Country guide
Malaysia MM2H: a deposit programme, not an income test
Updated
Malaysia's programme is the outlier in this set, and it is worth understanding why it does not appear in the calculator.
There is no income threshold
Malaysia My Second Home is administered by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Its published category requirements turn on a fixed deposit in a Malaysian financial institution licensed under the Financial Services Act 2013 or the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013, a compulsory residential property purchase, a participating fee and a minimum presence requirement. No monthly or annual income figure is published, which is why MM2H sits in this guide rather than in the calculator (mm2h.gov.my).
| Category | Fixed deposit | Minimum property price | Minimum age | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platinum | USD 1,000,000 | RM 2,000,000 | 25 | 20 years renewable |
| Gold | USD 500,000 | RM 1,000,000 | 25 | 15 years renewable |
| Silver | USD 150,000 | RM 600,000 | 25 | 5 years renewable |
| SEZ / SFZ, age 50 and over | USD 32,000 | As set for SEZ property development | 50 | 10 years renewable |
| SEZ / SFZ, age 21 to 49 | USD 65,000 | As set for SEZ property development | 21 | 10 years renewable |
The conditions attached to the deposit
- A maximum 50% withdrawal of the principal fixed deposit is allowed after approval, for purchasing a residence, education, medical and tourism activities in Malaysia.
- The purchased residence cannot be sold for 10 years, although it can be upgraded to a higher-value property.
- Participants aged 25 to 49 must be present in Malaysia for 90 cumulative days a year, which may be met by the principal and dependents between them. Participants aged 50 and over have no minimum stay requirement.
- Participating fees are one-off: RM 200,000 for Platinum, RM 3,000 for Gold, RM 1,000 for Silver and for the SEZ categories, with a processing fee of RM 5,000 for the principal and RM 2,500 for each dependent.
- Renewal fees are RM 5,000, RM 3,000, RM 1,500 and RM 300 for Platinum, Gold, Silver and SEZ respectively.
- Failure to comply with any of the terms results in the MM2H pass being revoked.
Why it is not comparable
A programme that asks for a locked deposit and a property purchase is testing capital, not cash flow. A retiree with a solid pension and modest savings can clear Spain's or Thailand's test and fail Malaysia's outright, and the reverse is equally true. Comparing MM2H's USD 150,000 against Spain's EUR 28,800 as if they measured the same thing is the most common mistake in this niche.
Countries left out of this site entirely: Portugal, Italy, Greece and Costa Rica. In each case the official immigration or consular source either would not load or would not serve us on 15 August 2026, and we do not publish a threshold we have not read at source.