Fetlar

Hi there, I am from the UK. I am a widower, my wife was from penang, Malaysia and passed away with covid 2 years ago. I am wanting to move over to penang and live with my wifes son and daughter who are Malaysian citizens and live there. I can work remote so that's not a problem. I do have a serious heart problem and take a lot of medication. I would appreciate any help and advice anyone may have for me regarding moving here and also getting my medication from the UK and also health insurance. Thank you.

tdrinker

I recommend moving your thread from "Rest of the World" forum to the Malaysia forum (it's under "Far East and Asia")

christmasoompa

Forum members can't move threads, but mods can. I'll move it now.

RedApe

Hi Fetlar,

My commiseration regarding the death of your wife. I'm not sure if your step-parent (?) relationship with your "wife's children" would be close enough to get a sponsored social visit pass.

That generally means that an elder retiree would apply for the MM2H program (Malaysia My Second Home). Prior to late 2021 that was a much more affordable program for retirees, but last year the Home Minister (under the previous government) made the provisions of that program out of reach for all but the wealthy. Under the new rules one had to prove all of the following: a) Income/pension of £7522/month (RM40,000); b) A Fixed Deposit of £188,000 (RM 1 million); c) external liquid assets of £282,000 (RM1.5million); plus an application fee of RM5000 (£940). He also required that recipients spend 3 months in Malaysia and a variety of other requirements.

The newly elected government is supposedly reviewing these standards but those changes haven't be announced as yet.

One option might be the Sarawak MM2H which involves having a RM7K (£1315)/month (for singles) pension/salary plus a Fixed Deposit of £28,180 (RM150K) for a single applicant placed in a Sarawak bank (with reimbursement for property purchase, car, or health care). So it's a lot more affordable. Sarawak only requires a one month/year visitation for getting an extension for another 5 years. However one problem is that the above-mention Home Minister imposed a regulation in the last weeks in office that those on SMM2H can only "reside" in Sarawak. Previously people could reside on the Peninsula while being on the SMM2H. It's not clear if that rule was properly gazetted or, if it was, will be voided by the new government. If it is you could apply for the SMM2H.

The only other option is to enter on a tourist visa and periodically leave Malaysia, stay weeks or months outside, and then re-enter for 90-days.

SushiFan

MM2H is one possible option, as outlined by RedApe above. Another option could be that your children (who are Malaysian citizen) investigate whether you could get a Long Term Social Visit Pass, where you are a family member of them.
About your medication: it is possible (likely?) that your UK medication is not available in Malaysia. You'd probably end up consulting an expert doctor here and get an equivalent/similar medication prescribed.

Hovite

I also have a heart condition which occurred whilst living and working in Japan so it has never been treated under UK NHS, just through the Japanese health insurance system. I am now retired to Sabah and knew I would have to continue treatment here. My wife (a retired UK registered nurse) and I interviewed two cardiologists and chose the one working for KPJ Specialist Heart hospital here in KK. In my opinion the quality of the care is superb though I do have to pay for it and the medication, abount £130/month. It is the same medication as in Japan and all but one is generic so relatively cheap. If you bring UK medication to Malaysia, first check the Customs regulations and get a letter off your Cardiologist to state your condition and the prescribed medication. I recently visited UK and did this in reverse, also took the latest paid invoice for the medication.
You also need to check with the Malaysia Airlines website to see if your condition makes you unfit to travel.
Final thought, I suffered for several weeks after arriving in UK, could hardly walk without shortness of breath and pain. I believe they lower the oxygen level and the air pressure in cabins which may give rise to problems on a long flight. You should check with your cadiologist and MAS. I used my CPAP machine on the flight back to Malaysia (by the way, both flights were Business Class) and suffered no ill effects after arriving back. For me, for health reasons I doubt I will risk flying again to UK.

RedApe

Hey Hovite. Could you inform us about the new Sabah MM2H Program that has just rolled out.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nati...home-programme

Seems odd there is no solar/pension income level mentioned. So is it just the Fixed Deposit of RM200K? And is that for the whole family or per person?

Are they really requiring mandatory residence in Sabah if one does decide to reside in Malaysia? They seem to say that - but then they mention a 1 month/annum mandatory visit requirement. And the purchase of property is Optional, or required?

No age lower limits were specified?

So can you dig up the actual requirements?

the troubadour

I would be very interested to read the outcome to the questions you poised. We are off to Penang in June to July to check out that island again, but find the present requirements that you gave somewhat difficult. Hopefully the new government will bring more clarity and a return to what was once a good scheme.

Hovite

My wife is due to call tomorrow the agent we are using for our son's MM2H application. He had provisional acceptance when the process was halted by the pandemic. If I get any info I will post it here.

RedApe

Oops - that should be "salary/pension". Thanks Hovite for the investigation...interesting coincidence.

BTW some fellow living in Thailand just (by that I mean just last week) posted a YouTube on Sabah (he generally liked it a lot) and used the Peninsular MM2H regulations...and then stated that was why he would never consider Malaysia. He didn't seem to know about Sarawak's program and that Sabah was in the process of revising its MM2H program.