Malaysia

No, and this is the central misunderstanding. MM2H is a social visit pass. It is not residency, it does not lead to permanent residency, and it does not lead to citizenship, ever. Advisers who present it as a golden visa are misrepresenting it. Malaysian naturalisation is in any case effectively unavailable to ordinary foreign residents regardless of how long they stay, and Malaysia does not permit dual citizenship.

The three-tier Silver, Gold and Platinum structure took effect in 2024 and remains in force as at July 2026. Silver requires a USD 150,000 fixed deposit, a five-year renewable pass and a property purchase of at least MYR 600,000. Gold requires USD 500,000 for a 15-year pass with a MYR 1m property. Platinum requires USD 1m for 20 years with a MYR 2m property, and it is the only tier with meaningful work and directorship rights. A separate Special Economic Zone tier, covering Forest City and the Johor–Singapore SEZ, opens at USD 65,000, or USD 32,000 for those aged 50+. Up to 50% of the deposit can be withdrawn after a qualifying property purchase.

Because the programme's defining feature is instability, not price. MM2H was frozen in 2020, relaunched in 2021 with thresholds raised roughly tenfold, revised, then restructured into tiers in 2024. All of that happened within five years. Families who bought into the pre-2021 MM2H at a MYR 300k deposit found the terms rewritten under them, and were put through re-approval on terms they had never agreed to. Nothing about the current tiers should be assumed durable.

Largely yes, with a stated expiry. Malaysia taxes individuals territorially, has no inheritance tax (estate duty was abolished in 1991), and has no general capital gains tax for individuals. A capital gains tax on unlisted share disposals took effect for companies in 2024, but individuals remain outside it. However, the exemption for foreign-source income received by individuals runs only through to 31 December 2036 under the current exemption order, and that exemption is delivered by an order a future government can revisit. The tax case for Malaysia has a stated end date. Do not build a permanent structure on it.

Under MM2H you must buy qualifying Malaysian residential property within 12 months of approval, at the tier minimum, and subject to state-level foreign-ownership price floors. This is a real illiquidity trap. Secondary-market liquidity for foreign-owned units in those price bands is thin. Presence is reported at 90 days a year for applicants under 50, but the conditions have changed repeatedly across reforms. Confirm them against current guidelines. MM2H holders may not work, except under the limited Platinum-tier rights.

For many UHNW families, yes, and it is far less discussed. PVIP, launched October 2022, has no mandatory property purchase, no minimum stay, no age limit, 20 years of validity, and the right to work, run a business and study. It costs a MYR 200,000 government participation fee, roughly USD 45k, non-refundable, plus MYR 100,000 per dependant and a MYR 1,000,000 fixed deposit, against an income test of MYR 40,000 a month. The trade is that the MYR 200,000 fee is gone for good. Reported March 2026 easing measures come from secondary sources only. Confirm them before relying on them.

Yes. Sarawak runs its own immigration autonomy under the Malaysia Agreement, so S-MM2H has its own rules, a minimum age lowered to 30 in 2025, and a light 30-days-a-year presence test. But the pass is valid for Sarawak, not peninsular Malaysia. The fixed deposit is disputed. The official InvestSarawak 2025 announcement states RM 500,000, while older agent material still quotes RM 150,000. The two do not reconcile, so confidence here is low. Verify directly with the Sarawak authorities before acting.

No. It has been closed since the 2020 freeze. Any quote at MYR 300,000, with MYR 10,000 monthly offshore income, is at least six years stale. The programme was withdrawn and relaunched in 2021 on far more expensive terms, then superseded again by the 2024 tiers. Its main lesson is Malaysia's policy risk. Prior participation did not guarantee continuity.