KUCHING: For the past decade, American citizen Jeffrey Ho, 48, has considered Malaysia an ideal retirement destination for its affordable cost of living, “great” infrastructure and use of the English language. In the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, he watched developments in Malaysia's residential and retirement visa programme closely, intending to apply for it once he reaches the age of 50 with enough savings amassed. At that time, the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme offered a 10-year visa scheme for foreigners above 50 years old who could place RM100,000 (US$21,200) in a fixed deposit, and show proof of a monthly offshore income of RM10,000.
But after multiple reviews, the latest MM2H requirements released on Jun 15 state that applicants for the lowest silver tier - which offers a five-year renewable visa - must place a minimum fixed deposit of US$150,000, on top of buying a property priced at least RM600,000. Mr Ho said these conditions left him feeling disappointed. “Now that I'm close to 50 and have enough saved, the program has become unrecognisable from what it was pre-COVID,” he said, calling it “frankly ridiculous” to require both that sum of fixed deposit and the purchase of a brand new property that cannot be sold before 10 years, as per the MM2H rules.
“All this while the MM2H pass is only valid for five years. Just a bad investment all in all, and not one that I would make even though I have the monetary means to do so.” The federal g.
