Chinese nationals make up about 44% of active pass holders for Malaysia’s retirement residency visa scheme: Minister
This aerial photo shows a general view of condominiums at Forest City, a development project launched under China's Belt and Road Initiative in Gelang Patah, in Malaysia's Johor state on Sep 1, 2023. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
SINGAPORE: There are over 56,000 active pass holders – comprising principals and dependents - under Malaysia’s retirement residency visa scheme as of Jan 31 of this year, with Chinese nationals forming the bulk of them.
Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Tiong King Sing on Monday (Mar 11) said that Chinese nationals form the largest number of active pass holders under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) scheme at 24,765. This accounts for about 44 per cent of the total number of active pass holders.
This was then followed by those from Australia (9,265), South Korea (4,940), Japan (4,733), Bangladesh (3,604) and the United Kingdom (2,234), reported the Malay Mail.
Separately, there are over 1,000 active MM2H pass holders from Taiwan, the United States, Singapore as well as India.
Mr Tiong was responding to a parliamentary question from Mr Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah, who had asked the minister on the latest MM2H figures as well as the Malaysian government’s plan to improve the programme.
“(The Tourism Ministry), together with the Home Ministry and the Immigration Department, are in the midst of refining and detailing each proposal to improve the requirements of the programme taking into account input and feedback from stakeholders and industry players, so that the number of participants can be increased, encouraging the arrival of tourists and foreign investors to Malaysia,” said Mr Tiong, according to The Star.
In December last year, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture unveiled a revamped version of the MM2H programme, introducing a three-tiered structure along with updated financial requirements.
The revised guideline outlined several changes to the eligibility criteria, including the fixed deposit amount needed for the lowest-tier category as well as the minimum age of applicants.
CNA had reported then that Malaysia’s move to ease some of the requirements for the MM2H scheme has generated interest from those now qualified for it. However, some of those interviewed said they were holding off from making formal applications as the Malaysian government had yet to announce the full list of requirements for the scheme.
On Monday, Mr Tiong said that any changes to the scheme will be “finalised at the ministry level” before it is brought to the Cabinet for approval.
“To maintain national security, applicants are required to submit a Certificate of Good Conduct for themselves and their dependents issued and verified by the authorities in their country of origin or current country of residence," Mr Tiong was quoted as saying by The Star.
