MM2H advisory: we prepare and coordinate, a licensed operator submits
Last checked: 20 August 2026 · Reviewed by Keith Kwai
Start with the rule that shapes everything else about this service. MOTAC’s own guidelines require an MM2H application to be submitted through a licensed MM2H tour-operating business, through the One Stop Centre MM2H. There is no direct self-application route. Since 1 October 2025, licensed operators must submit through the online MM2H management system with an online appointment booking.
Living Life Asia is not a licensed MM2H agent under Malaysia’s MM2H guidelines. We work as coordinators: we prepare your submission, advise on requirements, and guide you through the process. The application is submitted by a licensed agent or directly through the government channel.
That means the boundary of what we sell is clear and we would rather you knew it before you read any further: we advise, prepare, check and coordinate. The licensed operator submits. Anyone describing an end-to-end MM2H service without mentioning that rule has either not read the guidelines or is hoping you have not.
What we do on an MM2H matter
Establish which category is actually in play, and whether it survives contact with what you want to do. There are four: Platinum, Gold, Silver, and the Special Economic Zone / Special Financial Zone tier. They differ by fixed deposit — USD 1,000,000, USD 500,000, USD 150,000, and USD 65,000 or USD 32,000 by age — by minimum property purchase, by pass length, and in one respect that decides most cases: only Platinum permits employment or business activity. If you intend to work, three of the four categories are already out, and Sarawak’s separate programme, which permits twenty hours a week in four sectors, may be the real answer.
Establish the current rules rather than the ones the internet remembers. There is no income requirement under any current MM2H category. The Immigration Department’s own MM2H page still publishes the pre-2024 rules, including a monthly income test that no longer exists. We will show you both pages and explain which one governs, because that single point changes who is eligible.
Work out the true cost sequence, including the parts that are not the deposit. The fixed deposit, the one-off participation fee, the renewal fee per five years, the property minimum, the medical examination after approval, the insurance requirement at renewal, and — the number most people have not updated — stamp duty for non-citizen residential buyers at 8% since 1 January 2026, doubled from 4%. On a Silver-tier RM 600,000 minimum that is RM 48,000. Where MOTAC publishes no figure, as with the processing fee for Gold, Silver and SEZ, we tell you it is not published rather than inventing one.
Sequence the timing constraints, because they are asymmetric. Property must be purchased within one year after pass endorsement for Platinum, Gold and Silver — but within six months before endorsement for the SEZ/SFZ tier, direct from the developer, and in Forest City, Johor. The property cannot be resold for ten years. Getting this order wrong is expensive in a way that is difficult to undo.
Compare federal MM2H against Sarawak honestly. Sarawak is a fully separate programme. A federal MM2H pass does not give you free residence in Sarawak. It has something the federal programme does not have at any tier: an income route — RM 10,000 a month for an individual, RM 15,000 with a dependant — and property purchase is optional. For someone whose wealth is a pension rather than a deposit balance, that is frequently the whole answer.
Coordinate with a MOTAC-licensed operator through the OSC MM2H process. Document pack assembled and checked against the published requirement before it reaches the operator, sequence and appointments managed, correspondence tracked, and the medical examination arranged at a panel clinic after approval.
Prepare you for the parts that are not documents. Applicants may be called for a random police interview. Dependant definitions are specific — spouse, children under 21, children 21 to 34 if single and unemployed, disabled children with no age limit, parents and parents-in-law — and a plan built on a dependant who does not meet the definition fails late.
What we do not do on an MM2H matter
We do not submit your application, because the guidelines do not permit us to.
We do not tell you whether you will be approved. MOTAC publishes no criteria beyond the eligibility conditions and no approval rate, and 2025’s 3,172 approvals tell you the programme is operating, not what will happen to your file.
We do not promise a timeframe. MOTAC publishes no service standard for MM2H. We will not fill that silence with a number.
We do not advise on Malaysian tax, including the question that matters most to MM2H participants — whether the individual foreign-sourced income exemption survives its 31 December 2026 expiry. A ten-year extension was announced in a Budget speech; we could not find a gazetted amendment. We will show you exactly where that stands and tell you to take advice on it. We will not tell you it will be fine.
We do not advise on the property purchase, select property, introduce developers, or accept any commission from any developer, agent or bank. If that ever changes it will be disclosed on this page before it happens.
We do not handle the fixed deposit, hold client money for it, or introduce you to a bank on a commission basis. The deposit is placed by you with a Malaysian institution licensed under the Financial Services Act 2013.
How an MM2H engagement runs
- Enquiry and scoping. What you want, who is moving, what you hold, and roughly when. No documents.
- Route assessment, written. Which category or programme fits what you actually intend to do, what each requires, what each costs including the parts people forget, and — where relevant — the recommendation not to proceed.
- Scope and fee agreed in writing. Nothing starts before this.
- Document schedule issued. Every document, its required form, who must certify or translate it, and a realistic lead time for each. You obtain them; you hold them.
- Document check. Each item checked against the published requirement before it goes to the operator.
- Operator coordination. Introduction to a MOTAC-licensed operator, submission through OSC MM2H via the online system, appointment booking, and correspondence tracked to a decision.
- Post-decision. Medical examination at a panel clinic for principal and every dependant, insurance for renewal, the property timing rule for your category, and a written handover of the whole file.
What it costs
Fee confirmed in writing after a free initial assessment — full terms on How we work, and what we charge.
Paid to others, not to us, at their rates: the MOTAC-licensed operator’s own fee; the MM2H one-off participation fee (RM 200,000 Platinum · RM 3,000 Gold · RM 1,000 Silver · RM 1,000 SEZ/SFZ); the processing fee, which MOTAC publishes only for Platinum at RM 5,000 for the principal plus RM 2,500 per dependant and leaves blank for the other categories; the renewal fee every five years; the medical examination; certified translations; the fixed deposit itself; and, if you buy property, the purchase price, legal fees and 8% stamp duty.
Who this suits
Someone with capital rather than income, who wants a long-dated base, who understands that Silver — 83.5% of 2025 approvals — does not permit work of any kind, and who would rather know about the 8% stamp duty and the ten-year resale prohibition now than after committing.
And someone whose wealth is income rather than capital, for whom the federal programme has nothing at any tier and Sarawak may have the answer. That conversation is short and it is worth having before you spend anything.
General information only. Nothing on this page is immigration advice, legal advice, tax advice, financial advice or any other form of regulated professional advice. It does not take account of your personal circumstances. Official requirements change; verify the current position from the source before acting. Living Life Asia is not connected to, endorsed by or affiliated with any government body.
Frequently asked questions
Can you submit my MM2H application?
No. MOTAC’s guidelines require submission through a licensed MM2H tour-operating business via OSC MM2H. We prepare, check and coordinate; the licensed operator submits.
Is there an income requirement?
No, under any current category. The Immigration Department page showing a monthly income test is superseded.
Can I work on MM2H?
Platinum only. Sarawak’s separate programme permits 20 hours a week in four sectors.
How long does MM2H take?
MOTAC publishes no service standard. We do not publish an estimate.
Will I be approved?
We cannot say, and neither can anyone outside MOTAC.
Do you take commission from developers or banks?
No. If that ever changes it will be disclosed on this page before it happens.
Related reading
Tell us what you are trying to do
Tell us which category you are considering, who is moving with you, and where you are in the process. We will tell you whether MM2H or Sarawak is the right conversation, and what is actually involved.