KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) visa programme now drives almost RM1bil annually in investments, underscoring its success.
IQI co-founder and group chief executive officer Kashif Ansari said the latest official data reveals that the June 2024 revisions to the MM2H visa programme have already generated RM455.8mil in new investments and 782 new visa approvals.
"At the current pace, that would work out to nearly RM1bil per annum,” he said in a statement on Tuesday (March 11).
Kashif said the RM455.8mil in investments these visa holders brought into Malaysia over the past six months are deployed in two ways.
"First, the money circulates through the economy through fixed deposits in local financial institutions, funding loans and development.
"MM2H also channels new investment into real estate purchases, usually for luxury homes for the visa recipient and their family,” he said.
Kashif added that these investments support the construction of new homes and drive millions of dollars of related purchases as they furnish and fit out their new homes.
He explained that every main applicant brings an average of 1.5 dependent family members, and in six months, 319 principals and 463 dependents received MM2H visas.
Chinese are the most numerous national group, but in 2024, they only accounted for less than one-third of visas, while the second largest group of applicants for the MM2H came from Australia.
"The other top nations for MM2H applicants, after China and Australia, are South Korea, Japan, Bangladesh, and the United Kingdom,” he said.
Last year, the government’s major reforms to MM2H introduced a three-tiered system that permitted visa holders to obtain a longer residency period through a larger financial commitment.
They also required that MM2H holders purchase and hold a home for 10 years.
The government also lowered the age requirement and removed the minimum income threshold to attract younger, working-age participants. - Bernama
