bakedbean

What are the strong and weak points compared with other programmes available in other countries?

I guess that we only compared (so far ) with Thailand. We were already living in south-east Asia, so Malaysia and Thailand seemed to offer the best options for retirement for us. And that is my experience, so I shall compare the two below.

I think it's a good programme overall. In my opinion, there could be a few improvements. I'll cover my thoughts on that on another topic.

Strong Points:

- It's a 10 year visa and renewable, so you only need to head to Immigration when the visa comes up to renewal, or when your passport is expiring. (Unlike Thailand where you can only get a 1 year visa and you also have to report to Immigration every 90 days)

- The country is more-or-less English speaking. You don't need to learn Malay. (In Thailand: we found it quite difficult going about day-to-day life without speaking Thai. Some do speak English but quite a lot do not.)

- The MM2H programme is run by MoTac which encompasses Tourism. The government sees the programme as an attraction to tourists (which it is) and therefore MM2Hers have a certain "status" here. We are not Citizens or Permanent Residents, but we have a certain "permanent" status, if you will. (In Thailand: the retirement visa is just a visa which comes under Immigration office. Thailand has not yet worked out the benefits of attracting tourists long term.)

Weak Points:

- Renewals can only currently be done at Putrajaya. This is not very handy if you live in Penang and, if one lives here until late senior years, the task of travelling down to Putrajaya becomes rather daunting. (In Thailand: you can report to the local Immigration office. There are many of them)

- MM2H visa for a couple means that one person will be a dependant. If the main visa holder dies, then that leaves the dependant to re-apply for the visa again. That may provide difficulties and is a serious problem. (In Thailand: the retirement visa is quite low cost and most people, husbands and wives, will each have their own visa, so this problem does not arise.)

Anyone else have any thoughts on the subject?

NeonHippy

Of the countries we considered, Canada is where our son lives and I would get in on a relatives visa so difficult to compare, multiple European countries are open to us as members of the EU so no visa required and Singapore, lovely place but I couldn't afford to meet their requirements. So the only detailed comparison is Thailand and Malaysia.
Strong Points
The 10 year visa is very attractive compared to reporting to immigration every 90 days. We popped in to see the process, very disorganised and a massive waste of time joining various queues.
Language? Thai was always going to be challenging but over the years I've picked up a smattering of Thai. Usually just enough to get me into trouble as the local set off in their native tongue leaving me totally startled. I was looking forward to learning it and will probably try my hand at Bahasa Malayu. If you are going to live in someone else's country it just shows a little respect to try and learn their language and fit into their culture.

Weak Points
I am hoping that enough people have gone before us that by the time we come up for 10 year renewal MoTAC will have realised that it is not reasonable for the elderly and frail to have to travel to Putrajaya and there will be an easier process.
The cost of the visa in either country is not all that high, a little higher as an annual cost in Thailand. I think what prevents a lot of people from applying to Malaysia is the cost of the fixed deposit. For me it is easy to meet the requirements for either country but it will be a few years before my wife starts to get her pension so in Thailand she would only get a visa by putting money on deposit. So the cost of the deposit for either country is pretty much the same after the first 12 months. If I should die before her pension kicks in, the fixed deposit (apart from 50k) would already be in place and she would get 50% of my pension which would satisfy the monthly income requirement. I do think that MoTAC needs to make clearer what pensions are acceptable in lieu of a fixed deposit.

InVinoVeritas

The only other country I seriously considered was Panama which has a very established pensionado programme which has had some recent changes.

The Panamian scheme has a few advantages notably in the form of discounts for retirees on a range of services such as transport, energy, hotels and medical plus a tax-free car every 2 years. The government also guarantees that there will no retroactive changes to the programme.

To qualify you must either be drawing a pension of at least USD1K per month or invest USD300K as a FD or in a property or a mix of the two (these can be liquidated after 3 years).

Although not specifically related to the retirement program itself there are some disadvantages in choosing Panama over Malaysia - the language is predominantly Spanish, there is an absence of direct flights from Europe and the cost of living is higher.

bakedbean

Tax free car every 2 years makes a lot of sense. That should be applied to MM2H.