Notice: Some changes were made to the Sarawak Visa program since the below video was made. These changes are at this Sarawak Government link: https://www.mm2h.com/sarawak-mm2h-s-mm2h/
The below report and video have the old data from before the above changes were made.
In this report, I share my retirement visa trick for Malaysia. I know that some of you already know about this trick. I have been talking about it in my Youtube comments for several months. But it is time to formally share my retirement visa trick in Malaysia.
I am going to show you my favorite pictures of Malaysia while I describe my retirement visa trick. Then I will explain the top 6 reasons why you should retire cheap in Malaysia. But there is no need to take notes. I will give you a link to all of this in writing at the end.
I am going to give you the bad news before I tell you why my trick fixes everything. So don’t leave until you hear the good news. It will be fast, I promise.
The Bad News First
In October of 2021, Malaysia set new retirement visa rules that seemed ridiculous to the average retiree on a pension.
One. They increased the offshore income or pension requirement from $2500 USD per month to $10,000 USD per month,
Two. They increased the fixed amount you must deposit into a Malaysian bank from $37,500 USD to $250,000 USD.
Three. They increased the proof of liquid assets from $125,000 USD to $375,000 USD.
Four. The reduced renewable retirement visa from 10 years to 5 years, meaning you have to prove it all again every 5 years.
Said simply, Malaysia no longer seemed interested in competing globally with other SE Asian countries at attracting global retirees. As I said previously, the changes seemed ridiculous to me.
Surely, if the officials involved in setting these new requirements had surveyed its population of retired foreigners, it would most likely have shown that an overwhelming majority of them would be unable or unwilling to comply and would instead be leaving Malaysia.
Luckily, the Sarawak region of Malaysia in Borneo came to the rescue. Sarawak, Malaysia still has a retirement visa that is more welcoming to foreign retirees. Here is …
The Good News: My Retirement Visa Trick for Malaysia
The state of Sarawak, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo in eastern Malaysia, has retained its retirement visa rules which remain similar to those of the western Malaysian mainland before the October 2021 changes went into effect.
Additionally, according to reports, the government of Sarawak has affirmed its intention to continue to issue retirement visas under its existing rules despite the western Malaysia changes.
Additionally, since Sarawak only requires you to spend only 15 days of each year in Sarawak, you can live anywhere in the world the rest of the year, including western Malaysia. So, it appears that western Malaysia has shot itself in the foot and all foreign incomes will be placed in Sarawak’s banks instead of the banks of eastern Malaysia.
Consequently, Sarawak is rumored to have been flooded with applications for foreign retirees that are (1) renewing their Malaysian retirement visa, or (2) applying for new retirement visas in Sarawak so they do not have to comply with the new western Malaysia rules.
Sarawak Retirement Visa Requirements (S-MM2H) Requirements
Here is a summary of the main requirements for the Malaysian Sarawak retirement visa.
Age: Applicants must be 50 years old but there is no age requirement for their spouse if they have one. Ages 30 to 50 are also eligible under certain conditions if they are seeking an education for their children under 18 or are seeking medical treatment.
Financial: You must satisfy either:
Make a fixed deposit in a Sarawak bank of around $37,500 USD for a single person or $75,000 for a couple; or
Provide proof of government pension of $1750 USD per month for a single or $2500 USD for a couple. For ages 30 to 50, prove an offshore monthly income of $1750 USD per month for a single or $2500 USD for a couple.
Minimum Stay: Applicant must stay 15 or more days per year in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Main Ideas: If my reading and these sources are accurate, and the laws remain the same for the foreseeable future, here are the main ideas that seem to come out of these below sources.
One. A single person can retire anywhere in the country of Malaysia so long as you have a pension of $1750 USD per month or have $37,500 USD to put in a Sarawak bank. A couple can retire anywhere in Malaysia so long as they have a pension of $2500 USD per month or have $75,000 USD to put in a Sarawak bank. If you do that and comply with the paperwork requirements of Sarawak, you will have a 5-year multi-entry visa in Malaysia.
Two. If the law does not change in the meantime you will likely be able to renew your multi-entry visa into Malaysia for additional 5-year extensions, so long as you can show the same financial requirements and you can show that you spent at least 15 days per year in Sarawak, Malaysia.
You might be wondering why I know this? I left the United States in 2007. I have lived in or visited 67 countries since leaving the USA 15 years ago. Make sure to grab a free copy of my eBook, “How I Fired My Boss and Traveled the World for 15+ Years” if you would like to learn how to retire cheap in paradise or how my hobby pays for all of this travel.
Top 6 Reasons to Retire in Malaysia
Now that you know how easy it is to get a retirement visa in Malaysia, let me tell you why Malaysia is always in my top 5 countries to retire early for cheap in the world. But after I give you the top 5 reasons Malaysia is one of the best, I will explain two things that will annoy you about living in Malaysia.
6. Infrastructure: Wandering around cities like Kuala Lumpur, you will be amazed at the high level of infrastructure in Malaysia as compared to almost all of SE Asia. The roads, the airports, street lights, public transportation, hospitals, and shopping malls. and sidewalks and greenery along roads and parks, are all in very good condition as compared to much of SE Asia. Really only Singapore has better Infrastructure.
5. Healthcare: In my opinion, if I need to go to the hospital for a serious medical condition while I am in SE Asia, I want to be in either Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. I am sure that Singapore would be just as good but I suspect the additional costs would greatly exceed any additional medical benefits. But luckily, I have never needed any serious medical care anywhere in the world.
4. Travel Base/Hub: Malaysia is one of the best countries in the world to have as your base if you are planning on seeing the world. The flights leaving Malaysia are frequent and seem to be reasonably priced as compared to other great travel hubs around the world.
3. Food: All of the foods in the world are in Malaysia, especially in Kuala Lumpur (KL). I am a big fan of Asian food and KL ranks up there with Bangkok and Hong Kong in terms of having a great selection of excellent foods from around Asia. KL also has a fairly good assortment of western foods. One of the great past-times in Malaysia is finding your favorite Mama’s restaurant. Mama’s are small family-owned restaurants where you may experience the best food of your life for just $2 to $4 USD.
2. Safety: In my opinion, after living all over the world for the last 15 years, Malaysia is one of the safest countries in the world to call home. I have walked all over cities large and small in Malaysia, day and night, and never had even a hint of fear.
1. Cost of Living: Malaysia has an amazingly low cost of living. I have created retire cheap reports for Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, and Georgetown Penang. I will be publishing a retire cheap report on Langkawi in the next few weeks. Not only is Malaysia one of the best retire cheap in paradise countries for all of these stated reasons, but it also affords a higher overall quality of life for the same money as other countries in the same cheap price range.
Okay, I promised to conclude with two things that will annoy you about Malaysia. But first, each of my videos has an associated webpage that includes all of the notes, links, and maps that I promised in that video. You can access that webpage via the top link in the notes below this video.
On that webpage, I have also embedded a video of my top 15 places in the entire world to retire cheap overseas in 2022, so you can see what other countries are best to retire cheap.
Two Things That Will Annoy You About Malaysia
1. High Alcohol Taxes: Alcohol costs more in Malaysia than in other parts of SE Asia. That is because it is heavily taxed by the government. All of the best booze in the world is in Malaysia, you just have to pay more.
2. Traffic: The medium-sized to large cities in Malaysia have a traffic problem during rush hour. Since you will be retiring there, I suggest you arrange your day so that you are not in traffic during rush hour.
Okay, thanks for considering My retirement visa trick for Malaysia.
This is Dan of Vagabond Awake, the Youtube Channel for VagabondBuddha.com. The world is your home, what time will you be home for dinner?