Malaysia Retirement Visa: Application Process, Requirements, and Costs in 2026

Malaysia is one of the best retirement destinations in Asia and the world. In addition to an affordable cost of living, the country also has great infrastructure and a good healthcare system. Also, a majority of Malaysians speak English well and respect other cultures, making it easy for retirees to settle here.

If you are planning to retire in Malaysia, the very first thing you need to understand is the country’s visa system for retirees. Unlike many countries in the world, Malaysia doesn’t have a visa made only for retirees.

Instead, it offers the Malaysia My Second Home visa, or MM2H for short, which allows retirees to stay in Malaysia as long as they can fulfill the visa’s requirements.

In this article, I’m going to give you a full breakdown of all retirement visa options available in Malaysia, including all types of MM2H visas and alternative options. I’ll cover their requirements, validity, costs, perks, and how to apply for the visa step-by-step.

Does Malaysia Have a Retirement Visa?

Malaysia has no visa made only for retirees, but MM2H works as one. You can apply from age 25 (21 for SEZ/SFZ), and from age 50 you don’t have to spend a minimum number of days in the country. (Verified October 2026.)

• Under 50: you must be in Malaysia 90 days a year. If you’re 25 to 49, you and your dependents can share those days.
• 50 and over: there’s no minimum stay on any tier.
• Work: Silver, Gold and SEZ/SFZ don’t allow business or a career in Malaysia. Platinum does.
• Tax: MOTAC lists a tax exemption on foreign funds and income, and on profit from your fixed deposit in Malaysia.

So a 60-year-old on the Silver tier can live in Malaysia full time, or spend most of the year back home, and keep the pass.

MM2H Retirement Visa Overview

Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) is the main visa option for retirees in Malaysia. The program was overhauled in 2021 with much higher financial requirements, then revamped again under reforms announced in late 2023 and rolled out in 2024, which introduced the current tier structure.

MM2H is now divided into several types, each with its own set of requirements, validity periods, and benefits, including:

• MM2H Silver Tier, Gold Tier, and Platinum Tier: The three standard types of the MM2H program
  
• MM2H Special Economic/Financial Zones (SEZ/SFZ): A special MM2H program with lower requirements than the standard option, but you need to buy a property in designated zones only
  
• Sarawak MM2H (S-MM2H): Another special type of MM2H with more relaxed requirements. The program is managed separately by the Sarawak state government

Benefits of MM2H Visa

Here’s a quick list of benefits you get from the MM2H visa:

• You can stay in Malaysia for 5 to 20 years depending on the type
• The visa is renewable as long as the original conditions are met
• It’s a multi-entry visa, so you can enter and leave Malaysia as often as you like
• You can bring your entire family, including parents, parents-in-law, legal spouse (excluding same-sex marriage), children, and adopted children. Your children must be younger than 35 years old
• No tax on foreign income, even if it’s remitted to Malaysia
• The visa is transferable to your next of kin in the event of death
• Multiple-entry status allows easy travel in and out of the country

Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Requirements

I’ll separate this section into main requirements and other requirements.

Main Requirements

Fixed deposit and property purchases are the two main requirements of the MM2H program. You need to make sure you can meet these requirements before looking into the other conditions.

• Fixed deposit: You need to place a fixed deposit (FD) in any bank in Malaysia. The amount ranges from US$32,000 to more than US$1,000,000. You can withdraw up to 50% of the amount for property purchase, education expenses, medical treatment, and domestic travel within Malaysia.
  
• Property purchase: You need to purchase a property in Malaysia and hold it for at least 10 years. The minimum value depends on your MM2H program type and the state where you are buying the property.
  

Other Requirements

Other requirements are what’s normally expected when applying for a visa in most countries, including:

• Age: You need to be at least 21 years old (for MM2H SEZ/SFZ) or 25 years old to apply for the standard program
• Health insurance: If you are 60 or younger, you need a health insurance plan with worldwide coverage from a Malaysian or foreign insurer
• Medical check-up: You need to pass a medical check-up from a healthcare facility in Malaysia.
• No criminal activity: A police certificate is required when applying for the visa

Three Tiers of MM2H Visa

There are three main MM2H tiers (Silver, Gold, and Platinum) and one special tier, which is MM2H in Special Economic/Financial Zones (SEZ/SFZ).

Let’s take a look at each option in more detail.

MM2H Silver

This is the most popular tier among retirees in Malaysia since it comes with the least financial requirements and allows you to buy a property anywhere in Malaysia.

