Malaysia’s MM2H pairs a bank deposit with a compulsory home purchase

Malaysia My Second Home, the long-stay pass run by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, has three main tiers and a fourth limited to a special economic zone. Each requires a bank deposit and a home, with resale barred for 10 years except when buying a higher-value home. In June 2024 the minister said new participants in the three main tiers could not apply for permanent residence.

The tiers

The ministry’s category table and its eligibility conditions of June 2024 set out four categories:

• Platinum: a fixed deposit of USD 1 million, a home worth at least RM2 million, a one-off participating fee of RM200,000 and a pass of 20 years. It is the only one of the four whose pass allows business, investment and employment, and the only one that allows a foreign domestic helper.
• Gold: USD 500,000, a home of at least RM1 million, a fee of RM3,000 and a pass of 15 years.
• Silver: USD 150,000, a home of at least RM600,000, a fee of RM1,000 and a pass of 5 years.
• Special Economic Zone or Special Financial Zone: USD 65,000 for applicants aged 21 to 49 or USD 32,000 from age 50, a fee of RM1,000 and a pass of 10 years. The home must be bought directly from a developer in Forest City, Johor, at a floor price subject to Johor state policy, and owned or purchased before endorsement.

Applicants must be at least 25 for the three main tiers and 21 for the zone category. The Gold, Silver and zone passes do not themselves allow business or employment; the conditions say the relevant separate pass must be applied for.

The category table lists a processing fee of RM5,000 for the principal and RM2,500 for each dependant. A separate notice on the ministry’s online system sets a processing fee of RM500 per application, excluding sales and service tax; the documents do not say how the two relate.

What the deposit and the home commit

The deposit must sit with a bank licensed under the Financial Services Act 2013 or the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013. A ministry notice of 28 May 2025 encourages holding it in ringgit at the equivalent of the dollar amount.

Up to half of the principal may be withdrawn for buying a home, education, medical care or tourism in Malaysia. The category pages allow this after approval without stating a waiting period; the ministry’s guide and its category summary specify one year.

Buying a home is compulsory. The May 2025 notice gives participants in the three main tiers one year from the endorsement of the pass to complete the purchase. The home may not be sold for 10 years unless the participant buys one of higher value, and failure to comply can lead to the pass being revoked. A home bought in the two years before endorsement, or six months for the zone category, qualifies for the property withdrawal if its current value meets the category’s minimum.

Who can apply, and how

The programme is open to nationals of any country with diplomatic relations with Malaysia. The 2024 conditions dropped the earlier requirement to show income from abroad for all categories.

New applications must go through an MM2H tour operator licensed by the ministry under the Tourism Industry Act 1992; the 2024 conditions state that applications by individuals or walk-ins will not be entertained. A 2026 ministry booklet on later transactions, such as renewals, lets participants who applied without an agent continue on their own. Every application passes through the MM2H One Stop Centre, while final approval rests with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Immigration Department. The May 2025 notice adds that the police will interview prospective participants at random, besides the existing security screening. The ministry required new applications to use its online system from 1 August 2025.

Living on the pass

The 2024 conditions require 90 days in Malaysia annually, met by the principal or dependants for ages 25 to 49, or 21 to 49 in the zone category; the zone webpage instead states 25 to 49. The category table exempts participants aged 50 and over from any minimum stay; the detailed pages do not repeat the exemption. A medical check at an appointed clinic is compulsory after approval, and the ministry’s guide requires health insurance for applicants aged 60 and below.

Dependants may include a spouse, children under 21, older children who are unemployed and unmarried, children with a certified disability at any age, and parents and parents-in-law. For older children the category pages give an upper age of 34 and require both conditions; the Malay conditions are satisfied by either one, and the category summary gives 35.

The pass follows the validity of the passport and its sticker is renewed every five years or with the passport, at a fixed pass fee of RM500 a year. Once the tier’s maximum term is complete, the pass may be renewed every five years at a fee per person of RM300 for the zone category to RM5,000 for Platinum.

The ministry’s documents list a tax exemption on funds brought into Malaysia, such as the fixed deposit; the Silver and zone conditions also name offshore income, and the category table adds profit on fixed deposits. No tax-law instrument was read for this article.

The minister’s 2024 statement on permanent residence

Announcing the new conditions on 15 June 2024, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Tiong King Sing, said new participants in all three categories, Platinum, Gold and Silver, were not eligible to apply for permanent resident status, Malay Mail reported. None of the ministry documents read for this article addresses permanent residence.

Our programme record for MM2H sets out the procedure step by step.

Limits of this reading

This article reads the ministry’s pages and documents as published on 25 September 2026. It does not cover the separate programmes run by Sarawak and Sabah, and it could not open the Immigration Department’s site. The visa fee on renewal varies by nationality, and the fee for Vietnamese nationals was not found.