MM2H Malaysia: Requirements, Costs & Process. An American and Canadian Couple’s Experience Moving to Malaysia

I recently posted over on r/Malaysia about getting my MM2H approved and got quite a few questions about the process, costs and requirements.

Original post here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/malaysia/comments/1w8sjvc/mm2h_malaysia_approved_i_finally_got_my_malaysia/

So I thought I would make a write up for anyone else considering it here instead.\

Just a heads up, this is going to be a bit of a long post. There is a lot of confusing and outdated information about MM2H online, and after my last post I had quite a few people PM me with questions.

I honestly don't mind helping at all, but I figured it would be easier to put everything in one place for anyone who might be thinking about moving to malaysia. And of course, feel free to reach out anytime if you have questions. I'm always happy to help if I can.

I'm Canadian and I'm 50 years old. My wife is American and she's 53. Over the last few years we had been thinking more seriously about living somewhere outside of Canada and the US.

Like a lot of people, we were getting tired of how much everything was costing back home. Housing, groceries, eating out, utilities and just everyday life in general kept getting more expensive.

Malaysia had been on my radar for a while. The cost of living was obviously a big attraction, but we also liked the warm weather, the food, the healthcare, how widely English is spoken and the fact that Kuala Lumpur is a great base for travelling around Asia.

Neither of us had actually been to Malaysia before, so before making any big decision we came over for a visit first. We really liked it, and after that trip I started looking more seriously into Malaysia My Second Home, or MM2H, as a way for us to live here long term.

I ended up applying for the Silver MM2H.

The main requirement is a USD150,000 fixed deposit in Malaysia. You also need to purchase a property.

The minimum property requirement for Silver is RM600,000, but this is where it gets a little confusing. Most states have their own minimum purchase price for foreigners, and in many places that can be RM1 million or more.

So even though the MM2H program itself says RM600,000, that doesn't necessarily mean you can go out and buy any RM600,000 property you want. You really need to check the rules for the state where you plan to live.

One of the most important things for me was choosing the right agent. There are a lot of MM2H agents out there, and I had already come across plenty of bad stories about people getting poor service, agents becoming unresponsive, or in some cases even disappearing with people's money.

Luckily I found a good agent who was there for me through the entire process, but I would definitely do a lot of research before choosing one. Having someone experienced who knows the process, keeps everything moving and makes you feel comfortable along the way can make the whole experience so much easier.

Another thing I learned is that the USD150,000 should really be looked at as the bare minimum for Silver, not necessarily the total amount of money you should have available.

My agent suggested that I show additional savings so it was clear that I could comfortably support myself and my wife while living in Malaysia.

I put USD150,000 into the fixed deposit and showed another USD250,000 in a separate account.

I'm retired, so I don't have a normal monthly income anymore either. My agent did suggest showing income as part of the application, but there are ways around that if you're retired or don't have a regular salary. They helped me with that part and showed me what else I could provide for the application.

So this is something I think people should understand before looking at MM2H and thinking, okay, I only need USD150,000.

The USD150,000 is really just the starting point.

You still have to show that you can support yourself while living in Malaysia, and then you also have to think about the property.

The RM600,000 is only the MM2H minimum. You still need the money to actually purchase the property, or at least enough for the down payment if you are financing it.

Foreigners can get mortgages in Malaysia, but how much a bank will finance depends on the bank, your age, your income and your financial situation.

From what I found, financing can sometimes be around 50%, and in some cases it can go up to around 70%, depending on your situation.

Because I'm older, I decided I didn't really want to deal with a mortgage and just opted to pay cash for the property instead.

So when you see USD150,000 listed as the requirement for Silver, don't look at that number by itself.

You still need money for the property, whether that's the full purchase price or a down payment, and you also need enough money available to comfortably support yourself while living here.

That was probably one of the bigger things I didn't fully understand when I first started looking into MM2H.

As far as the actual application goes, most of the beginning was really just getting all of my documents together. Passport copies, police clearance, the application forms and the other paperwork my agent asked me for.

