PETALING JAYA: The Premium Visa programme for wealthy foreigners should be incorporated into the MM2H residential programme, a visa consultant has urged the government.
Anthony Liew, president of the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Consultants Association, said the Premium Visa programme (PVIP) was similar to MM2H, which provides residential visas for well-off foreigners.
The premium visas allow long-term residential stay of up to 20 years with multiple entry visa facilities.
But, Liew said, visa agents need a separate licence to handle premium visas.
He suggested that PVIP be incorporated as a “new category” within MM2H.
“It would then allow all MM2H licensed agencies to promote it collectively, provide more opportunities for their agents, and cut down the work for government officers, especially in the immigration department,” he told FMT.
On Friday, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said there had been only two applications for PVIP, which was introduced by the previous government.
The figure was in contrast to a claim of “huge success” made in September by then home minister Hamzah Zainudin, who said the ministry had received 20,000 applications from agents for PVIP.
Saifuddin then said the PVIP programme would be reviewed but there were no plans to scrap the programme for now.
Under the PVIP, applicants must have an annual income of RM480,000, open a fixed deposit account of RM1 million, and pay a one-time fee of RM200,000 for the principal applicant and RM100,000 per dependent.
MM2H applicants must have a monthly offshore income of RM40,000 and liquid assets of at least RM1.5 million with which to open a fixed deposit of at least RM1 million on approval of the visa.
Saifuddin said he wanted to see if improvements could be made to PVIP, with cancellation being the last resort.
Irish Chamber of Commerce Malaysia chairman Donal Crotty welcomed the PVIP review and suggested both PVIP and MM2H should be restructured to allow applicants a better understanding of its benefits.
He said there is a need for clarity and differentiation between both programmes to make them more attractive and appealing to high-income individuals.
“Bring MM2H back to where it was originally intended, which was for retirees and for those in later life who would invest in Malaysia, invest in property here, and actually stay here,” he said.
On the other hand, PVIP would be designed for a more time-limited engagement, suitable for wealthy individuals who are likely to be more mobile in their choice of location, Crotty said.
He said he knew of two businessmen who opted for MM2H over PVIP because MM2H was cheaper, but still fulfilled their needs.
“It’s value versus cost – did I get the features that I want and do I need to pay the higher price that I would have to pay for PVIP? And in reality, they got what they needed through MM2H,” he said. - FMT
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