Malaysia’s Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program approved 3,172 applications in 2025, generating an estimated RM3.875 billion (approximately US$983 million) in economic value, Tourism Minister Dato Sri Tiong King Sing announced on March 25. Those approvals translated into 9,038 participants, including dependents.
Fixed deposits placed in Malaysian banks accounted for the largest share at RM2.35 billion (US$596 million). Residential property purchases added RM1.51 billion (US$383 million), with RM13.86 million (US$3.5 million) collected through participation fees.
Silver Dominates the Tier Breakdown
Of the 3,172 approvals, 2,650 fell under the Silver category, representing 83.5% of the total. Another 322 applicants entered through the Special Economic and Financial Zone category, which offers relaxed conditions, including a reduced fixed deposit of RM500,000 and no mandatory offshore income.
Gold accounted for 154 approvals. Platinum, which requires that applicants deposit US$1 million and purchase property worth at least RM2 million, registered 46.
The lopsided distribution mirrors the pattern evident in earlier data. When 782 approvals were recorded in the program’s first six months following the June 2024 overhaul, Silver already led by a wide margin. As of June 2025, the program had attracted 1,294 approvals and RM840 million in inflows. The full-year figures represent a substantial acceleration in the second half of 2025.
A Rebound Three Years in the Making
Context sharpens the numbers. Between 2021 and 2023, a period during which the program labored under widely criticized eligibility requirements imposed in October 2021, MM2H approved only 1,900 applicants combined. A single year under the revamped terms has now exceeded that three-year total by 67%.
The 2021 overhaul had raised the minimum deposit to RM1 million for all applicants, added a RM40,000 monthly offshore income requirement, and increased the minimum age to 35. Applications fell 90%.
By December 2023, the Malaysian government reversed course, introducing the Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers with graduated deposit requirements and dropping the income proof obligation entirely. A further round of revisions in June 2024 adjusted property thresholds and scrapped a previously announced pathway to permanent residency.
Promotional Push Tied to Visit Malaysia 2026
Tiong attributed the growth to aggressive overseas marketing by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) in collaboration with Tourism Malaysia, particularly ahead of the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 campaign. Over the course of 2025, he personally led missions to 19 cities across 11 countries spanning ASEAN, the Middle East, Europe, China, and Australia.
Visitor arrivals from Australia rose 11% to nearly 497,000. Switzerland and Poland posted growth of 15.3% and 32.6%, respectively.
Due Diligence Reforms Running in Parallel
The growth has coincided with a tightening of the program’s security infrastructure. In November 2025, the government announced that 5,972 foreign nationals had received MM2H status as of August 31, alongside new vetting protocols. International background checks and intelligence screening are now mandatory. Integration between the Tourism Ministry’s database and the Immigration Department’s MyIMMS system provides centralized oversight.
Renewals trigger fresh assessments, and the government has reiterated that MM2H does not confer citizenship and does not serve as a pathway to permanent residency.
Sarawak and Sabah Operate Independently
Malaysia’s residency-by-investment market includes two additional programs. Sarawak, which has maintained immigration policy autonomy since joining the Federation of Malaya in 1963, operates the S-MM2H program with separate requirements, including a RM500,000 fixed deposit (raised from RM150,000 in January 2025) and a 30-day annual residency obligation. Sabah launched its own variant in July 2024 with a minimum high-rise property purchase of RM600,000.
The three programs differ materially on deposit thresholds, residency requirements, and agent licensing. The 3,172 figure disclosed by Tiong refers solely to the federal program.
