bakedbean

Do you think this is fair? You have to prove RM 10,000 per month whether you are single or a couple.

I will be reapplying for my MM2H visa once my bank accounts have been unfrozen (sigh). I am thankful that, it seems, I am able to meet the requirements.....unless of course the rules change before I reapply. So, this is not a personal gripe on my part.

But... I was having coffee with a lady friend recently. She mentioned that, in the event that her husband passed away before she did, she would not be able to prove RM 10,000 per month income. One of the income providers (spouse) would not be there. And the implication is that she would have to leave the country. I don't know how lenient the Ministry would be in this situation.

It just seems to me a little bit unfair. If you're on your own, you don't need so much to live on. I am still getting to grips with "single life" but I am damn sure that I don't spend anything like RM 10,000 a month. Despite the addition of GST recently, Malaysia is still a very affordable place to live in retirement.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Davita

Hi BB...I recall both of us used JoyStay agency for our application.
At that stage I indicated that it was difficult for me to show RM 10,000 per month income as my finances were structured to minimize income tax in my home country of Canada.
JoyStay manipulated the disclosures to indicate the 'potential' for RM10,000 income...from the more than minimum asset requirement of RM350,000.

I agree...it is odd that a single person has to show the same income as a couple.

My wife hasn't earned any money since the day we married 28 years ago!!!
If she had to indicate income she'd probably show that she spends more than RM10,000 per month on beauty treatments......Oh! and clothes, shoes and jewelry......

NeonHippy

It does seem a little unfair, but then again many years ago I convinced a girlfriend to move in with me on the pretext that two could live as cheaply as one . I guess it depends which end of the binoculars you are looking through.

JC3

One way to deal with this situation is to buy ‘income for dependants’ life assurance – in the UK it’s called ‘family income benefit insurance’. This type of policy is similar to level life insurance, except that it pays out a regular income rather than a lump sum.

If for example your lady friend only needed to top up her income by say RM5,000 a month to meet the RM10,000 criteria in the event of her husband’s death, then such a policy is inexpensive.

I’ve had a similar policy for years to protect my spouse in case I died before age 60 and before the mortgage had been paid off or before pension income had started etc. Before we left the UK I checked with the insurance company if the insurance cover would extend to Malaysia (I now live here) and the answer was yes, no problem.

With regards to the MOT and Immigration, I think the main concern is to ensure that an MM2H'er will not become a financial burden on Malaysia. They want the 'rich'. The RM10,000 income criteria is a blunt instrument. Provided you are reasonably solvent, own property here, and/or have liquid assets etc. and can make this very obvious to MOT with an easy to understand summary of your assets (with background proof) I would expect the MOT to be flexible. If you're 'rich', you're 'rich' , with or without RM10,000 a month income. In my view it's more about careful positioning of your financial information than anything else.

JC3

InVinoVeritas

Another good reason to use an agent....they know how to "present" the information.