Would this be considered a new sort of sub-rule??

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Hi Scott, I'm not sure where to post this. Please move it if it's in the wrong place

 B U S I N E S S     
   
   Saturday October 6, 2007
MYT 12:53:56 PM

Fast track for 'My 2nd Home' apps

By CHOI TUCK WO

LONDON: Applications for the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme will be fast-tracked for those who had bought properties worth RM1 million and above in Malaysia.

Tourism Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Victor Wee said they must show proof such as the sale & purchase agreement and other documents when submitting their applications.

He said although purchase of property was not a prerequisite for the programme, it showed the applicants' financial capabilities.

If the person has already bought such a property in Malaysia, he would pass the test, he told Malaysian journalists after speaking at the Malaysia My Second Home & Medical Tourism seminar on Friday.

Applications are usually processed within four weeks based on four main criteriafinancial, medical, health and security background checks.

Dr Wee also urged health insurance companies to extend coverage to those above 65 years to give the programme a boost.

Britons retire at 65 and that's when they really want to go to Malaysia under the MM2H scheme, he said.

He said the insurance industry should work out a special package for those 65 years and above or even whole life coverage.

Earlier, Dr Wee said a total of 1,183 applications were approved during the first nine months of this year.

The top 10 countries were Britain (166), followed by Japan (139), Bangladesh (122), South Korea (121), China (58), Singapore (40), Sri Lanka and the United States (38 each) and India and Iran (both 33).

He said most of them chose to live in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Malacca, Langkawi and Johor with Sabah gaining popularity recently.

Dr Wee added Malaysia had been ranked seventh in the Fifth Annual Global Retirement Index survey of 29 countries by International Living magazines website, a global lifestyle, travel and investment site.

Malaysian High Commissioner to Britain Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohamed noted that just over 1,000 British nationals had joined the MM2H programme.

This was a sharp contrast to the estimated 700,000 Britons, mostly retirees, living in Spain or the relatively high number enjoying a similar programme in Thailand, he said.

Given the long historical association as well as shared traditions and values, Malaysia should be the destination of choice, he added.

Hmm, will we see numbers soaring

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Sounds to good to be real....

All owners of 1M property will pass the test... So no need for income proof, health check, security check, opening FD etc?? 

But what is actually the biggest statement is:

Applications are usually processed within four weeks based on four main criteriafinancial, medical, health and security background checks.

I would appreciate to be a usual one... Will see how long it finally will take...

Can we call him, if our application will take longer!

Ciao
Udo

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hi,

I caught this as part of NTV7 English news. It didn't have the details, so many thanks for postings. It seems to be following on from the changes (18/08/07) announced at the previous MoTour/Agents meeting: Some New Changes to the Programme

We had another quarterly meeting for MM2H agencies this afternoon, and please find below the latest update. If you are a property investor who owns a property in Malaysia that is more than RM 1 Million in market value, you will only need to place RM 60,000 as Fixed Deposit for MM2H program.

At least it means that previously bought property, even if it has to be a minimum RM1 million, can be counted towards "sufficient funds." At least that's how I would read the statement.

The last time I was in Immigration (some years ago) there was a guy asking if he could count the cost of the property he had just purchased in Malaysia towards the "sufficient funds" side. The answer was a firm NO.

As of now, the FAQ on the MoTour site still says:

Q Can the purchase of a house in Malaysia which is valued more than RM250,000.00 be considered as having fulfilled the financial criteria for this programme?
A No. Participants are required to fulfill the fixed deposit requirement or monthly off-shore income for age 50 years and above as the purchase of a house is not compulsory for participants under this programme.

I wonder if this FAQ will be changed?

There are many reasons why Brits (and others) retire to Spain and Portugal. One of them is that it's less than 3 hours budget flight back to the UK.

Still, I think that this is all good news.

regards, Scott

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The same article appears in today's Star Sunday 7th Oct 2007.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/10/7/nation/19102853&sec=nation

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hi,

Thanks for the post BB.

Part of the article says, "... this was a sharp contrast to the estimated 700,000 Britons, mostly retirees, living in Spain."

Earlier today I was listening to Brain of Britain on the BBC.

One question was, "to which country do the states of Sarawak and Sabah in north Borneo belong?"

The first brain answered, "Brunei." A second brain got it right, after a long pause. 

regards, Scott