The founder of a group catering to the expatriate community in the country said the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) centre in the tourism ministry has been closed “until further notice”, amid talk that 90% of applications for the programme have been rejected.
MM2H is a programme that allows foreigners to stay in Malaysia for a period of 10 years.
Last year, it was reported that the Malaysia My Second Home programme brought in RM40.6 billion in total revenue from the time it was introduced in 2002 until 2018.
Andrew Davison, the CEO of The Expat Group (TEG), said the closure appeared to stem from a “major disagreement between the immigration and tourism ministries about the programme itself”.
Currently, Davison said, no one was allowed to submit any application relating to MM2H visas.
“As regards MM2H visa holders stuck overseas, the MM2H centre has advised me that they will try and approve all the active cases by today,” he said in an email.
Davison said he assumed that approval would now be needed from the Immigration Department director-general.
He went on to say that this put the future of the programme in doubt, claiming that “some people in government” were opposed to it.
Davison said that up until recently, applications for renewal, transfer and new applications were processed by staff in the tourism ministry and later passed to the Immigration Department for stamps to be placed on their passports.
“Now, it is not clear what will happen as there is no place to submit the applications.”
He also said the Immigration Department might want to take over the programme which, in his opinion, would be a bad move.
Davison said a staggering 90% of applications had been rejected, adding that this was unprecedented. “My agency had two rejections which we are confident would have been approved in the past,” he said.
News sources: Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Centre at Tourism Ministry Closed
Related News:
MM2H Matters To Be Handled by Immigration HQ Department From July 6 2020
Malaysian Government Has Temporarily Frozen the New Application of MM2H Until Dec 2020
中文:
90%馬来西亚第二家园申请被拒,林国狮促政府解释供改进
马来西亚政府重新審視第二家園計劃凍結申請至2020年底,现在有什么替代长期签证可以申请呢?
曾受香港人關注馬来西亚「第二家園計劃」暫停,九成申請被拒。现在有什么替代长期签证可以申请呢?
MM2H Alternate Program FAQ:
Since the MM2H program temporarily frozen the new application, what alternative long-term visa can be applied for?
There are 2 visas that you can be apply. You can browse through the following links for more details.
1) Employment Pass / Professional Visa (DP10) / Professional Visit Pass Visa (PVP)
2) Malaysia Residence Permit-Talent (RP-T)