The Expat’s Guide To Malaysian Golden Visas (2026)
Golden visas grant long-term residency in exchange for significant individual FDI, and as the audience for such visas are not a homogenous group, it’s common for a country to offer several options.
Malaysia is no different, and as of September 2026, offers three such visas:
- Premium Visa Programme (PVIP)
- Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H)
- Sarawak-Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H)
Each comes with their own unique advantages and tradeoffs, and below we compare them before sharing our thoughts on the type of expatriate we believe each was designed for.
NOTE: Malaysia doesn’t only grant visas to millionaires – see our list of 16 long-term visas for a fuller picture of available options!
Let’s begin.
Premium Visa Programme (PVIP)
Validity: 20 years (renewable)
Defining requirement: RM200,000 participation fee & RM40,000 monthly foreign income
PVIP is a single-tier golden visa aimed at investors who aren’t necessarily looking to live in Malaysia, but plan to spend long stretches here while doing business in the region.
Its key requirements are:
- RM1 million fixed deposit in a Malaysian bank, 50% withdrawable after one year
- RM40,000 per month in proven foreign income, or RM480,000 a year
- RM200,000 participation fee / principal
- RM100,000 participation fee / dependent
Principal holders can freely work and do business in Malaysia, and unlike the other two visas on this list, PVIP has no property purchase or minimum stay requirement.
Combined with the participation fees per dependent, PVIP is simultaneously the least family oriented and most business-centric golden visa option.
The ideal expat for this visa
An investor or entrepreneur still actively earning, with no large family to bring along. Someone who travels too much for a minimum stay to work, and would rather pay a fee than have a house they are not allowed to sell (see next visa).
Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H)
Validity: 5 – 20 years depending on tier
Defining requirement: Fixed deposit & property purchase that cannot be sold without replacement
MM2H is a four-tiered golden visa for foreigners who want to make West Malaysia a genuine second home, especially if they have a family. The tiers are separated by privileges, and naturally the better tiers have higher financial commitments!
| Tier | Fixed Deposit | Property | Participation Fee | Validity |
| Silver | USD150,000 | RM600,000 | RM1,000 | 5 years |
| Gold | USD500,000 | RM1 million | RM3,000 | 15 years |
| Platinum | USD1 million | RM2 million | RM200,000 | 20 years |
| SEZ | USD65,000 (USD32,000 if 50 and above) | State-set price, direct from developer | RM1,000 | 10 years |
Here are some key notes:
- there is no minimum income requirement
- 50% of the FD can be used for home purchase, education, medical treatment or travel
- official records say the MM2H property purchased cannot be sold for at least 10 years, but in truth, an MM2H visa will always require a property
- only Platinum MM2H holders are allowed to work or do business locally, thus the significantly higher participation fee on par with PVIP
- there is a minimum 90 day annual stay period for holders under 50 years
- SEZ is mostly a way to sell off property in the otherwise not very popular Forest City
With no income requirement and no additional participation fee for dependents, MM2H is the most family oriented of the three golden visas and the only one that scales by budget.
Note that while there are no additional participation fees for dependents, they (and the principal) do have to pay a visa processing fee, so see our MM2H fee breakdown for full clarity on financial commitments.
The ideal expat for this visa
In every successful case we have facilitated, it has been a retiree with a family whose money sits in savings or who receives a stable pension / dividend and who already had a suitable home or was already planning to buy a residential property in Malaysia to live in.
Sarawak-Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H)
Validity: 10 years (renewable)
Defining requirement: It’s like MM2H, but you must live in Sarawak
Sarawak is Malaysia’s biggest state and runs its own single-tier golden visa programme that requires a mandatory RM500,000 fixed deposit AND one of the three income / savings options on top of it:
- RM10,000 monthly pension / RM15,000 with dependents, or
- RM10,000 monthly offshore income / RM15,000 with dependents, or
- RM100,000 in savings / RM200,000 with dependents
Like MM2H, you can withdraw up to 50% of the fixed deposit after one year for a house, car, medical expenses or children’s education in Sarawak.
Unlike MM2H property purchase is optional but there is a minimum purchase price of RM500,000 – RM600,000 depending on location.
