Malaysia sees spike in Chinese interest in long-term visas after requirements simplified

Agents say they have seen a surge in inquiries from wealthy young Chinese since the requirements for the MM2H scheme were eased

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Tourists walk past a mural featuring the Malaysian national flag in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:18pm, 10 Sep 2024Updated: 6:27pm, 10 Sep 2024

New simplified requirements for Malaysia’s long-term visa scheme have led to a surge of interest from China’s wealthy youth, with industry experts predicting even greater demand once the government resolves licensing issues.

There has been a deluge of inquiries from prospective Chinese participants keen on moving to Malaysia, said Eugene Lim of K-Konsult Taxation, which consults on the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) visa scheme. The programme now offers foreigners a five-year visa for a minimum buy-in of around US$300,000.

“Based on our own data that we collected, we have had over 1,000 inquiries just through TikTok and Douyin,” Lim said, referring to two hugely popular micro-video social media platforms owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance.

“A lot of younger people are planning to move and we are already handling quite a few requests for information. But applications are not yet open since licensing is not yet sorted out.”

Since April, MM2H agents have complained about a moratorium on the renewal of their operating licences as the government revamps the MM2H programme to narrow down the requirements, causing a delay in delivery to existing clients requiring visa renewals or new applications to the flagship scheme.

Shoppers in Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Bloomberg

The government finally announced a simplified MM2H system in June that places two key requirements for foreign nationals – fixed deposits and residential property purchases – under three different tiers: platinum, gold and silver.