Once everything was ready, my agent submitted the application and then it was basically a waiting game.

For me, once the application was actually submitted, it took around 3 months to get approved.

But that doesn't include the time it takes to get everything ready beforehand. Depending on what documents you already have, getting police clearances, bank documents and everything else together can take another few weeks or even a couple of months.

Once I got the approval, I then had 90 days to go to Malaysia and finish everything. That included doing the medical check, opening the bank account, putting in the fixed deposit and getting the MM2H endorsement.

After the endorsement, you then have up to a year to purchase the property.

Preparing all the documents was probably the most tedious part of the whole thing. There were definitely moments where it felt like a lot of paperwork and stress, but I also look at it as one of those things you just have to get through if you want the end result.

Moving to another country isn't always going to be completely easy. Sometimes you have to deal with a few headaches first before you get to enjoy the benefits afterward.

Another nice thing about the fixed deposit is that you aren't necessarily leaving the entire USD150,000 untouched forever.

Once you're approved, you can withdraw up to 50% of the fixed deposit for certain things in Malaysia, including the property purchase, medical expenses, education and some tourism related expenses.

So potentially up to USD75,000 of the Silver fixed deposit can eventually be used for those approved expenses.

That was another thing that made the program more attractive to us because originally I thought the entire USD150,000 basically had to sit there untouched.

Before deciding on Malaysia we had looked at some other countries too, especially Thailand.

We like Thailand and still plan on visiting, but for actually living long term, Malaysia was a much better fit for us.

One of the biggest differences for me was English. In Thailand I sometimes found myself getting into a taxi and not being able to properly communicate with the driver. Same thing when shopping or trying to ask someone for help. Sometimes their English was great and sometimes there was almost no communication at all.

Kuala Lumpur has been completely different for us. Obviously not everyone speaks perfect English, but the vast majority of the time we can communicate without any issue. That makes a huge difference when you're talking about actually living somewhere rather than just going there for a vacation.

For my wife especially, coming from the US, being able to go somewhere, ask a question and communicate in English without having to think about it makes everyday life a lot easier.

Malaysia also feels much more multicultural to us. You have large Malay, Chinese and Indian communities, so the food and culture are incredibly varied. You can eat Malay food one day, Chinese the next, Indian the next, and there is also food from all over the rest of Asia.

I also personally felt more comfortable with Malaysia as a place for us to settle long term. Thailand is a great country to visit, but some of the safety issues you hear about there, including human trafficking cases, along with some of the natural disasters the country has experienced, were things I thought about as well.

Malaysia just felt like a better overall fit for what we were looking for.

Thailand definitely wins when it comes to beaches in my opinion. Malaysia has some beautiful beaches and islands too, but Thailand probably has more variety there.

The nice thing is that Thailand is so close anyway. If we feel like spending a week or two in Phuket or somewhere else in Thailand, it's just a short flight from Kuala Lumpur and flights can be pretty cheap.

That was another big reason we liked Malaysia. KL is a great base for travelling.

Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan and a lot of other countries are easy trips from here. Australia isn't difficult either, and New Zealand is a bit further but that's another trip we're hoping to do eventually.

So for us, Malaysia ended up being the best choice not just in Southeast Asia, but probably anywhere in Asia that we seriously considered.

And I think that's especially worth considering for Americans and Canadians who are looking at what their money gets them back home compared with what the same amount can get them here.

Yes, the financial requirements for MM2H are higher than a lot of other retirement or long stay programs. You need the fixed deposit, you need the property and realistically you should have a decent amount of savings behind you as well.

But if you can comfortably afford it, I think the quality of life you get in return makes it worth it.

Anyway, hopefully this helps someone who is thinking about making the same move. I know how confusing all of this can be when you first start researching it.

And like I said at the beginning, if anyone has questions or wants to know anything about our experience, feel free to reach out anytime. I'm more than happy to help if I can.

Best of luck to everyone considering it!