Georgetown. Accommodation for long term.

It all depends on what facilities you want. There are walk-ups with no facilities other than parking for under RM1000 per month. If you want a pool then probably around RM1300 upwards. Check out rentals on www.iproperty for examples.

Some current examples from a search are as follows:
Fortune Court, Ayer Itam RM800
N Park, Jalan Batu Uban, Gelugor RM1200
Miami Green, Batu Ferringhi RM1800
Indah Bay Condominium, Tanjung Bungah RM1350
The Peak Residences, Tanjong Tokong RM1599

To be honest, the standards of repair and quality of furnishings can vary vastly. First decide which location you are most interested in (there are not really any flats in George Town itself but in the immediate suburbs less than 2KM away) as the town is mainly a tourist, hotel, UNESCO cultural area.

Please do be aware that 2 1/2 months rental is charged as a deposit (the 1/2 being in the event of unpaid utilities on leaving).

Please also do be aware that immigration is getting quite strict and unless you have an appropriate visa (pass) to stay in Malaysia, you could end up only being allowed to enter twice in a calendar year or if more frequently only for 14 days at a time.  Of course that ends up being rather expensive to go backwards and forwards to Thailand on a visa run.  The same is happening in Thailand, but Malaysia is not an easier option these days.

Gravitas wrote:

Please also do be aware that immigration is getting quite strict and unless you have an appropriate visa (pass) to stay in Malaysia, you could end up only being allowed to enter twice in a calendar year or if more frequently only for 14 days at a time.  Of course that ends up being rather expensive to go backwards and forwards to Thailand on a visa run.  The same is happening in Thailand, but Malaysia is not an easier option these days.

Where did you get this info? I went to http://www.crownrelo.com/en-us/moving-t … as-permits

and then called them, they know nothing about your post. On their web site its clear who gets what, and US and UK have the most liberal terms and nothing in your post appears there.

Then I called Malaysia Immigration in Putrajaya and they said the post is false, the law has not changed. They said SOME people and SOME countries have certain restrictions and those would be posted in the visa, and in those cases the type of visa we are talking about would be the type the person would have to apply for before they came. US/UK are not in such groups. They said not to believe everything we read online.

Please explain where you got this info so that we can confirm it. Since I, from US, would fall into the category of your post, i anxiously need to know. Personally, nobody in immigration has told me I can only come twice a year or that more often, only 14 days at a time. Thats HUGE information if true. We need your source.

Its the new crack down on people living illegally in Malaysia. Even people who have been here for years and gone in and out every 90 days are finding when they return, they are given only 14 days.  This has been going on for some time, and before my latest pass was processed I also had the same experience. Everything is changing in Malaysia. It costs more to do the MM2H programme, the purchase prices of property for foreigners has been hiked in many states and now immigration are applying stricter rules when they put a date in the passport.  Of course it only starts to take effect after the initial 90 days period.

Roger Rederer wrote:

Hey guys.
Thinking of re-locating to Georgetown in the New Year. I've visited Penang a few times and love the place. I'm on modest pensions from UK for life which I currently manage well on in Thailand. I estimate that the cost of living in Georgetown is roughly 10% higher than my part of Thailand but I've yet to see many adverts for medium/long term rental accommodation. Nothing flash, not Gurney Drive type condos. Any ideas?

Roger,
If you havent checked for prices at this place, its pretty good to get an idea of costs and I can confirm the prices are more or less accurate for Penang.
www.numbeo.com

If you want to stay in Malaysia consider the Malaysia My Second Home program
http://www.mm2h.gov.my/index.php/en/
and there are many more websites to explain the program.

Other than that, a visitor isnt allowed to stay permanently or indefinitely. You would need to get a workpass, long-term social visit pass (often used for mixed marriages) or professional pass or some kind of pass that would permit longer stays than 90 days at a time.

I would recommend Crown Relocation for latest answers, they have offices everywhere including UK and Malaysia and would assist in visas, moving your house, etc.
http://www.crownrelo.com/en-us/office-c … ed-kingdom

You can also contact http://www.asiacorp.asia/index.php and talk to them about long stay, visas and relocation. Thats who i used for my workpass and company setup.

Gravitas wrote:

Its the new crack down on people living illegally in Malaysia. Even people who have been here for years and gone in and out every 90 days are finding when they return, they are given only 14 days.  This has been going on for some time, and before my latest pass was processed I also had the same experience. Everything is changing in Malaysia. It costs more to do the MM2H programme, the purchase prices of property for foreigners has been hiked in many states and now immigration are applying stricter rules when they put a date in the passport.  Of course it only starts to take effect after the initial 90 days period.

