Rajuae

Hi Everyone
The MM2H community here and at mm2h.info has been awsome and I have benefitted a lot from the good advice on these boards.
I live in Abu Dhabi and have recently received my conditional acceptance letter from MM2H. Before I go to Malaysia and complete the process I have hit a couple of bumps. I did write to MM2H but got very vague responses. Wondering whether some of those who have been through the process can help. Here goes.

1. My daughter who is included as a dependent will reach 21 years of age on 6th Jan 2015. Is it required that she complete the visa stamping process before this date ? She has been approved for the Visa in the acceptance letter I have received (I had filed in June 2014 which was just 6 months prior to her attaining 21). We have some difficulties travelling before that date and hence the question. We were originally planning to travel to KL in late Jan 2015 to complete the process.

2. We are a family of four. Is it required that the principal applicant (Me) and the other three dependents process the stamping of the Social pass and multiple entry visa at Putrajaya together or can the principal applicant do it first and the remaining dependents do it later within the six month window available? This is because we cannot all travel together within the next few months due to certain difficulties.

3. I went through the process this far DIY (With lots of help from Forum members!!) and would welcome any suggestions on the clinic for the medical check up, best available Medical Insurance and Fixed Deposit accepting bank.

4. My employer in Abu Dhabi currently provides me and family with medical Insurance that is valid in Malaysia. Would this proof of Insurance be enough to satisfy MM2H so that I do not need to take additional insurance?

I am sorry this is so long winded but any suggestions/comments even for part thereof would be VERY welcome
Thanks again

bakedbean

Hi.

Re Q1. I don't really understand the question. You say she will be 21 years of age in Jan 2015. The dependent visa only goes up to 21 years of age? So not really sure why you are adding her on the visa, since it won't apply? Or am I missing something?

Re Q2. I believe the answer is Yes but you had better re-check with MoTac. Why don't you give them a phonecall?

Cannot help with Q3 and Q4....sorry.

Rajuae

Thanks bakedbean for the response.
The MM2H rules , from what i could decipher, says that dependent children can be included in the application as long as the application is filed six months prior to the attainment of 21 years of the dependent. I filed in June and just about made it. So she has been included in my approval letter. However I am wondering whether her visa formalities have to be completed prior to her reaching 21 , which falls on 6 Jan 2015 or whether it would be fine as long as we complete it within 6 months of the date of grant of approval, which is 24th October (And hence needs to be completed only by 24 April 2015).
I called up Motac and had a long chat but the person on the phone was not very sure and said that it would be better if I put it down in a mail and sent it across. I have already done that and am awaiting a response.
Thanks anyway. I know some of these are rather peculiar circumstances and there may not be rules clearly defined for them. As for me, I am trying to save a trip (and therefore costs and time). Absolute worst case will leg it to Putrajay on a family holiday
Cheers

Rajuae

Oh... BTW, the dependent visa is valid for 10 years as long as it is filed before 21. so she can be on MM2h till she is 31 but may not be renewed (I think). This is what Motour told me on the phone

bakedbean

Well I don't know. MM2H works in mysterious ways sometimes. I was just reading the rules on the gov site here:
Application Requirements - MM2H Official Portal

Rajuae

Thanks
You are right. Some of it seems to made up along the way.
I shall post once I get some clarity on it or after I complete the process and find out firsthand

NeonHippy

BB this link is to the requirements for a dependent over 18 who wants to study in Malaysia. They would need to convert to a student visa. The correct link to MM2H requirements is Terms & Conditions - MM2H Official Portal but this does not answer the OP's question. I suggest that the OP has a look through the FAQs of some of the MM2H agents to see if this has been addressed before. I found this on www.mm2h.com which seems very pertinent and will hopefully prove very useful.
Please also take note that upon receiving the ‘Conditional Approval’ letter, the dependent must obtain the MM2H visa endorsement before he or she reaches the age of 21. If you fail to get the visa endorsement in time, the dependent will need to comply to the RM 300,000 fixed deposit to stay in Malaysia under the MM2H Programme.

ps How did you post a link with a meaningful description? Oops, I seem to have answered my own question. When posted the system takes care of the description.

Rajuae

Hi Neonhippy. Thanks a lot.
The clarification is VERY clear. I will therefore have to make sure that she gets to Putrajaya a couple of weeks before Jan 6. A bit of a bummer, but no choice.
I did try to find the clarification through the link but got lost at the mm2h.com site.
Thanks again

Gunnar45

Hello Rajuae,
Regarding your item 4, I think the health insurance would be valid if it clearly states that it is international, valid for all countries.
If you still need to have a local one, you may opt for the cheapest available. Or -if you are above 60 years of age, you get a rejection letter.
But don't forget that you need insurance for your dependents to be approved.
I used Tokio Marine.
For point 3, bank, it depends on your needs, I mean if you use HSBC where you are, you may want to go with them here because the easy tranfer facilities.
I prefer CIMB as there are more branches available.
They also give slightly better interests on the FD's.
Regarding the FD, think of dividing it into two parts, so that you can withdraw the allowed part when you purchase property or other approved expense.
Note that if you open joint account with your wife, you need 250kMYR to get Premier status. For single holder it is 200k.

