Not impressed with application procedure so far

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We applied in mid-October directly and in person. Our documents etc were checked and everything was pronounced to be ok. We were told 6 weeks. We received no letter confirming our application after 30 days (which we were told should happen). We received no word at all and made regular calls to the My2Home centre. They told us our application was approved and was just waiting for government signatures. Heard nothing from them. Called and wrote. Got a reply from the Office late Dec that the application was with ministries, waiting to be signed. Then finally a couple of days ago, we received another email saying that there was something wrong with our documents, and we were to send more documents.

We have been waiting for a while, right here in KL. Could not get the kids into international schools because they did not have  valid visas. Could not buy a house or car.   We'll continue to be patient. Sigh...

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We have been waiting for a while, right here in KL. Could not get the kids into international schools because they did not have  valid visas. Could not buy a house or car.   We'll continue to be patient. Sigh...

Sorry to hear about your delay in getting approval 

BTW, you don't need the MM2H visa to enrol your kids in Intl Sch, they can get student visas and as guardians you get the visas to stay, too. This I know from a couple of friends who are here for their kids schooling in Intl sch (Penang).
Also you don't need MM2H visa in order to buy a property or a car unless you are applying for the tax free one.

Regards,
BB

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Hi Sazz,

Did you get a reference number? You should have bee able to check the status of the application on the website. We also got a rejection of the first application but were always aware it could take up to 6 months. We tracked the application on the website and saw that it had been rejected before anyone informed us.

Our agent at the time told us that it was quite normal for a percentage of applications to be rejected and that all would be OK. Two weeks later it was successful.

I understand your difficulties but you will encounter more delays and frustrations whilst living in Malaysia. All part of the charm of living here

Bob

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hi, sazz,

Sorry to hear about the delays. From what has been posted the past couple of years most applications go through smoothly. Of course that's no joy if your application is the one with the hiccup.

It doesn't reflect much efficiency with the My2Home Centre saying that only a signature was needed when there's obviously something more. Maybe the officer doing the final signing decided to query something.

Hang in there. Both MoTour and Immigration want successful applicants so it's in their interest to get it sort asap. As you're in KL, and if you haven't already done this, it's probably worthwhile to go and visit the My2Home Centre and see what can be resolved.

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Hi


Thanks for all the replies and encouragement. BB, I didn't know about the student visa and will definitely check into it. Don't want to lose the application fee we had to pay for the international school. We were looking forward to house hunting and getting a small loan, given the lowish interest rates here, and a tax free car. Hiring a small Toyota is RM$3000 per month.

Scott, we have been checking the internet and even now, it says "in the process". We have called them every two weeks and it was always 'everything is ok. waiting on the signing.' Then suddenly, it's 'we need something more from you.' That isn't a problem. We can get the document (bank statement) we need. It's just nice to have known that earlier. We were back home for Christmas and could have arranged that much easier from there than here.

I know we have to be patient and deal with such things over here so we'll keep going.   We like it here despite this.

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Scott, just to clarify the "signing", we were initially told our application was approved and it just needed to be signed off by some government official. We thought the delay was due to the Christmas/NY period. We just got back to Malaysia and got an email telling us our documents were incomplete. We'd submitted our documents directly at the My2Home Centre and spent about two hours there while they looked through them. I guess in some ways, maybe having an agent would have meant more 'thoroughness'.

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Hi sazz,

Just a point about the tax free car. There is no information anywhere I can find when the tax becomes zero. Should you sell your car the tax will be payable and although ther may be a scale it is not published. I posed the question to the customs some months ago and all they will say is that after 4 years the tax may have reduced to 60% but that depends on an assessment for one of their officers. If the car is in good condition the tax will be more.

A number of people have commented that the tax free status is not much of a benefit when compared to the greater range of cars available that are not tax free.

Bob

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Hi
Thanks for all the replies and encouragement. BB, I didn't know about the student visa and will definitely check into it. Don't want to lose the application fee we had to pay for the international school. We were looking forward to house hunting and getting a small loan, given the lowish interest rates here, and a tax free car. Hiring a small Toyota is RM$3000 per month.

