Sarawak’s new requirements for S-MM2H to take effect Jan 1

 

Sarawak tourism, creative industry and performing arts minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said since his ministry took over the S-MM2H programme, a total of 1,462 applications had been approved. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING: 

Effective Jan 1, applications for the Sarawak-Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H) programme must comply with new requirements, says state tourism, creative industry and performing arts minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He said among others, applicants must be citizens of countries that have diplomatic relations with Malaysia and they must be at least 30 years old.

“Each application, covering the spouse and dependents, requires a fixed deposit account of RM500,000 to be opened with any local bank in Sarawak.

“All S-MM2H pass holders must also stay in Sarawak for a minimum of 30 days in a year. The validity of the S-MM2H pass remains at five years and it can be renewed for another five years,” he told a press conference here.

Karim said since his ministry took over the S-MM2H programme from the state immigration department in 2020, a total of 1,462 applications had been approved by the ministry’s panel.

“The total number of S-MM2H participants increased by 22.90% from 441 in 2022 to 542 in 2023.

“In 2023, fixed deposits from S-MM2H participants totalled RM56.7 million in Sarawak banks.

“As of August this year, 386 applications have been approved with fixed deposit placements of RM77.55 million,” he said.

Karim said the top 10 nationalities participating in the S-MM2H programme are from China with 391 participants, the UK (350), Taiwan (262), Hong Kong (255), the US (210), Singapore (207), South Korea (178), Japan (138), Australia (121) and Indonesia (117). - FMT