IanBlakeley

British passport is an online renewal now, you fill in online, send the forms by courier and get a new passport back in about 3 weeks.

RedApe

Actually there was an eVisa facility for Chinese , Indian and some other nationalities. It was contracted out to a company called Ultra Kirana SHD to operate. Everything fell apart when a local newspaper submitted an application with an image of a monkey, and another with the face and name of a known criminal. Both were accepted in the system and granted visas.
https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/leade...s-are-not-sale

This today...so it's a current event. Turns out Ass't Minister Zahid, head of UMNO, may have been taking a kickback on every visa issued. (RM12.91 million)

https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/zahi...l?guccounter=1

StillSearching

- MM2H office in Sabah advises to apply with a newly renewed passport which expires in 10 years in order to stamp for 10 years.
It is inconvenient for us is that our passports are issued only for 5 years.


- You figured this out! Thank you for making it clear.
We've got 4-year stamp because they don't have "part years"! So inconvenient for us...


- Our passports expire 9 months after mm2h stamp expires. We need to apply for a new passport perhaps 3 months before mm2h visa expiration. Therefore, we need to apply for a new passport a year before our passport expire, as you recommend. We'll do this, thank you.

Thank you for the links regarding issuing visas. It looks like more and more corruption cases are being exposed recently. Good, it shows that they are fighting corruption.

RedApe

As far as I know there is always going to be mismatch between the passport and the MM2H pass...simply because you will never have perfect congruence with the 10 (or five) year cycle of the Passport and the fact that the 6 month rule results in the pass/visa expiring six months before the passport - requiring reapplication for a new visa/pass. So really the visa is for four, or nine years. Plus you lose a year on your passport (technically...since many places won't allow you in if you have 6 months or less anyways).

What the home country should do is issue an 11-or-6 year passport ;-)

obaydullah

According to a newspaper report published a few days ago, the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry secretary-general, Datuk Isham Ishak, said that the ministry plans to introduce an automated system to facilitate and speed up applications for the MM2H programme. He described it as one of the most advanced of its kind in the world.

Can you guess what type of "automated system" it may look like?

SushiFan

In 2018 a new online system was introduced. My guess is that he was referring to this: MM2H Check N' Track

Hovite

Are applications now open? My son who was provisionally approved before COVID the agent in Sabah says applications are still not open. Is he right or are we being fobbed off?

SushiFan

Are you referring to the Sabah-MM2H or the Federal MM2H? The government in Putrajaya is boasting that they are ready to receive new applications.
My understanding is that the Federal MM2H provisional approval has an expiry date. I don't think that a provisional approval from several years ago is still valid.

Hovite

MM2H Sabah. Provisional approval was granted in January 2020 before the pandemic hit. The agent says it is still valid but MM2H Sabah is not open yet. Just checking if anyone else has any recent experience of MM2H Sabah.

RedApe

Because the Sabah MM2H was linked with the MM2H program. When the MM2H program was changed the conditions would have been changed in Sabah as well. So the agents and property people somewhat panicked. There was the beginning of talk to make Sabah truly independent using their MA63 rights. So there has been a period where they were not accepting new applications. Apparently Sabah will come out with their new program soon, probably more or less like Sarawaks.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malay...tional/2058347

Whether they'll let your son's application just get cleared under the original terms, or will be resubmitted under the new rules (which might be more favourable) I don't know. He should reconnect with his agent.

Epicurious

Make Malaysia more attractive for long-stay foreigners, govt told