ssoomro

bakedbean The question is never that of impermanence of the MM2H Visa..but that of its potency... the advertisements/inducements and correspondingly ..relevantly stringent process of obtaining this visa .. gives impression of it having more teeth than it shows.. All of us know its temporary.. most of us thought it will be treated better than ..persona non grata .... in times of crisis/emergency .. something like that

OriginalSunshine

Yes, whilst I’m more cynical than a lot of you, I do feel huge pity for those caught out, especially those separated from family 😢

meched55

I am planning on getting the MM2H. Selling everything and moving to Malaysia permanently. Had we been out of the country and they locked it down where would go? You buy a house there expecting to return home and you can’t get in?
this is absolutely a horrible policy. if your renting and can’t pay the rent does the landlord sell your belongings? Or do you just wire them the rent?
We plan on traveling all over Asia when the kid is not in school. We could be gone for a few months at a time.
seriously rethinking this move.
will this covid happen again probably just a different name. But we should all be doing more of this stuff anyway just to stop all viruses. I used to see CHinese wearing masks all the time before covid. Now
i know why.

ssoomro

Here is a clear example of what we are talking about.. I think this gentleman is no different from many of us, Like many of us, He may have stellar record of educational/professional/business achievements behind him. And i am sure he read the materials on MM2H quite carefully.. yet he was willing to uproot himself and family and move to Malaysia on the strength of MM2H visa.. I am sure a number of us did or plan to do so. A "Retirement Scheme" has a far different connotation than a casual visitor visa...You dont embark on these journeys as a cynic.. more like a starry-eyed optimist.. Unless Malay Govt does something about it .. i think post Covid-19, MM2H program is doomed... may be that is what some of the opponents of the program in Malay society want .. which is a shame.... but none of us can and should establish a claim on someone else' land .. well at least in Post Colonial World ..haha

meched55

I agree to a point us MM2H'ers bring in a lot of capital to the country. They offered the program and had good benefits of coming there. Buying a car tax free is no longer. They still charge more for anyone who doesn't have a myKAd card. The main attraction for me is medical. My child goes to a charter school here. It's stem school one of the best in the city. It's free too. By the time I add rent and school and health insurance I am probably at about 2.5k$ a month there in Malaysia. That's about what it cost me here. But I have to work otherwise I have to pay about $2k a month for health insurance here for the family.
Over there I can get everything for about $2500 approximate depends what we want to have cable tv internet etc. Without living there it's hard to estimate?
I use numbeo for comparison costs. Which isn't bad for a guesstimate. I then wouldn't have to work either. I'd be just spending all the time. Tell me that's not good for their economy?
I already applied and was approved to get the visa. Just waiting to make a trip there. Haven't decided if I want to lock up $ in a FD or start a new Sarawak application?
Also I don't want to worry about money either so I am thinking maybe I wait 2 more years? 56 now will see we've been there before for 3 weeks. Will be headed there in July hopefully by then they will lift the 2 week quarantine if not we'll just cancel the trip again. Like someone else mentioned the 1 mm2her brings in more than 100 tourists we also don't have a voice too small of a minority.

WiredTight

I think you have to admit that the world is in a different place than it was 6 months ago. Locking down the world's borders probable hasn't been done like this since WW2 (???).
Their was a post on the Portugal forum of a person who has a legal home, residence, VISA ect..., and even though she/he had a legal right to enter the country, most people agreed that he/she might not make it through due to the lockdown of the borders.
MM2H isn't a residence VISA (perhaps it's been marketed this way in some cases). The way I've explained it to other people... "Special Tourist VISA, Multiple Entry, no 30 - 90 day entry/departure requirements, valid for 10 years, and a couple other perks (FD interest, bank account, etc...). Unfortunately what it sounds like you are looking for is some type of Golden Visa/Passport,,,ie...invest a couple million $$$ dollars and we'll give you a Malaysian Passport / VISA with all the perks of a regular citizen. Not MM2H.
When I sat down with my MM2H agent, I asked a dozen plus direct questions about what I was going to get. For instance..."If I bump into a person, or car wreck, and that person call his buddy in the immigration department to complain that I'm a Bad foreigner...what is stopping immigration from cancelling my visa ?". The reply (from the office manager) was basically... "not much you can do... but because of the Fixed-Deposit... it would take a lot of pull to cancel the visa just because someone was pissed off". Perhaps not the best reassurance. It's because of an example like this that I don't plan on purchasing property, or high dollar $$$ investment.
This doesn't even take into the account that a new government decides to cancel the program, confiscate your bank accounts, property, or devalue the Ringiit etc... Has anyone heard of someones MM2H being cancelled for something they did...legit or not ???When ever I go home to the Motherland for a visit... I always feel a bit of relief because I'm now a Citizen with rights...not just a tourist.
Maybe it's best if you hold off on MM2H until the world becomes more stable. Perhaps in the coming months, MM2H will change for the better to entice more people to apply...ie...bring in more money to the MY economy ???