As for illegal, yes they want them out or take a real visa, which for many people means marriage because company formation is beyond them. As for legal people, Malaysia HAS a very old law, 10 years for a foreigner and then you must leave permanently. Go look it up. Im referring to job-holders, not tourists, but the same COULD apply to them, its hard to say as each person is different.

That said, what happened to me is this. Im here almost 15 years, since 2005 Ive had my own company and workpass. Recently they would not renew my workpass, not for the time Ive been here but that the job itself should have been handed off to a local, they said. They want to allow a foreigner to come and train someone and then leave, even if its one year only to accomplish that. So i had to give up being Managing Director and take a tourist visa. Last May, I went out and on return from Thailand, they refused entry altogether. We had a discussion in the border office and they gave me a 3-day visa, only good for going straight to the Immigration Office. There, they refused to permit a 90-day visa and offered 7-days. I quickly closed up everything and booked a flight to US to leave the next day. I stayed in US 3 months and came back 4 weeks ago with new passport and got 90-days. And here I am. What happens after this, god knows. Ive never done anything wrong and they are not counting the time Ive been here. Malaysia, in my personal opinion, is extremely foreigner unfriendly unless one is really rich enough to simply pay through all the problems. (Who can put $5 mill or $10 mill or $100 mill in a bank account to settle the argument?)

Im exploring Vietnam to shift to right now, attempting to sell the company, and I could also make a decision to marry my gf this week and apply for a LTSVP as that would allow me to stay and work too. Giant decisions. Life changing. At this point, with their disposition towards me, do i even want to TRY to stay here anymore? Plus, if I leave to Thailand will i be able to get back in? Hard to say.

So, what i'll give you is that there is no OFFICIAL laws about 3, 7 or 14 days, the OFFICIAL is 90 days. But at the border they can do what they please. Based on my experience, dont expect any pity at the Immigration Office because strangely, though there ARE laws, they follow what the guy at the border checkpoint did.

If i were a new foreigner and not attached to Shell or Petronas, i not bother trying to come here at all. Yes, Malaysia has greatly changed and all for the worse as far as foreigners are concerned.

My post is not intended as a blanket rule to scare anyone. Each is different. What happened to me is me. But I think its fair to say that there are no guarantees of anything, not even a 90-day pass.

Thanks for that Gravitas. More info on visas than I've found anywhere. So, you're saying that Malaysia operates a similar visa policy to Thailand i.e. that back to back visa runs are banned now. What would be your visa of choice?

Malaysia always does things very quietly and never publishes the nuts and bolt workings of its policies. Unfortunately there are no easy options these days unless a person has money (and lots of it).

Even marrying locals causes big problems. Of course everyone knows this is the only loop hole left, apart from fake work permits. The latest practice is that the marriage can't be registered for at least 6 months and the foreigner cant leave the country once they arrive (bit like qualifying for income tax residency) for six months because then the Long Term Social Visit Pass is not renewed (i.e. fake marriages are usually caught out). Whenever applying for any pass that is why a copy of all the pages in the passport is required. They check out movement etc.

A couple of natonalities can't work for 1 year after getting their LTSVP. Spouses from China and Nigeria come into that category.  But lately postings on this forum suggest that it is being applied across the board now, even to Brits. 

There is now a big immigration database (with photo and fingerprints) which is linked to the income tax database. People who try to leave Malaysia with unpaid income tax are prevented from leaving. This has been denied by the authorities - they tried to sidestep the issue by saying of course it does not apply to moving around inside Malaysia i.e. to north Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak), which of course is not the real issue. But this is the experience on the street and when its talked about openly and regularly, then for sure it is happening.

Probably the only way to survive immigration these days would be to have a Two-Centre (or more) lifestyle. As back to back visas are not issued, living in say Penang for 3 months and then moving around might be the only way. I am not sure what the immigration is like in Indonesia. I have never researched it, but I do know that property is way way cheaper and therefore rentals and also I think there may be some immigration rights for property owners in some way.  None in Malaysia. But, as I said, I dont know for sure, and it is only an assumption from what I have read - so own research would be best.

Vietnam and Laos have already closed down their immigration quite a bit. With money it is possible to get a yearly residency in Thailand still, which is far cheaper than Malaysia's MM2H.

I see you have a photograph of a child with you. There are only private fee paying schools available to foreigners in Malaysia (it is lawful to home school though). So if you are moving with a family, you will probably need to take this into account.  The fees start at about RM1500 per month.