be slightly biased; i'm in the middle of a visa application process to go and live in australia because for the amount of time i spend at work doing overtime etc then i have a p/t job during the weekends in summer, i'd be much better off in australia.

have you tried www.timesofmalta.com ? The Times and The Sunday Times are the leading newspapers, and timesofmalta.com is their complementary website.

Dreamer

Thank you so much for you interesting reply. To be honest with you the cost of living was one of the reasons we were trying to move to Australia, but as we are 5 points short we were looking into other places we could live if our application failed, plus i have a few personal concerns about oz. Australia seems to have more to offer us as a whole family than Malta does from what you say in your post. Although Malta is still a temptation.......
Thank you once again, and I'll be sure to bug you again if i need more info!!
Karma on it's way to you.

gazoid

Malta is lovely, compared to my present location, Amsterdam, its relaxed and people are ot arrogant and though somewhat introverted are very nice.

We have a 1 year old son now and are looking for a new location after Amsterdam became expensive (Euro) and quite tense.

We liked Malta very much, although after having dinners with Maltese people and researching a possible move quite intensively we realized it wasnt going to be easy to just relocate. (I am an airline telecom engineer)

Its plus sides are: its warm! you can dive into the med at almost any point
warm, clean water even in October. People are super relaxed and hospitable, not one drop of cynicism or hassle. Although it has its British Tattoo Army that are to be found with fish n' chips and hankies on heads.

I would definately recommend a trip, and even if you dont want to live on the island its a really lovely holiday, not expensive, great, great food (fresh fish!) and no Im not from the Maltese tourist board!

There is one other thing to check out if your an IT pro, they are in the process of building a smartcity!! its eventually gonna be huge..

http://www.3amsystems.com/smart-city-malta.htm

Im still considering a move there, with the right job, Im sure a nice life can be had there.

BDAloual

Hi. My husband and I have just moved to Sydney, but we already think that Aus might not be for us and are considering Malta! Sydney is very expensive, in a nice area of Sydney a one bed flat is around AUS $450,000. I am an accountant and I easily found work, but my husband is in IT and after 4 months still has no job. The lifestyle here in Sydney is also not very relaxed although we expected that moving to a large city, but even once you have driven for 2 hours the traffic is still busy.

We have also lived in Bermuda for a few years which was nice, a bit boring for us after a while as we have no kids, but I think its a great place for you to consider living if you have children as its a very relaxed lifestyle, so you should have plenty time to spend together as a family. Only issue with Bermuda is that you most likely will only be able to spend 6 years there due to visa requirements, but it might be worth considering.

jdr

I think the OP is asking about Malta ?

BDAloual

I know she is asking about Malta! But I think she was initially considering Aus but now is looking at others, including Malta. All I was trying to say is that she should be right in not being 100% sure about Aus and to carefully weigh up other countries, and I was simply suggesting another country for her to consider.

Dreamer

Thank you, Im a rather confused person right now, we are still no closer to choosing a destination and aswell as malta are looking into canada now aswell! Leaving the UK is such a big life changing step to take, im just doing as much research as possible right now on all the countires that appeal to us. Hopefully one day we'll get it right! in the mean time though any advice at all would be very welcome

Tinky

Hi Dreamer,

Have you thought about Gibraltar?

Quite a few IT jobs, and as within the EU no hassle of Visa applications. Although Gib itself is fairly expensive, you can easily live in Spain and commute over the border. Nice, relaxed lifestyle and not to far from the UK.

Tinky

jdr

I don`t think you will find it`s in the E U.

Tinky

Sorry JDR, but as a British Oversea Territory, it is part of the EU. Although some exemption do apply

Taken from Wikipedia:

HTH,

Tinky

jdr

You are right, they just tagged it on, lol
I don`t think the Spanish Border guards will agree on that though, hence the alcohol and ciggy limits.
I have even had them take the cornflake packet out the shopping to see if the seal has been broken and the box filled with ciggies.