MM2H: how long did it take for you?

So 8 months until you were notified...five months until Committee Approval. And then almost three months from Committee approval to notification. I'm wondering if there is another step in there...Ministry of Home Affairs (Immigration and Police) approval?

cinnamonape wrote:

Actually I do...but one has to use the "Way Back" Machine ;-)

http://www.lawyerment.com.my/library/do … programme/

It's actually quite close to the current Sarawak Program.

Interesting...the biggest change is that now you have to prove you have almost double the amount of liquid assets. However the amount you need to bring into Malaysia is roughly still the same.

The other change is that the MM2H programme is open to anyone above 21.

Go to page 2.... These are probably the biggest changes that have occurred.

"Application for the Silver Hair Programme must be submitted by a local sponsor directly to the headquarters of Immigration Department of Malaysia.

Your sponsor can obtain a checklist for the required document for the application from the Immigration Office.

You cannot acquire the service of any agent, middleman or consultant or legal firm.

Your sponsor must be a permanent resident or citizen of Malaysia."

So that means that one could not "self apply" or use an agent to apply. One needed a sponsor to make the application.

Pensioners also did not need to make a Fixed Deposit. They simply had to demonstrate adequate income.

Then there was the promise that they could do this in two weeks.

After they changes these rules applications and acceptances increased almost exponentially.

Table 3. In this article shows just how important restructuring the program was in its success.

Teh, B. C. G. 2018. Retirement migration: The Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program and the Japanese retirees in Penang. International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies 14 (1): 79–106,

http://ijaps.usm.my/wp-content/uploads/ … 79-106.pdf

Interesting information indeed. When did they commence accepting direct applications?

According to the article Direct applications began being accepted in  January 2009: "to the dismay of some agents".

Interestingly there was no significant increase in applications 2009-10. But application/acceptances nearly doubled 2010-11.  https://www.globaltravelpress.com/malay … 02-2015-2/

Also the stats from before 2002 are very ambiguous - it seems that the Total number of those on the Silver-Hair Program we're about 818 TOTAL....increasing twice that number (1645) in just one year when they liberalized the policy 2002-03, and then increasing steadily to 2615 applicants in 2005.

Clearly eliminating the sponsorship requirement, reducing the age threshold, and other reforms have made the program a success.

Congratulations for conditional approval letter and thank you very much to inform the other members.
Well, your application number is 40xxx and it means my application is failed because mine is 399xx.... should write to MOTAC for the reason if there is anybody to answer, but thanks anyway again.

It may be under consideration. As my agent told me that application doesn’t get approved in sequence. May be they might be checking some details. So pls don’t loose hope. If your papers were correct it will definitely be approved.

Zigfrit wrote:

Congratulations for conditional approval letter and thank you very much to inform the other members.
Well, your application number is 40xxx and it means my application is failed because mine is 399xx.... should write to MOTAC for the reason if there is anybody to answer, but thanks anyway again.

Did you use an agent or self applied?

Thank you very much for your kind words and giving me more hopes....I also hope my application will be approved...although I think it has a rare chance...I applied directly ( self applied).

I am 396xx after the news yesterday of a confirmation of a 40K i contacted my agent and they told me they have multiple cases still pending even ones in the 36,000's that have not yet been rejected, so there is still hope for us under 40,000 I hope!!!

Zigfrit wrote:

Thank you very much for your kind words and giving me more hopes....I also hope my application will be approved...although I think it has a rare chance...I applied directly ( self applied).

The ones I heard with delays are in most cases self applied cases. Reality is the government clerks are sh*t at their jobs and their is no vetting process prior to submission of your application directly.

And since there is very little or hardly any communication from the government office, you have no idea till months later if your application is approved.

Good agents actually vet all supporting documents and good agents have a success rate of 99-100%. You almost never hear of a case being rejected that has gone through a credible agent, as they usually don't take on any case that will not go through.

I think you are right. In my case my agent went through all the documents and once he was satisfied then only he applied.
Yes if agent is honest and checks all the documents before applying then there is very slight chance of rejection. This is what my agent had conveyed to us in the beginning.

Bulgarin wrote:

I think you are right. In my case my agent went through all the documents and once he was satisfied then only he applied.
Yes if agent is honest and checks all the documents before applying then there is very slight chance of rejection. This is what my agent had conveyed to us in the beginning.

Geez, sounds exactly like my agent (Alter Domus in Penang)....

I also used Alter Domus and they have multiple cases pending, they are looking for an update today so will post if I receive any information.

