Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, the Home Minister, has announced the beginning of the “Premium Visa Programme” on September 1, 2022. The scheme, also known as the “Residency Through Investment Programme,” intends to recruit wealthy investors from all nations except Israel, which has no diplomatic connections with Malaysia, in order to increase foreign investment in Malaysia. The PVIP is planned to be available for application on October 1, 2021. However, whether or not this will happen remains to be seen.
Similarly to Malaysia My Second Home (“MM2H”), the number of candidates is limited to 1% of Malaysians, or roughly 300,000 applicants. Unlike the MM2H programme, the PVIP provides benefits such as the right to study, work, and invest in Malaysia on a long-term basis, subject to the fulfilment of certain requirements.
The differences and similarities of the two programmes are listed below in comparison to the MM2H programme.
| Criteria | Premium Visa Programme (PVIP””) | Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H””) |
| Minimum age of the applicant | Applicable to all age groups of applicants | 35 |
| Fees for processing | RM200,000 for the principal applicant and RM100,000 for dependents | RM5,000 for the principal applicant and RM2,500 for each dependant |
| Permission to work, study, and invest | Applicable | This is not relevant. |
| Minimum amount of liquid assets | This is not relevant. | RM1.5m |
| Bank deposit | 1 million ringgit in a Malaysian bank (only permitted for withdrawal of half the deposit after a year for the purposes of purchasing real estate, educational or medical expenses) | 1 million ringgit in a Malaysian bank (only permitted for withdrawal of half the deposit after a year for the purposes of purchasing real estate, educational or medical expenses) |
| Monthly foreign earnings | RM40,000 or more | RM40,000 or more |
For more information about Malaysia PVIP, please visit https://mypvip.com/