Point 2, I applied for myself only in the beginning and then later added my wife when she moved here.
This was no problem. But be aware of that you can be charged for a 'journey performed' visa, I think around 300RM per person. This can be avoided by each person getting a tourist visa stamp at the MY Embassy before coming. (Even if it is not needed you still can get it)

NeonHippy

Hi Gunnar45, can you clarify this please? Once the conditional approval letter is received you must go to Putrajaya in person to get the passport stamped so by default everyone must have made a journey to MY. Do you mean that we must get a tourist visa stamp from the embassy before coming or pay 300RM? I was under the impression that the journey performed visa was only required if you were already in MY at the time of submitting the original application.

Rajuae

Hi Gunnar45
Good info. Thanks
I have medical insurance cover from my employer which is part of a group insurance program. While the insurer clears states that it is valid in Malaysia (It is not valid worldwide, as it is regional cover that covers oceania, asia and the Middle East/Africa and Europe. It excludes North America ).) Unfortunately, I do not have an individual policy document that states the region covered. I only have membership cards for myself and family. Am now in the process of getting in touch with the insurer to see if they can provide the document I require failing which I have to look at Tokio Marine.
I agree on HSBC being the most convenient as we have branches here in AbuDhabi which makes the transfer easier. However, I have read a horror story here where it took a member a few months to get the account sorted out and the money transferred.
A question tho... Is the transfer available only with a Premier account? Can it not be done with a regular account?
Thanks for the tip on breaking up the FD
The JP Visa was another point I wrote to MM2H about. My understanding is that if you are in the country even on a tourist Visa (Or any other type of Visa like work or student) the Journey Performed Visa charges apply .
I reproduce below the clarification they sent. It is kind of vague but what I understand is that I can avoid the JPV charges by requesting a visa and they will inform the embassy concerned that this is for a successful MM2H applicant and a Visa is issued which is different from a Tourist Visa .

"1) JP Visa is to ease the expatriate to get the long term stay in
Malaysia without have to renew their visa everytime fly off from this
country. There are two ways to solve your problem, first, If you come
with Social Visit Pass for 30 days you will have to pay MYR550 to
obtain Journey Performed Visa when you arrive here, BUT if you apply
Visa with Reference (VDR) you don't have to pay anymore.

How can you apply VDR? This is the step :
a. write us a letter / email us VDR request, complete with all your
details such as you MM2H no, passport no. etc. Don't forget to state
which Malaysia Embassy where you will collect the VDR. To ease your
process, I suggest you to just come with Social Visit Pass and obtain
the JPV here.
b. we will process your VDR application and let you know when you can
collect the VDR.
To ease your process, I suggest you to choose the first way."

Hi Neonhippy. Trust that clarifies .

Gunnar45

Hi again,
Yes I think what you wrote clarifies the JP visa.
There is also the following link:
What Must you do After MM2H Approval-The Procedure

Regarding insurance again, if it clearly states that it is valid for Malaysia and also the limits, etc are in accordance with the requirements, I don't think there should be a problem.
How long time will you stay in MY for the visa process?
Will it be sufficient to go for a 'plan B' if your insurance is not accepted?

Regarding HSBC, I don't know about the transfer requirements, need to be Premier, etc.
I did the procedures in 2008/2009 while I was still working in Kuwait.
I went for the FD option, but being employed, it was easy to show the proof of income as well.
I managed to open a HSBC account in MY when I visited there first time with the help of references helping me to get introduced.
And then I transferred the money from an overseas non-HSBC account to qualify for Premier and to have the money ready for FD and other expenses.
When all was set, they then sent the online banking security device to HSBC Kuwait so I could receive it there. (They don't send to private addresses outside of MY)

But I feel that since then HSBC service has declined, I find CIMB easier to deal with.

As you already have HSBC in UAE, it is probably the speediest to make the transfer within HSBC, but it went quite fast for me as well.

Where wil you be staying in MY? I think it is good to arrange the FD and other banking in the place where you will stay.

NeonHippy

[QUOTE=Rajuae;11471988]
A question tho... Is the transfer available only with a Premier account? Can it not be done with a regular account?
/QUOTE]
Rajuae, I also bank with HSBC. From the UK they will open an account in Malaysia for me but the charge is £100. This will be waived if I transfer some of my other savings to HSBC to establish myself as a premier customer. The requirements to be a premier customer are higher in the UK than in malaysia so once ttransferredI would still be a premier customer. So it may be possible to do this where you are, but if you wish to remain with HSBC it is worth moving some of your other savings into the bank and then using some of it for your FD.

Rajuae

Honestly Gunnar45 I have not yet decided on where we will be staying. I was thinking of someplace near MM2H Putrajaya so that we can get all this sorted out without having to spend time getting there. The last time in KL we couchsurfed but were way out into the suburbs (A very interesting experience tho...)

Thanks for your inputs

Rajuae

Hi Gunnar45
Ooops. I hav'nt yet got the hang of editing the post when including the previous post. So you will find some of my responses interleaved with the original post