Visa information

Malaysia offers three named routes in the 2026 guide: the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) long-stay visa in tiers, the DE Rantau nomad pass, and the Employment Pass for skilled hires. The guide scores Malaysia 80/100 for visa and bureaucracy — its highest visa score in this batch — and the one income figure it prints is the nomad pass's $24,000 a year.

The routes the guide names

Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) — a long-stay visa in tiers; the schemes list repeats it as “Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) tiers.” The guide gives no tier names, deposit or income amounts for MM2H.

DE Rantau nomad pass — for remote workers; the remote-work section gives its test: 1 year renewable on $24k/yr income.

Employment Pass — for skilled hires, with no salary threshold printed in either source.

The income figures — what the sources actually say

The guide prints exactly one route income figure: the DE Rantau Nomad Pass at $24k/yr, 1 year renewable. For MM2H it says only “in tiers” — no tier names, fixed-deposit amounts or monthly income figures appear in the guide or in app.js, and there is no Malaysia entry in the site's country FAQ to supply them. This page therefore publishes no MM2H amounts rather than filling them from general knowledge.

At the guide's exchange rate of $1 ≈ RM4.05, ringgit figures convert at roughly that rate for planning.

What the paperwork costs — plan budgets, not government fees

The guide does not list individual government visa fees — and in Malaysia's case that matters, because MM2H is a paid programme whose official fees this guide simply does not print. Its bundled “Visa, permits & translations” plan lines are the only sourced cost figures:

• $700 — Affordable plan (you file yourself)
• $1,000 — Mid-range and Retirement plans
• $2,350 — Luxury plan (the plan notes the luxury tier adds an immigration lawyer)

The Retirement plan carries one further, separate line: $1,800 for “Retirement visa, lawyer & pension certification.” Do not read the plan lines as MM2H programme fees.

Application steps and timelines, by tier

The guide builds the application into each plan's timeline rather than printing a single step list. The common sequence is:

• Choose the route first and print its requirements; the Affordable checklist starts with “Visa route chosen and requirements printed.”
• Gather and legalise documents — apostilles and translations are named in every tier; the Retirement paperwork stage adds pension or income letters certified and apostilled, a police certificate, a medical, and birth and marriage certificates translated.
• Check your passport — the Affordable checklist requires a passport valid 18+ months.
• Arrange health insurance before you file.
• File — yourself on the Affordable tier, or with a lawyer or agent on the other tiers.

Paperwork-stage durations: ~10 weeks filing yourself (Affordable), ~8 weeks with a lawyer or agent (Mid-range), ~6 weeks with a lawyer filing everything (Luxury), and ~14 weeks for the Retirement paperwork stage. After the move, the settle stage includes registering your address and opening a bank account.

Renewals and long-term status — the honest limit of the guide

The DE Rantau pass is stated as 1 year renewable. For MM2H the guide says only long-stay, in tiers: no duration per tier, renewal interval, permanent-residency pathway or absence limit appears in either source, so this page does not state them.

Frequently asked questions