By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, June 20: Federal Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (Motac) Dato Sri Tiong King Sing has assured that the new Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme conditions will remain stable despite any political changes, emphasising the programme’s commitment to providing long-term benefits to Malaysia’s economy and society.
In a Facebook statement, Tiong addressed the public regarding the newly revised conditions for the MM2H programme, aimed at improving the programme’s appeal and functionality.
Following the announcement last week, the minister stated that he had received extensive feedback from various walks of life, indicating some confusion about the new conditions.
“However, everything implemented is simply to improve the MM2H programme in line with current development, streamline and improve existing weaknesses, and restore the international community’s confidence in this programme and its potential benefits to Malaysia,” he said.
The minister further clarified that MM2H applicants are permitted to bring their family members to Malaysia without restriction, with only the MM2H applicant required to pay the participation fee (one-time) regardless of the number of people brought.
He added that this means that other family members are not required to pay the fee.
“Second, after successfully applying to participate in the MM2H programme, the authorities will issue MM2H passes of different years according to the group of applicants and the validity period of their passports.
“For example, 20 years for the Platinum category, 15 years for the Gold category, and five years for the Silver category. After the maximum period of the MM2H pass expires, applicants need to renew their respective passes every five years and pay renewal fees according to different group standards,” he explained.
Significantly, only Platinum category participants are permitted to engage in investment and business activities, a move intended to attract high-quality applicants and stimulate economic growth.
Gold and Silver category participants interested in business activities will receive assistance with the necessary permit applications.
“It is emphasised that MM2H agencies are prohibited from charging excessive fees to applicants or participants.
“We have received many complaints from MM2H applicants in the past, including MM2H agencies disappearing after charging fees, applicants who were charged relatively high fees but ended up not getting permits, MM2H agency licences being resold and other complaints, which ultimately caused the reputation of MM2H to decline.
“Therefore, the MM2H agency registration conditions created in these new conditions aim to ensure that registered agency companies have the strength and qualified financial resources, as well as increase the agency company’s credibility and responsibility,” Tiong asserted.
He went on to say that they are currently working to improve the relevant rules and will announce them as soon as possible.
“All MM2H agencies can only charge a certain percentage of service charges before the customer successfully applies for the MM2H pass.
“For example, they may only charge 20 per cent of the total value of the service charge to be used as a deposit before the application is approved.”
Property purchase conditions for MM2H participants have also been updated. Properties must meet minimum value requirements and cannot be resold within 10 years, unless the applicant upgrades to a higher-value property.
“For example: if the property purchased by the applicant in the Platinum category is worth RM2 million, then new properties that are ‘upgraded’ must be higher than RM2 million.”
Additionally, children of MM2H participants can attend international schools or higher education institutions certified by the Malaysian government, but not government primary and secondary schools.
Tiong further urged the public to avoid baseless speculations and to support the government’s efforts in promoting economic growth through the enhanced MM2H programme. — DayakDaily
