Nazri: A million applied but only 33,000 here under MM2H

Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz says benefits to the country are huge with Malaysia My Second Home contributing RM12.8 billion to the economy, since 2002.

KUALA LUMPUR: More than one million foreigners have applied for the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme since 2002 but only 33,300 applications have been successful.

This was revealed today by Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Aziz, who said the rejections followed the stringent approval process by the government.

“Even Bukit Aman’s Special Branch needs to vet these applications,” he said at a press conference after a signing ceremony for the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between the ministry and Bank of China to promote the MM2H programme, here today.

Applicants for the MM2H programme must be 50 years old and above, have a clean record in their home country when it comes to security or crime, and have a strong financial standing.

Earlier, in his speech, Nazri said the successful MM2H applicants represent residents from 126 nations and their moving to Malaysia under the programme has contributed a total amount of RM12.8 billion to the economy.

“Their estimated monthly out of pocket expenses amount to RM10,000 a month per person.

“This amount does not take into account the spillover effect of participants’ relatives and friends visiting Malaysia and spending on accommodation, food, travelling and shopping, among other things,” Nazri said.

He added that in terms of visa fees alone – including multiple entry, social pass and journey performance visa – those under the programme had paid a total of RM52 million.

The programme collected RM4.9 billion from fixed deposits as well as RM148 million from the purchase of automobiles and properties.

Most of the MM2H representation is from China with 8,714 participants. This is followed by Japan (4,225), Bangladesh (3,546), United Kingdom (2,412), Iran (1,336), Singapore (1,295), Taiwan (1,208), South Korea (1,266), Pakistan (973) and India (890).

The programme was introduced in 2002 to attract foreigners to come and stay in Malaysia, especially those who have already retired or some for business purposes as well. -FMT