meched55

Nope not looking for a golden whatever. Just like you I won’t buy property just rent. And maybe just go for the Sarawak mm2h. Why tie up
money at such a low rate? Better off in mutual funds for the next 10
years. A good avg mutual fund on avg earns about 10% per year.
Like you say they decide to cancel your visa and keep your FD what can you do? Not much move out and find another place to go.

WiredTight

Confiscating your bank account, property, kick out the foreigners, etc, etc etc...would be the absolute worse case. I'd think if the government was to start doing something like that... Their would be other actions that would tip me off that it's time to go... Like a world pandemic, closing all borders, War in the South China Sea, or world economic meltdown.....Ok maybe I'm hitting a little to close to reality.

meched55

At the speed of their gov’t you could leave quickly. But I hear it takes quite a while to get your fixed deposit back along with cancelling your visa.

China built an island their in the sea complete with air strips and Hidden interior docks for their ships.
its only reason is military.


Anyhow it’s not a decision to take lightly.
Will see if they lift the quarantine by July.
if not won’t be going there this year.

OriginalSunshine

in 2017 we might have come close to a South China Sea war. How do I know? I was sitting on the plane on the runway for 6 hours as KL airport shut down. Pilot came on and announced military manoeuvres were happening SCS. We then flew from KL, and over Aceh through Indonesian airspace, and then over to Sarawak, Brunei then to Sabah. 2.5hr flight took almost 12 hours,and flight radar showed no planes over SCS for that period......

Also be aware that the scenario of a pissed off local getting your visa cancelled is real. I was a manager giving a staff a poor performance review and they went to the police to complain I was bullying them and asking for my employment visa revocation. Luckily I had the WhatsApp’s from them showing them thanking me for inviting them to dinner a year beforehand, and all sorts of friendly chat, an so shut down the complaint. But the person would have ruined our family by getting me and the kids and my spouse kicked out, just out of spite. No repercussions on them, of course, for false allegations.

ssoomro

We are but product of our own life experiences and proclivities... I can understand your lack of trust in the Malays system.. I on the other hand have been blessed with some super positive experiences with total strangers in strange lands landing a helping hands . sometime at some risk to themselves.. thus i am unable to see the world in any other way but as an optimist about human nature.. but i am never too rosy glassed to forget about the unpleasant, vindictive, nasty side of human nature not to mention lynch mob phenom that causes prefectly normal ppl to act totally outrageously

While on the topic.. i am HUGE fan a of a polish fim director Angnieszka Holland (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnieszka_Holland) .. her movies have always been about how human nature is composite bad and good ..perfectly capable of doing heroic deeds on one side .. and utter cruelty on other.. like any great art . her movies give us some insight into human nature ... if interested ..check out : Angry Harvest or Europa Europa ... :

IanBlakeley

Can't disagree, if I had been considering MM2H it would be crossed off now as a non starter

Don't think anyone has for 5 years for a long time now, 2 years last time for me, my SiL with 3 dependent children 3 years application for PR application made a year ago, no idea how long if ever that will take for her.

OriginalSunshine

I have a Residence Pass, that is different to a PR. Yes it’s for five + five years, but as per MM2H folks, if I or my dependents leave, we are not allowed back..

OriginalSunshine

now until June 09th to cover all the big balik kampung holidays. Might go to July though if the numbers don’t drop.

ssoomro

Elsewhere .. on the Sarawak MM2H facebook page.. I read the following: From Andy Davison (of The Expat magazine and his associated agency) regarding MM2H'ers currently locked out.

"URGENT I have received information from my government contact that they will let MM2H visa holders into the country in limited numbers. However, they need all their names as soon as possible. I have no more details at this point. If you have an MM2H visa (only MM2hers at this time) and are locked out, please email me your name; nationality to [email protected] or my Whatsapp at 60 123059492, as soon as possible (note - I need contact details - email or phone). I will forward them to the relevant person. "

May be helpful to someone here..