4 Digital Nomad Visa Options In Malaysia (Including De Rantau)

While De Rantau is a fine option, its status as Malaysia’s go-to digital nomad visa mainly comes from being the only visa actively promoted as a digital nomad visa.

To be fair, it definitely has a place currently being the only visa catering to remote working employees.

However, digital nomads are not a homogenous group, and for remote entrepreneurs, Malaysia has other programmes that could be an even better fit.

Even if not explicitly marketed as such, they are in substance as much of a digital nomad visa as De Rantau, and to give you a full picture, our directory compiles the different options accompanied by:

• a brief description of requirements and tradeoffs
• our recommendation on who it’s for, and
• links to full guides so you can read more on ones that fit your needs

And yes, as it’s a valid option, we’re including De Rantau 🙂

Let’s begin.

De Rantau Nomad Pass

This programme grants a special Professional Visit Pass that allows the holder to stay and work remotely in Malaysia with their family members for 3–12 months with a possible renewal up to another 12 months.

It broadly separates applicants into remote workers and freelancers with different requirements for each.

For remote workers

This is for company employees who have permission to work remotely while residing in Malaysia.

It requires a valid employment contract with a minimum period of three months and meeting annual income requirements depending on sector.

For freelancers

This is for self-employed individuals who work on a project basis for clients and can do so remotely.

It requires valid client contracts that cumulatively add up to at least three months of employment and once more, meeting annual income requirements depending on sector.

Our thoughts

As we said, for remote working employees, it’s an easy decision since De Rantau is your only choice.

As freelancers straddle the line between employee and external service provider (aka an entrepreneur), De Rantau Pass makes sense if:

• your contract periods are on the shorter side
• you are new to freelancing and cannot guarantee more contracts will come your way, or
• you don’t want to stay in Malaysia that long!

Here’s our De Rantau application guide for those interested.

Malaysia Tech Entrepreneur Programme

The Malaysia Tech Entrepreneur Programme (MTEP) was launched to attract foreign tech companies of all sizes from startups to established businesses from a list of approved sectors.

MTEP passes are separated into three tiers by growth stage, and the entry and mid-level ones have ‘digtial nomad’ written all over them.

New entrepreneurs

This is MTEP’s entry tier with no need to have an existing business, just a pitch deck of the business idea, market opportunity, and funding plans.

The two main tradeoffs:

• dependents not allowed
• must operate from a list of approved co-working spaces (minor issue as Kuala Lumpur’s co-working centres are great and you’d likely do this anyway)

If approved, applicants are granted a one-year Professional Visit Pass that can be extended for another twelve months contingent on hitting growth targets.

Experienced entrepreneurs

This is MTEP’s middle tier for tech founders with over two years of proven business success.

You still need a pitch deck to apply, but the limitations of the entry tier are gone as holders can:

• bring dependents
• operate from anywhere in West Malaysia (we all know you’re going to stay at the co-working space)

Best of all, successful applicants are granted a five-year Resident Pass that can be extended for another five years if the business continues to do well.

Our thoughts

Compared to De Rantau’s freelancer tier, MTEP caters to a narrower set of self-employed digital nomads, namely those who are serious about building a tech business.

In fact, where De Rantau requires proof of annual income, MTEP’s entry level pass has none, making it ideal for younger, hungrier entrepreneurs who are currently more about ‘hustling’ instead of ‘enjoying life’.

Here’s our MTEP application guide for those interested.

Malaysia Digital (MD) Status

MD Status is not a visa granted to an individual digital nomad, but a status granted to companies in Malaysia that plan to or already carry out one or more ‘Malaysia Digital Activity.’

An MD Status company can hire expats (aka digital nomads) to be their director with a conventional Category 1 Employment Pass, but with significantly more relaxed requirements.

This is the closest thing on our list to a true long-term visa, granting up to five years, allows dependents, and is infinitely renewable as long as you’re employed (and it’s your company, so just don’t fire yourself).

Fully foreign-owned companies are eligible, so you just need to:

• make sure your business plan involves an MD-approved activity
• incorporate a private limited company from overseas
• apply for MD Status
• apply for an Employment Pass through your MD Status company

It sounds hard, but no more so than the other visas, so see our MD Status guide if interested.

Our thoughts

On top of expat hiring, MD Status entitles a company to exclusive tax incentives that promote growth, so we suggest it for digital nomads past the point of idea validation and testing and ready to build and scale a tech business.

MIDA Investor Visa

If your kind of digital nomad lifestyle involves frequently flying in and out of Malaysia over a long period, a MIDA Investor Visa might be ideal since it’s effectively a multiple entry visa (MEV) on steroids.

Where a usual MEV lasts three months and requires exiting and re-entering for renewal, the Investor Pass grants up to 12 months of uninterrupted access into Malaysia,

MIDA recognises three tiers of investors:

• new investors
• investors in the pipeline, and
• existing investors

The one that applies to digital nomads is the ‘new investor’ tier, which requires no existing businesses or projects in Malaysia.

However, it does require a proof you have an existing company, so you’ll need to incorporate one first.

Full details are in our guide to MIDA Investor Pass applications.

Our thoughts

A MIDA Investor Pass is a viable option if you will be based in Malaysia but frequently fly to other countries as part of your remote working operation.

Let MISHU handle your digital nomad visa application

Directly and through our partners, MISHU has been helping remotely working employees and business owners secure digital nomad visas for their stay in Malaysia for many years, and we would be delighted to hear how we can help you.