I used MM2H.co extremely fast replies very attentive to detail. Tried a few other some took way too long to answer. I don't like to bother them, he just  said the back log continues I can expect an answer in September or maybe sooner? We filed first week of January.

asiannzscottishexpat wrote:

I also used Alter Domus and they have multiple cases pending, they are looking for an update today so will post if I receive any information.

AD are one of the bigger players so no surprise...

movetomalaysia . co . uk have received approvals for many this week, announced on their site. And you can see in the MM2H Penang facebook group many posting recently of their approvals.

So things are indeed moving

@shobanjraveen, can you share where the announcements are posted on movetomalaysia site?  I’m a 403xx, I know my application was reviewed in June, no notification yet, but curious which number ranges have received approvals most recently.  Thanks!

Peredak wrote:

@shobanjraveen, can you share where the announcements are posted on movetomalaysia site?  I’m a 403xx, I know my application was reviewed in June, no notification yet, but curious which number ranges have received approvals most recently.  Thanks!

Hi, I can't share links in this forum. But if you go to their website www. movetomalaysia .co .uk
and look under the News section, you will find a couple of announcements there.

Today they confirmed they received a further 15 approvals! Things are finally moving quick!

Hi this is my first posting to this forum.  We have been advised today by our agent *** that our application has been approved.  We applied in late November so sounds like things are really moving now.
The letter advises approval occurred late April so obviously they have been held for some time before release to the agents.  Hope this gives others hope.

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on this forum.
Thank you everyone who shared their experiences and updating regarding to the approvals and procedures which is very much appreciated.

I'm happy to share that I've got my approval today. My reference number is in 402xx.
Committee No. 5 and 06/2019 dated 22.04.2019. I applied in early December 2018.

Thank you once again everyone for sharing.

Hi, I've been looking at this thread to watch the current MM2H situation. Appreciate the live information here.
Finally, my application approved! I received an email from MOTAC today. The email does not mention when their committee approved me.

I applied directly (w/o an agent) late October 2018 and my ref no is between 39500-39999. FYI I'm married and have a few children (because I can easily imagine that the number of family members could impact processing time).

Online status checker still says "Pending Committee Approval".

makrani wrote:

Hi everyone,

. My reference number is in 402xx.

Thank you once again everyone for sharing.

Thanks for that updated info!  I'm in that next 1K batch or so, so by end of the year sounds realistic.

runnerexpatmy wrote:

Hi, I've been looking at this thread to watch the current MM2H situation. Appreciate the live information here.
Finally, my application approved! I received an email from MOTAC today. The email does not mention when their committee approved me.

I applied directly (w/o an agent) late October 2018 and my ref no is between 39500-39999. FYI I'm married and have a few children (because I can easily imagine that the number of family members could impact processing time).

Online status checker still says "Pending Committee Approval".

There is alot of news this week of many approval cases, not just here, but on facebook too. Finally a good time to start applying!

Hi All, my approval came through in July 30th, number 396xx

Still waiting for mine, also submitted early December 2018, 401XX for a family with kids, submitted through an agent.  Hopefully the next few days!

Since I'm from Pakistan and needed to apply for single entry visa and I provided copy of approval letter to my travel agent for getting visa stamped. However, today my travel agent said the Malaysian embassy saying "Not yet ready for process."

So travel agent told me to consult with agent in Malaysia who can reach out to concerned department to update their records and my travel agent shall try it again.

Has any one experienced such thing ever? If yes, can someone share their experience please.

Thank you!

iinedwin wrote:

Brandonn wrote:

I have gotten an email from mm2h (Motac) last month informing me that my application has been approved.  I applied without an agent in Oct 2018.
My ref number is 392XX.
I am still waiting for them to send me the MCAL.  I am not sure if they would, or maybe they expect self-applicant to collect the MCAL at KL ourselves.  Can anyone comment?

It is about the same time when I submitted mine.  I wonder why I did not get any email.  Could you please tell me who sent you the email notification?  I am hoping it did not go to my spam.
Brandonn, could you please contact me directly?  Maybe we can work on this matter together and see if we can share information to each other.
Thank you

The approval email was sent to me by the Immigration Unit, MM2H, Ministry of Tourism.
I have written and asked them if they could send me the MCAL, but they did not reply.  I called them up, and the lady told me to go there personally to collect the letter.  I will be in Singapore later this month, so I would likely pop over to the Putrajaya office.

I hope you have received good news on your application.

Hello everyone,

I am interested in applying the MM2H visa. After applying online, for the submission of the documents, does one need to visit the application office in Putrajaya personally, or the documents could be mailed to the office?