Hi Sazz,

The student visa is also referred to as Student Pass.
As for home loans, foreigners (non mm2h) are elligible too...check out with different banks eg CIMB is very helpful to home buyers and applicants of MM2H program.

Regards,
BB

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Hey BB, can non-My2homers open bank accounts? We approached two of them and both wanted to see resident visas first. But they were small branches so I am not sure what the general policies are.

Regarding tax free cars, yes, I did read the posts on the issues with the tax free status when selling. It does seem a bit of a problem. But at the very least, it can be viewed as a tax deferral scheme? We were thinking of a typical soccer mum's car like the Innova. The tax on that is about RM35,000 so that is a huge chunk to pay later, so to speak. We thought about importing a 2.5L CR-V but then, is reselling an issue here since they don't have this model? And let's say we want to sell this car or some car that isn't sold here. How do they figure the tax on it?

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The best cars for resale are Toyota, Honda and Nissan in that order.

Here is a link that may be of use:

http://paultan.org/

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Hi Sazz
We visited KL last March and opened a bank account and obtained a mortgage/property loan through UOB. 

We are not MM2H - our application has only just been submitted - but I think we may have had problems with opening the bank account without the property application. We spoke with a number of banks - which was time consuming - and they all have different terms but our contact at UOB is absolutely brilliant, very efficient and helpful.

When we were over last month she arranged for us to collect an ATM card - all dealt with within half an hour or so - complete with our chosen PIN number - and then offered to drop us off back at our hotel. Not the sort of service we recieve in the UK - just another reason why we hope to relocate!

Jac

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Hey BB, can non-My2homers open bank accounts? We approached two of them and both wanted to see resident visas first. But they were small branches so I am not sure what the general policies are.

Hi Sazz,
We weren't MM2H applicants the first time we opened an account here... not heard of MM2H then. Just visiting and was looking at a condo on the last day of our one week holiday and the bank (HSBC) at the show home office offered us a mortgage on the spot. The bank agent was our 'introducer'.

Later I accidently learnt about MM2H while surfing the net. Came over to apply and open an account just to put the deposit there until needed. The HSBC bank manager was our 'introducer'! Then we left the country and came back a month later to check if application was approved.

Both times we weren't MM2hmers yet 

3rd time we were already MM2Hers and CIMB offered us a better mtg pkg for a property than HSBC. The bank lady did all the paper work for us, including opening an account.
Every thing was straightforward.

BB
 

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Hi Sazz,  we too went the independent route without any Agent to hold our hands.  Scott and everyone else were totally supportive. When we applied (from the UK, Feb2008) we literally bombarded them with a mountain of copies - 6 months bank accounts, property titles, 6 months pension remittances and the S&P of the house we were buying in KL.  It all went through fine but this has very much to do with the purchase of a RM1million+ house we suspect.

The Application was submitted in Feb 2008.  We tracked it on-line and everytime it said under process.  It wasn't until April/May 09 when we received the Approval Letter, which had to be re-done as we queried the FD payable having bought the KL house (original AL stated full amount and not the reduced amount required)/ The good side of this throughing and froing was that the eventual Approval Letter was dated July 2008!  This gave us more time to prepare our Container.

Hang in there... it takes a bit of getting used to, but the Malaysian  way of doing things - especially where red tape is concerned - is often very frustrating to Westerners!  As I have commented before on this Forum, I grew up in Malaysia in the 60s; red tape hasn't changed much since and in some areas, it has got worse!  But if you can close one eye and enjoy the rest of what Malaysia can give you, you would have picked a pretty nice place to live!

Please do PM if you need further help!

PS... I have seen loads of CRVs in KL... No fear if you want to sell .. and if you use it until it can no longer go;  just donate it  or leave it at one of the organised scrap yards. No money has changed hands, no one knows you've left the car behind; how are they going to suss what's gone on!  No doubt some other Forum member will correct my simple thinking!