Plenty of retirees in expat groups still find the post-reform numbers steep, and many budget-minded applicants now look hard at the Sarawak MM2H instead. Its fixed deposit is lower, and it does not force you to buy a property at all.

• Age Requirement: 25 and above
• Visa Validity: 5 years (renewable)
• Financial Requirements:
  • Fixed deposit: US$150,000
  • Minimum property purchase: RM600,000
• Stay Requirement: Minimum of 90 days per year, counted cumulatively, if you are under 50. There is no minimum stay from age 50. If you are between 25 and 49, the days can be served by you or by your dependents
• Participation Fee: RM1,000
• Visa Renewal Fee: RM1,500

MM2H Gold

This is one step higher than the Silver tier, with higher financial requirements and longer visa validity. Some retirees choose this option because they plan to buy property in cities like Penang or Kuala Lumpur, where the minimum property purchase is already RM1,000,000.

• Age Requirement: 25 and above
• Visa Validity: 15 years (renewable)
• Financial Requirements:
  • Fixed deposit: US$500,000
  • Minimum property purchase: RM1,000,000
• Stay Requirement: Minimum of 90 days per year, counted cumulatively, if you are under 50. There is no minimum stay from age 50. If you are between 25 and 49, the days can be served by you or by your dependents
• Participation Fee: RM3,000
• Visa Renewal Fee: RM3,000

MM2H Platinum

This is the highest tier available and allows you to stay in Malaysia for up to 20 years at a time. It’s also the only visa that allows you to invest or run a business in Malaysia, as well as bring your own maids.

• Age Requirement: 25 and above
• Visa Validity: 20 years (renewable)
• Financial Requirements:
  • Fixed deposit: US$1,000,000
  • Minimum property purchase: RM2,000,000
• Stay Requirement: Minimum of 90 days per year, counted cumulatively, if you are under 50. There is no minimum stay from age 50. If you are between 25 and 49, the days can be served by you or by your dependents
• Participation Fee: RM200,000 (one-off, principal only, nothing for dependents)
• Visa Renewal Fee: RM5,000

Special MM2H Visas

In addition to the three tiers of the MM2H visas mentioned above, there are also special MM2H visas that come with much lower financial requirements. The trade-off is that you need to purchase property in a designated area only as stated by the program.

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The application process and general requirements are pretty much the same as the standard MM2H visas.

MM2H in Special Economic/Financial Zones (SEZ/SFZ)

The first special MM2H visa is the MM2H in Special Economic/Financial Zones, or SEZ/SFZ for short.

• Eligibility: Age 21 and above
• Visa Validity: 10 years
• Financial Requirements:
  • Fixed deposit: US$65,000 (under 50), US$32,000 (50 and over)
  • Property purchase: a home in Forest City, Johor, bought from the developer (the price floor follows Johor state policy)
• Stay Requirement: Minimum of 90 days per year, counted cumulatively, if you are under 50. There is no minimum stay from age 50. If you are between 25 and 49, the days can be served by you or by your dependents
• Participation Fee: RM1,000
• Visa Renewal Fee: RM300

Sarawak MM2H (S-MM2H)

This is one of the best options available so far since you don’t need to buy a property here. That alone removes the biggest cost in every other MM2H tier.

The fixed deposit is higher than people expect, though, so check the numbers below before you get attached to the idea.

The trade-off is that you need to be in the state of Sarawak, located in East Malaysia. However, this is actually not a bad deal since Sarawak is a great state to retire in, especially in Kuching, the state capital city.

It’s one of the best places to retire in Malaysia, in my opinion, and offers a great combination of city life and a laid-back lifestyle. The cost of living and property prices are also lower than in West Malaysia.

• Eligibility: Age 30 and above
• Visa Validity: 5 years, extendable for a second 5 years. After 10 years you reapply from scratch
• Financial Requirements:
  • Fixed deposit: RM500,000 for the main applicant, placed in a panel bank in Sarawak
  • Proof of Income:
    • Pension funds or offshore income: RM10,000/month on your own, RM15,000/month with a dependent
    • Or savings: a closing balance of RM100,000 on your own, RM200,000 with a dependent, subject to panel approval
• Property Purchase: Optional
• Other Requirements: Health insurance, police clearance, medical check-up (from a hospital in Sarawak)
• Stay Requirement: Minimum of 30 days per year in Sarawak
• Processing Fee: RM5,000, paid once and non-refundable
  
• Sponsor: you need either a licensed S-MM2H agent or a personal sponsor who lives in Sarawak. A personal sponsor has to be immediate family and can only sponsor one applicant

Two conditions catch people out after approval. You have to keep at least RM250,000 sitting in the Sarawak fixed deposit account for as long as you are on the programme.