Many thanks!

I mailed all the documents to the MM2H office when I applied without an agent.
Because I live in Singapore, I traveled and mailed it from Johor Bahru using PosLaju (domestic express mail service in Malaysia)
I did it last October and got approved last month.

That’s what I was told by my agent taking about 10
Months?

So in this article in Malay Mail today, the Director of the MM2H program mentions that there have been 3.500 applications so far by today compared to 6,279 last year (full year presumably). None of this year's applications had been approved, she said.

Not sure can link articles here, but here is the address:

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia … ec/1782511

So any approvals since July 2019?  Thanks.

I just received my approval letter today!  I had submitted back in early December 2018, with 401XX application.  (Also, the web portal still shows approval pending, so don't expect that it's being updated in a timely way...)

Congrats   seems it took nearly a nine month gestation period!

I applied beginning of January so at that rate another couple of weeks. I hope it takes all of September.
The longer the better. Child in school can’t take out for the trip. No
Cheap flights during December and January.

Any exception to
Extending the medical? Could the primary come
And do their medical
And the the other 2 do theirs later?
Just trying to figure out what options if any?

I applied in late March 2019 through an agent.  Got the application number right on submittal 427xx.  No further information but figure it will take at least 9 to 10 months to get conditional letter of approval, after which i understand they allow 6 months more to do the rest such as medsiaical checkup, insurance and the fixed deposit requirment.

With the conditional letter I am told by agent I can open a bank account in my and my wife's name.  We have a joint application as a couple.

Question:  When one goes to open bank account initially, how much cash ringgit can i deposit when opening the account.  I understand that there is a limit of 25K ringgit before the bank has to file a report with the Malaysian Central Bank. 
Can I deposit a larger amount initially or should i make a few separate deposits of under 25k ringgit on different days while i am there.

Thanks

A little bit OT: I like to apply directly w/o agent to mm2h. If anyone has gone this path, how is the procedure/communication before submitting documents? Is it possible to let them check roughly beforehand for major gaps? I meet all requirements but I struggle with certifiying of documents: all my bankstatements and payslip are in electronic format (.pdf). i.e I have no original on paper. How can these documents being certified??   
Any recommendations on other forums (which i have not found here on expat.com) related to direct application, are appreciated.

Many thanks  Carsten

Hi Carsten,

I could be wrong, but even though I am using an agent I sent in paper printed versions of the PDF files of our bank statements and pay stubs from here in the US and the agent didn't balk at them.  And this is an agent who advertises that it would not waste your time or essentially take your money if it feels your application would be denied.  Supposedly, very high success rate.  Could be all fluff, but again it is one of the more frequently mentioned agents.

Good luck!!!

carworld wrote:

A little bit OT: I like to apply directly w/o agent to mm2h. If anyone has gone this path, how is the procedure/communication before submitting documents? Is it possible to let them check roughly beforehand for major gaps? I meet all requirements but I struggle with certifiying of documents: all my bankstatements and payslip are in electronic format (.pdf). i.e I have no original on paper. How can these documents being certified??   
Any recommendations on other forums (which i have not found here on expat.com) related to direct application, are appreciated.

Many thanks  Carsten

We applied directly without an agent.  We didn't attempt communication before hand, only after our package was sent (at which point we received a fairly prompt email response and point of contact for the person handling our application).

They provide a detailed checklist, so to avoid issues we tried to follow it to the letter.  Having said that, somehow there was a gap in the financials.  The agent emailed us and we shipped off the certified/originals necessary. So though there was no per-submission back and forth, there was post submission review and follow up.   

They want originals or certified copies.  So we didn't send anything that didn't fall into one of those categories.

With so much of our financial information normally delivered online we requested printed statements from the institutions (401k, other investment accounts, and our bank, for example).  We also had these institutions issue Account Verification Letters on their letterheads (basically they are certifying that as of the date of the letter the noted balances are actual and all funds are available to the account holder).

For things like copies of our passports we went to the US Consulate (we started MM2H while living in Spain), had them rivet all the copied pages together, then had the bound documentation notarized certifying them to be correct and true. 

Hope this helps.  We were able to create the required submission materials with either originals or certified documents. 

This forum has been the best source of information and status updates on MM2H.  There are some groups on Facebook who are helpful as well.  We're happy to see the progress reported here lately on this thread.  Our application number is in the 42,xxx, so I'm hopeful we'll hear some good news soon.

I went to Putrajaya and collected the MCAL.  The approval was sent to me via email, but they do not send to your mailing address by mail.  Just a note for those who applied themselves without using an agent.