MM2H programme to resume in October
The government is to resume the Malaysia My Second Home programme (MM2H) in October, after suspending it a year ago.
Home Ministry secretary-general Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz said the Cabinet decided on this at its meetings on July 14 and 30.
This was part of decisions made to improve policies under the national recovery plan (NRP) to kick-start the economy.
The MM2H programme was suspended for a review by the tourism, arts and culture ministry and related agencies following the Covid-19 pandemic.
“New applications will be processed and coordinated by the immigration department (JIM), beginning October 2021, after all related legal processes are completed,” Dahlan said at a press conference at the ministry today.
He said the government understood the concerns involving any influx of foreign nationals into the country through this programme.
“The government has agreed to set a ceiling for the number of participants (the principal and their dependents) at any one time. They would not be more than 1% of the population of Malaysia.
“The home ministry guarantees that only qualified participants, without past criminal records, will be allowed to take part in the MM2H programme,” he said.
He said 10 new criteria will be introduced under the MM2H.
Among them is a duration of stay of at least 90 days (cumulative) in a year, with an offshore income of at least RM40,000 a month, compared with RM10,000 before this.
Aside from that, they must have permanent savings of at least RM1 million, from which a maximum 50% can be used to purchase property, and take care of the health and education of their children.
He said the social visa pass will be valid for five years. This can be extended by another five years and beyond, so long as participants abide by the set criteria.
“Among the other criteria is a declaration of liquid assets of at least RM1.5 million.
“The pass fees will be raised to RM500 a year (from RM90). The processing fee will be set at RM5,000 for the principal participant and RM2,500 for each dependent.
“Pass renewals and any changes to the nationality of participants and their dependents will also be vetted for safety.”
Participants must also present a letter of good conduct for themselves and their dependents, Dahlan added.
He said, so far the top 10 countries with the highest number of applications for the MM2H programme are China (with 1,000 applicants), Japan (more than 200), the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Korea, Singapore, the US, Australia, Taiwan and Indonesia.
However, Dahlan said people from certain countries were on the banned list due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Source: FreeMalaysiaToday.com
Under these conditions mm2h will close down over the next few years. Current visa holders will not fulfill the new high income requirements and will not renew whilst new applicants who fulfill these incredibly high income/asset requirements already have penthouses in hong kong or singapore and would not consider malaysia an option. Malaysia boleh….
Will close down in less than one year, won’t be able to last for few years.
However, under the backdoor govt, U-turn is always possible.
This is a very poor proposal. Applicants with financial resources will not consider Malaysia, which goes against the original intent of mm2h
@edisongan
Loss of trust is the issue. Retiring to a foreign country is a big deal. If there is no trust people will not come.
Better call the renewed programme
MMLH – malaysia my lost home
I’m participant since 2008 and have roughly contributed around 2 mio to penang’s economy (car industry, property renovation, living costs) plus about 2 mio in property buying costs.
Under this new conditions I surely will move out within the next 2-3 years
Thailand will be happy to take a few millions to boost economy
Btw
Whole contribution is an average of 11-12 billion RM per year…
I was told the numbers were arrived at based on real statistics of all the MM2H applicants and their submitted income. You loosen criteria, more people will be eligible. You tighten the criteria, less will be eligible. The gov’s main aim is to reduce the number of applicants, therefore tighten the criteria, simple as that. What’s the fuss????!!!!
i will now consider other options in asia as my retirement home. This is totally unfair to the thousands who trusted the Malaysian Government in obtaining a mm2H visa.
@roland brown
I believe finally those who have already obtained the visa would be allowed to renew based on old or relaxed criteria, especially if you’re not from china. Reliable sources said the main problem the gov was trying to solve is to slow down the numbers from china, especially those who are buying up thousands of properties being built by chinese developers in Johor and sabah.