Expatriate Forums in Malaysia

We had another quarterly meeting for MM2H agencies this afternoon, and please find below the latest update:

1) If you are a property investor who owns a property in Malaysia that is more than RM 1 Million in market value, you will only need to place RM 60,000 as Fixed Deposit for MM2H program.

2) We can now arrange for your MM2H visa to be endorsed at state immigration office, as long as we indicate in your MM2H application which state you intend to reside in.

3) The application process is currently under review, it seems that the government is trying hard to improve the efficiency of the approval process. One example is that Home Ministry may consider to cut short the security check processing time from 14 days to 7 days.

The above are the few major updates, we may post more details when we have done the full analysis of the latest changes. Once we have updated our own website accordingly we will post the changes here too.

Vincent Fong
Licensed MM2H Agent
Aubella - Malaysia My Second Home

Vincent,

Good to know update through your posting.

If the targeted audience of MM2H are the retirees, they do not think of property investment during their golden years. They simply want a peaceful, inexpensive living with their limited retirement funds.

Friday’s ruling will not make a Tsunami wave to attract hordes of qualified retirees to the MM2H program. Current MM2H application process is too expensive. Even a US Immigration attorney does not charge MR8000 for Green Card application, that your agency probably charges for MM2H application process. If the government’s MM2H office is overloaded with unqualified applicants, it can charge non refundable fees to cover their expenses of hiring extra hands. This will allow the DIY applicants to file their own applications.

The previous method of filing the application in the overseas Malaysian Tourism/Consulates worked well. Why fix it when it is not broken!

Dear Anwar,

Malaysia My Second Home is a scheme that allows qualified foreigners to establish a second home in Malaysia. You can come here for retirement, investment, children's education or even medical treatment.

Concerning our fee, I believe there are justification on what we have done for our customers. Imagine having someone to receive you at 2:30am in the morning on your first visit to Malaysia. There are also applicants who had tried DIY on their own, but then enlist our services when they realized that time, hassle and even miscellaneous costs are minimized by having someone plan out the whole journey.

Hello Vincent,

Thanks for telling your side of the story. Why mandate agency only MM2H application? All that the people in this forum are asking, keep DIY an option. Those applicants who want to retain the agencies are their prerogative. If you followed this forum, majority of DIY MM2H members said that DIY process was easy.

As far as your rationale of receiving an alien at 2:30 AM in KL Airport, you have a point. But this is not true for all. English is well understood in Malaysia. People who cross the ocean to visit Malaysia, can also travel 70KM from KLIA to a local hotel with out any agent’s help.

Thanks Aubella for posting.

regards, Scott

If anyone wants to give feedback about MM2H they need to email MoTour.

regards, Scott

Just to add, it takes a while for MoTour to respond.

regards, Scott

Thanks Vincent for updating us.

The 'retirement' program has evolved from Silver Hair for the retired to 5 yr MM2H - initially also for the retired. But, it has shifted focus to what it is now trying to get people who want to live here as a 2nd Home location whether retired or not as long as you contribute to the Economy.

I can see there'll be less retirees interested in this program because of the costs involved and doing away with DIY that many of us are used to.
But, it might attract those who are still earning overseas and yet would like their children to study here and who can afford the high tuition fees of the international schools or whose company pays for education and some other perks as an expat working in other parts of Asia.

Some retirees would buy the million$$ properties, but I think they are the minorities. I for one would not sell my property in HK to get one expensive property here. I have to consider the ease of reselling, resale value and appreciation rates here.
Just look at Penang with more and more condos and super condos being built and more in the planning I just wonder who are the people owning all the vacant units in existing condo complexes. No doubt many are being rented out, but if one calculate the returns of the purchase cum renovation costs vs rental income minus expenses, I doubt it's a good investment at all.
So this new thinghy on buying an over a Mil$$ property and just putting down RM60K, is not that attractive really. They should come up with something ALOT better than this.

Maybe the MoT should seriously consider a separate program for 'real retirees' who just want to live as Anwar rightly said of most retirees - who want to invest in properties in their golden years??...just simply peaceful inexpensive living using their limited retirement funds.

totally agree and i seriously doubt that an applicant whom is capable of purchasing a million ringgit property would meither about the FD of 60k! This particular new ruling just doesn't seem reasonable and why don't MM2H center and the agents emphasize in solving the existing problems such as the issue of the identity card!! This has been dragging forever...... There is no sign of updates at all even though it was published on the papers once and surprisingly it was not one of your agenda on you new updates Please enlighten us Vincent if you have any updates on this. thanks

this is what i saw from your website, vincent

Participants of Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Program are provided with various incentives to make their stay even more comfortable and enjoyable in Malaysia. The incentives provided are as follows:
Freedom to travel

Participants will be issued with Malaysian Identification Cards, which allow them to pass immigration checkpoints into Malaysia as residents. Moreover, there is no minimum stay requirement, so participants can stay in Malaysia for as long as they wish or otherwise. Nonetheless, participants will not be eligible for Permanent Residency (PR), since they can renew their visa for as long as they wish, subject to certain criteria.

any comment?