MM2H release

I was told by the office in October that they are still accepting applications. Their site for on-line applications in still running. But the approvals are frozen until they decide what office will be granted to handle this process.

Apparently the same problem in Sabah.

http://dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?New … Vr9lwhzmss

The Director of Tourism Sabah Mr. Mohammaddin seems to be passing the buck..."not our fault"...it's the Ministry of Immigration that's holding up the 3000 applications.

http://www.theborneopost.com/2019/01/10 … ohamaddin/

According to MM2H Managing Director in Sabah, "over the last 13 years, only three applications were rejected".

But they don't say in this article that they reject many applicants before they apply. They reject applicants, who already applied in Kuala Lumpur. Now there is a talk that in order to apply, an applicant needs to have a rental agreement. Who is going to enter into a rental agreement if there is no guarantee that the agency will even accept your application?

Well, it's clear that the Sabah program is independent of the MM2H in the Peninsula. So an application there would not be valid. It's not that they "reject" it...they just expect the submission to be done in KK.

The talk of requiring a rental agreement is something else altogether. But I suppose one could enter into a rental agreement SUBJECT to acceptance by Sabah MM2H and the receipt of a visa.

But it would (and may be intended) to prevent those using Sabah as a "off-shore" base (Chinese still resident in China, others who only are resident part of the year). Maybe they are intent on increasing the renting/purchasing of property in Sabah, but it's more likely to backfire. Those renting short-term or getting the MM2H now with intent to live there permanently upon retirement will likely seek greener pastures.

I think that there are soft "benefits" that would achieve the same end.

cinnamonape wrote:

Those renting short-term or getting the MM2H now with intent to live there permanently upon retirement will likely seek greener pastures.

Agree, however if there is a stamp in your passport from KL, they reject your application. It is difficalt to convince an immigration officer that you truly want to live in Sabah permanently.

A rental agreement signed on a condition that you receive MM2H will not work neither for their immigration, because such agreement can't be easily dropped,  or for a landlord since issuing of MM2H takes time.

If their intension is for the applicants to live in Sabah significant amount of time, why don't they make this requirement as official? Many countries specify minimum time you can stay in a country in order to hold your permanent residence status.

expat000 wrote:

Agree, however if there is a stamp in your passport from KL, they reject your application. It is difficalt to convince an immigration officer that you truly want to live in Sabah permanently.

Not sure what you mean by this.  Do you mean they'll eject you application if you have entered through KL and then connected through to KK?  That they would require one to enter Malaysia directly at KK?

How would this prove in any way that you would not move to the Peninsula?

Or that you have already received a long-term visa in the Peninsula?

expat000 wrote:

A rental agreement signed on a condition that you receive MM2H will not work neither for their immigration, because such agreement can't [?] be easily dropped,  or for a landlord since issuing of MM2H takes time.

I don't know how you "know" this "won't work for immigration...are you working for Sabah immigration?

And a contract is a contract. It can have stipulations.

But assume what you say is true. No landlord would accept a renter and issue a lease who would not stay long-term, which requires a long-term visa. So if no one could go to immigration without the  lease there would be NO, ZERO, ZILCH eligible applicants. The program would be dead. It couldn't work with such a rule.

I think that the critical thing here is "you heard that". That is not really a reliable statement of Sabah's policy.  There are many things said about Sarawak or Sabah policies by agents on the peninsula that are simply made up because they want to dissuade people from applying there...and then they will say "Apply with us through MM2H".

expat000 wrote:

If their intension is for the applicants to live in Sabah significant amount of time, why don't they make this requirement as official? Many countries specify minimum time you can stay in a country in order to hold your permanent residence status.

They should, but try and find anything that specifies the rules of Sabah's MM2H anywhere on the internet. Also MM2H is not a "permanent residence status" and Sabah is not a "country". To actually apply this to MM2H would require someone checking up and counting all the days of entry and exit  from the Peninsula each and every year that you held the visa.You would have to report annually or they'd have to maintain the records from the immigration files. That's a lot of bureaucracy.

Now the only way that a residency requirement could possibly work is that they make it a stipulation of the Letter of Conditional Approval. You could show that to a landlord, sign the lease, and then bring that, Fixed Deposit, and Health check back and get the Visa.

Do you know anyone that has that requirement on their Letter of Conditional Approval?