REFERRING to a letter in The Star dated April 6 titled “MM2H an excellent government initiative” (online at bit.ly/star_home), the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (Motac) would like to emphasise that the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme is systematically progressing well since its implementation in 2002.
The ministry would also like to state that the MM2H programme is an on-going programme and is still open for new applications.
The Cabinet came to a consensus on Sept 5, 2018, that new applications for the MM2H programme will only be approved by the Home Affairs Minister.
In light of that, the existing committee that administered all the applications was retained and renamed the MM2H Review Committee. The responsibility of this committee is only to review and recommend the applications to the Home Affairs Minister. The Home Affairs Minister is the sole person who has the power and full authority to approve any MM2H applications.
In addition, the MM2H Centre stationed in Motac Putrajaya will act as a secretariat to the MM2H Review Committee.
On March 4, Motac took an immediate step to expedite the processing of the outstanding 2018 applications for the MM2H programme. The ministry has also established and embarked on a special task force to collaborate with the Home Affairs Ministry and its agencies, the Immigration Department and the Royal Malaysia Police, in an effort to process all MM2H outstanding applications submitted and received in 2018 as well as in 2019. This exercise is expected to be completed before the end of June 2019.
In the meantime, Motac, together with the relevant agencies, has taken several steps to improve procedures and ensure that all new applications will be approved within 120 working days.
The ministry is also in the midst of planning a comprehensive study to review the ecosystem of the MM2H programme, including the processing mechanism, to make it more viable and, at the same time, ensure it remains competitive in the immigration industry.
MINISTRY OF TOURISM, ARTS AND CULTURE MALAYSIA