Finally, the visa grants limited allowances to work and do business locally.
On paper, this can make S-MM2H look like a diluted MM2H with sprinkles of PVIP, but where the latter two golden visas allow holders to live anywhere in West Malaysia, S-MM2H holders must live in Sarawak, which is located in East Malaysia – and the two are separated by a fairly big puddle of water known as the South China Sea 🙂
You can still visit West Malaysia in 30 day stretches, but if you commit to S-MM2H, Sarawak will be your home, so living there must appeal to you.
The ideal expat for this visa
Honestly, anyone who fits the ideal description for an MM2H applicant but prefers the vibe and atmosphere of East Malaysia over the western states. We explain the geography and socioeconomics in our MM2H vs S-MM2H comparison.
Side-by-side comparison
The table below condenses everything we mentioned above into one side by side look, so pardon the size – we tried to make it as small as we could!
| Feature | PVIP | MM2H | S-MM2H |
| Tiers | One | Four (Silver, Gold, Platinum, SEZ) | One |
| Validity | 20 years | 5 to 20 years by tier | 10 years |
| Endorsement blocks | Every 5 years | Every 5 years | Every 5 years |
| Minimum age | None | 25, or 21 for SEZ | 30 |
| Fixed deposit | RM1 million | USD65,000 to USD1 million by tier | RM500,000 |
| Income requirement | RM40,000 / month | None |
|
| Participation fee |
|
| RM5,000 processing fee |
| Property purchase | Not required | Mandatory, RM600,000 to RM2 million by tier | Optional, RM500,000 to RM600,000 if buying |
| Where you can live | Anywhere in Malaysia | Anywhere in West Malaysia, 30-day visits east | Sarawak only, 30-day visits elsewhere |
| Minimum stay | None | 90 days per year, principals 50+ exempt | 30 days per year |
| Work rights | Full | Platinum only | Limited in select sectors |
| Parents and in-laws as dependents | Allowed | Allowed | In-laws not allowed |
| Transferable on death | No | Yes, to a registered dependent | No |
| Agent required | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Based on this, let’s look at the most logical choice of golden visa for common use cases.
Best golden visa for solo / couple retirement
For this, we’d recommend MM2H Silver as retirees usually have savings rather than a salary, and Silver is the only option here that asks for no proof of income at all. The main trade-off, as with all MM2H visas, is the property purchase and subsequent lock in.
For more information, see our guide to MM2H Silver Passes.
Best golden visa for retiring with a family
MM2H again, only this time it’s the highest tier you can afford, as that gives you the longest validity period while the programme still charges no additional fee for dependents compared to PVIP which charges RM100,000 per head.
Meanwhile, S-MM2H doesn’t allow in-laws as dependents and limits you to Sarawak while the best education institutions in Malaysia are unquestionably in West Malaysia.
Best golden visa for work and business
For this one, we’re split evenly across two options depending on your finances and goals:
- PVIP if you’re still actively earning and don’t want to buy a home, or
- MM2H Platinum if you’re looking to settle down while growing your business
Both grant full working rights, but MM2H Platinum front-loads financial obligations with a USD1 million deposit and a RM2 million property purchase, while PVIP asks for less upfront but wants RM40,000 a month in foreign income for as long as you hold the pass.
For a more in-depth discussion, see our MM2H VS PVIP comparison.
Most budget-friendly golden visa
On paper, MM2H SEZ offers the most value for money with the lowest fixed deposit of all the golden visas. Like other MM2H tiers, it does come with property purchase requirements, and the catch is that you have to buy in a designated SEZ development, which currently means Forest City in Johor, so the low entry point comes with where you live already fixed.
Of course, all this is just our opinion, and as none of the team members at MISHU are high-net-worth anything, use your own judgment.
We are, however, a registered MM2H agent that has facilitated some successful applications, so we’d like to think our opinions are somewhat useful!
That’s it from us, and we wish you all the best with your golden visa application 🙂
Let MISHU secure your Malaysian golden visa
Our MM2H packages start from RM40,000 and are inclusive of mandatory medical health screening, insurance coverage, security bond, and the initial five-year visa. A typical application takes eight months from end-to-end, and we support you the whole way.