FAQ

Previously, if you had a Malaysian spouse you were not eligible for the MM2H visa and was required to apply for the ‘Spouse Visa’. Fortunately, the rules have changed and you may now apply if you have a Malaysian wife/husband.

You do not have to move to Malaysia or even spend a minimum amount of time each year. The visa allows you to come and go as you please. You will lose out on the tax-free car option if you do not apply within a certain time of your visa being approved.

If you are not married, you will have to apply separately and thus you will both need to qualify for the programme.

A: Unfortunately, having an MM2H visa does not give a Permanent Residency status nor can it be converted to PR status in anyway.  The MM2H visa is just 10-year visa which gives the flexibility for applicant to come in and out of Malaysia as many times as they like without any restrictions.

The programme does not require any property purchase. According to research by The Expat Magazine, around 15 percent of applicants who move here choose to rent properties or stay in serviced apartments.

Participants can purchase any type of housing properties provided that it has been issued with CF (Certificate of Fitness).

New applicants who have purchased a house for over one million are not exempt from the fixed deposit, however they are eligible to place a lower fixed deposit of RM 100,000 (for those 50 and above) and RM 150,000 (for those below 50).

A: Setting up a resort or buying one shouldn’t be a problem at all and you can do so once you are officially under the MM2H Programme.

The tax waiver does not apply to motorbikes. It also excludes commercial vehicles such as vans, buses and lorries.

If you want to buy a car free of taxes in Malaysia then it has to be a new car. If you wish to import your own car from overseas then you must have owned it for at least 6 months before you applied for the visa.

No. The MM2H participant is only eligible to import one car. A wife and husband that have applied for the program together may not purchase one tax free car each. Furthermore, if in the future, an applicant wishes to replace their car with a new one, they must pay tax on their second car.

The purchaser of the car will be liable to tax when he/she buys the car. This will be based upon the current market value of the car.

The fixed deposit placement only has to be made by the main applicant. The dependents, like your child, will not have to.

After a period of one year, the participant may withdraw part of his/her fixed deposit for approved expenses relating to house purchase, education for children in Malaysia and medical purposes OR when she/he decided to terminate her stay in Malaysia by first informing the Ministry of Tourism of his/her intentions. Those below 50 must maintain a minimum RM 150,000 at all times. Those 50 and above must maintain a minimum of RM 100,000.

If your country has a double tax agreement with Malaysia (such as the UK and Germany), then you can register with the tax authorities in Malaysia, even though you have no tax liability in this country, and show this to your home country’s tax authorities, who may authorise your pension to be paid tax free.

Overseas income is not taxable in Malaysia although it may be taxable in the country from which is it paid. Some MM2hers have managed to obtain exemption from their home country taxes on the basis of taking up residence in Malaysia. Any income earned in Malaysia is taxable in Malaysia. There is no inheritance tax in Malaysia. Foreigners are liable to a 30% real property gains tax in Malaysia if they sell within 5 years of acquisition and 5% thereafter.

There is no tax on the interest from the Fixed Deposits which are placed for under RM 100,000. For this reason the banks will usually split your Fixed Deposit into placements which are individually less than that amount.

You may keep the interest on the Fixed Deposit. Interest paid to foreigners varies from bank to bank, but is currently around 3.0 percent.

Once you have obtained the MM2H approval and you have a bank account in your home country, then you can liaise with your bank officer and tell them that you wish to open an account in Malaysia and they will either help you get a bank manager from Malaysia to help you. If you do not have a address in Malaysia, you may use the address of your MM2H agent (if you are using one) or the address of a friend in Malaysia.

Most clients will open their FD account once they arrive in Malaysia. Setting up the FD account is simple but transferring the money from your home country to the bank account here can take several days. Due to immigration law, you are only allowed to bring a certain amount of cash with you so make arrangements for this.