After your first year you can take out up to half the deposit, but only to buy a house or a car in Sarawak, or to pay for medical treatment or your children’s schooling there.

Please note that the Sarawak MM2H is processed by the Sarawak state government directly.

You can bring your children here as long as they are younger than 21. If they are going to study in Sarawak, they need to apply for a Student Pass rather than rely on the S-MM2H pass.

Full-time work is off the table. You can work part time, capped at 20 hours a week, and only in approved professional sectors: education, banking and securities, manufacturing, and medical. You can also hold up to 49% of a joint venture with a local partner.

MM2H Visa Comparison Table

Here’s a quick comparison table of the key information for each MM2H program.

Criteria	MM2H Silver	MM2H Gold	MM2H Platinum	MM2H SEZ/SFZ	Sarawak MM2H
Age Requirement	25	25	25	21	30
Visa Validity	5 years	15 years	20 years	10 years	5 + 5 years
Fixed Deposit	US$150,000	US$500,000	US$1,000,000	US$65,000 (<50), US$32,000 (50+)	RM500,000
Min Property Purchase	RM600,000	RM1,000,000	RM2,000,000	Set by Johor policy (Forest City only)	Optional
Stay Requirement	90 days/year under 50, none from 50	90 days/year under 50, none from 50	90 days/year under 50, none from 50	90 days/year under 50, none from 50	30 days/year in Sarawak
Participation Fee	RM1,000	RM3,000	RM200,000	RM1,000	RM5,000
Visa Renewal Fee	RM1,500	RM3,000	RM5,000	RM300	Included in processing fee

MM2H Government Fees: A Worked Example

On top of the deposit and the home, every MM2H category charges a processing fee of RM5,000 for the main applicant and RM2,500 for each dependent. (Verified October 2026.)

Say you’re 55 and applying for Silver with your spouse. Your government fees come to RM5,000 + RM2,500 + RM1,000 participation fee = RM8,500. Agent fees come on top of that.

Tip: Platinum is the outlier. Its participation fee is RM200,000, so the same couple would pay RM207,500 in government fees on that tier.

Application Process

Here’s how to apply for the MM2H visa. The process for the regular MM2H visa is quite similar to the S-MM2H visa.

In this section, I’ll guide you through the general application process to give you a full understanding. For the detailed steps, you can simply follow the instructions provided by your licensed agent.

Find a Licensed MM2H agent

This is the most important step since the MM2H program must be applied for through an agent. There are two things you should keep in mind:

• You need to find an agent who isn’t pushy about getting you to buy a property.
• An agent should be experienced with the process.

Weigh that second point more heavily than the fee. The agent fee is a real cost and expats complain about it constantly, but the common advice in residency groups is that the cheapest agent is a false economy when the paperwork is this fiddly.

So, my personal tip for finding a good agent is to check Google Reviews or a Facebook group like this one and get recommendations from other expats.

Also, experienced agents tend to publish a detailed guideline about the MM2H visa on their website.

You can find the current list of licensed MM2H agents on MOTAC’s MM2H programme page, along with the official application guidelines. And here’s a list of licensed agents for the S-MM2H program.

A licensed agent’s fee for all MM2H programs ranges from RM20,000 to RM60,000.

Paperwork

After you contact a licensed agent, they may request documents such as your resume to determine whether or not you are eligible for the program. If you are, they will provide you with a full list of documents needed to apply for the program, such as:

• Proof of income
• Proof of employment
• Marriage certificate
• Police certificate
  

Please note that non-English documents need to be translated into English by official translators. Also, all copies must be notarized by embassies, notary publics, or lawyers. In most cases, your licensed agent will have a list of service providers who can help you with translation and certification.

Fly to Malaysia

After you submit all of the paperwork, you need to wait for the Malaysian government to approve your application, which can take 30 to 90 business days. Once approved, you will receive an approval letter. Fly to Malaysia with it to complete the remaining steps, including:

• Open a bank account in Malaysia
• Buy health insurance with worldwide coverage if you’re 60 or younger
• Do a health check-up
• Buy a property within 1 year (if required by your program)

Once these are done, you will get a visa stamp in your passport.

If you have any questions, you can simply ask your licensed agent.

Renewing the MM2H Visa

It’s very simple to renew any type of MM2H visa. Before it expires, contact your licensed agent and submit paperwork similar to what was required for the original program.

The key is to do it as early as possible, ideally 6 months before your visa expires.

MM2H Visa Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Here’s a list of frequently asked questions on the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Visa Program.

Can I work or run a business in Malaysia under MM2H?

In general, you can’t work full-time in Malaysia with any type of MM2H visa. However, it’s still possible to be a business advisor or hold shares in a company in Malaysia.

If you work from abroad, such as being a remote worker or running a business based overseas, this is generally acceptable.

If you plan to do any type of work within Malaysia, it’s best to contact your licensed agent and explain your work in detail to get confirmation from them.

MM2H participants are generally not permitted to work in Malaysia. However, Platinum tier holders may engage in business and employment activities with prior approval from the relevant authorities.

Do I need to purchase property to qualify for MM2H?

This depends on the type of your MM2H visa. If it’s S-MM2H, you don’t need to buy a property. For other MM2H options, buying a property is required. 

Can I include my family members in my MM2H application?

Yes, you can include your spouse, unmarried children, and even your parents. Please note that each MM2H type has different requirements, including age requirements for family members.

Also, same-sex marriage isn’t recognized in Malaysia.

Do I need to have health insurance? 

In general,

• If you are older than 60, health insurance isn’t required.
• If you are 60 or younger, you need a plan with worldwide coverage from a Malaysian or foreign insurer.

However, even if health insurance isn’t always required, it’s still a good idea to have it. You can opt for a plan without outpatient coverage and with a high deductible to keep it affordable while still having protection during critical moments.

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Read our health insurance in Malaysia article to find out more.

Which bank should I open an account with for the MM2H program?

An important point to remember is that once you place your fixed deposit with a certain bank, you need to stick with it for the entire duration of your visa. So, it’s best to choose the right bank from the beginning.

Maybank and HSBC are the two most popular banks for expats in Malaysia. They are reputable, familiar with the MM2H program, and have branches across the country.

Do I need to pay pension tax in Malaysia?

No, you don’t need to. In fact, you don’t have to pay tax on any money earned outside of Malaysia, even if you remit all of it to Malaysia.

On the other hand, if it’s income earned from working within Malaysia, you are required to pay income tax. However, before working with a Malaysian company, check with your licensed agent first to make sure you can legally work in the country.

How long do I need to wait to get visa approval?

In general, it takes 3–6 months to get visa approval, so plan your time well.

Can I apply for MM2H or S-MM2H on my own?

Unfortunately, with the new requirements put in place in 2024, you can’t apply on your own anymore and must go through a licensed agent.

Should I retire in Malaysia using a tourist visa?

I don’t recommend retiring in Malaysia with a tourist visa. Malaysia has strict visa requirements, and the tourist visa is intended mainly for travel, not for retirement.

Can I get permanent residency or citizenship through the MM2H or S-MM2H program? 

Unfortunately, you can’t. In fact, Malaysia has a strict process for obtaining permanent residency or citizenship. Most people are only eligible after marrying a Malaysian citizen.

What age can you apply for the MM2H visa?

The main applicant must be 25 or older for Silver, Gold and Platinum, and 21 or older for SEZ/SFZ. The SEZ/SFZ deposit is lower from age 50, at US$32,000 instead of US$65,000.

Do MM2H holders have to live in Malaysia for a minimum number of days?

Only if you’re under 50. Participants below 50 must be in Malaysia 90 days a year. From age 50 there’s no minimum stay on any category.

Can you withdraw your MM2H fixed deposit?

You can withdraw up to 50% after approval. The money must go on a home, education, medical care or tourism in Malaysia, and the rest stays in the account.

Other Options

If the financial requirements of the MM2H or S-MM2H programs are too high, there are a few other options available:

• Spouse visa by marrying a Malaysian citizen
• Work visa by being employed by a Malaysian company
• Tourist visa, which is only valid for 30 to 90 days

As you can see, these visas are not really intended for retirees and are only suitable for certain individuals. So, if you don’t have enough funds or don’t want to buy a property, you may want to consider other countries instead. Two popular alternatives include Thailand and the Philippines.

Find out more:

• How to Ditch the Desk at 53 and Retire in Thailand
• Retiring in the Philippines: A Step-by-Step Guide for Foreigners