Compare the programmes

Malaysia's long-stay programmes are deposit-gated: you qualify by placing capital. The work and study passes are sponsor-gated: an employer or institution backs you, and no deposit exists.

Premium Visa Programme (PVIP) terms changed on 16 March 2026Show what changed

The fixed deposit becomes withdrawable after six months rather than one year. The ceiling is unchanged at 50% of the amount pledged.
A dependant may now elect a 10-year term at RM50,000, half the price of the unchanged 20-year term at RM100,000. The principal's term is fixed at 20 years and has no such option.
The RM40,000 monthly income requirement is unchanged, but what counts towards it is broader than the 2022 FAQ states. Salary is not required — realised investment gains, rental income and pension drawdown all qualify. Nor must the income be offshore: Malaysian-sourced income now counts, with proof of Malaysian income tax paid on it.

Confirmed by MYPVIP practice, current as at 27 July 2026. The official Immigration Department of Malaysia document has not yet been updated, so these terms cannot be cited to a government source.

Long-stay programmes

Attribute	Premium Visa Programme (PVIP)	MM2H Silver	MM2H Gold	MM2H Platinum	Sarawak MM2H (S-MM2H)
Fixed deposit	RM1,000,000^{See note 1}	USD 150,000^{See note 2}	USD 500,000^{See note 2}	USD 1,000,000^{See note 2}	RM500,000^{See note 3}
Property purchase	Optional	From RM600,000^{See note 4}	From RM1,000,000^{See note 4}	From RM2,000,000^{See note 4}	Optional
Term	20 years, renewable	5 years, renewable	15 years, renewable	20 years, renewable	10 years, renewable
Participation fee	RM200,000	RM1,000	RM3,000	RM200,000	—
Agency fee	Not government-set^{See note 5}	RM40,000^{See note 6}	RM55,000^{See note 6}	RM70,000^{See note 6}	Not government-set^{See note 5}
Processing fee	—	RM5,000 principal^{See note 7}	RM5,000 principal^{See note 7}	RM5,000 principal^{See note 7}	RM5,000 principal
Minimum age	None	25	25	25	30
Minimum stay	None	90 days, ages 25–49^{See note 8}	90 days, ages 25–49^{See note 8}	90 days, ages 25–49^{See note 8}	30 days in Sarawak^{See note 9}
Work rights	Yes^{See note 10}	No	No	Yes^{See note 10}	Restricted^{See note 11}

1. Up to 50% may be withdrawn after six months in the programme — reduced from one year under the 2026 terms.
2. Up to 50% of the principal may be withdrawn once the property purchase completes, for education, medical or tourism activities in Malaysia.
3. Up to 50% may be withdrawn after one year in the programme, for a residential house, a car, medical costs or children's education in Sarawak.
4. This is the programme's national minimum, not the price you will actually be allowed to buy at. A foreign buyer must also clear the floor set by the state the property sits in, and in the two states most applicants buy in that floor is higher: RM2,000,000 in Selangor and RM1,000,000 in Kuala Lumpur. Where the state floor is the higher of the two, it is the one that binds.
5. Set commercially by the agency and published nowhere official. Get the figure in writing before committing.
6. Fixed by the government, not by the agency — there is nothing to negotiate here, and a quote above this figure is wrong rather than expensive. Covers the main applicant's processing fee; the main applicant's first five years of pass fee and visa fee; the main applicant's security bond. 20% of the agency fee is payable on submission and the remaining 80% after approval. All agency fees are inclusive of 8% SST.
7. Already inside the agency fee above — it should not appear twice on a quote.
8. 90 days per year for ages 25–49, met between the main applicant and/or spouse and dependants. No minimum stay from age 50.
9. 30 cumulative days per year in Sarawak, main applicant only.
10. May work and run a business.
11. Conditions apply.

Deposits are shown in the currency the programme is denominated in. MM2H is quoted in US dollars; PVIP and S-MM2H in ringgit — so the exchange rate you get is itself part of the cost.

Work and study passes

These are compared separately because a fixed deposit and a salary floor are not the same kind of number, and putting them in one table would imply they are.

Attribute	DE Rantau Nomad Pass	Employment Pass	Student Pass
Sponsor	Foreign employer or clients^{See note 1}	A Malaysian employer^{See note 2}	Your institution^{See note 3}
Income floor	USD 24,000 a year	RM5,000 a month	None stated
Maximum term	1 year, renewable — one time only	10 years, renewable	1 year, renewable
Government fee	RM1,080	—	RM60
Dependants	Permitted	Permitted	Permitted

1. Foreign-registered employer or foreign-based clients
2. A Malaysian employer, approved by the Expatriate Committee
3. The education institution, screened by EMGS

The Employment Pass floor shown is Category III. Category II starts at RM10,000 a month and Category I at RM20,000. DE Rantau's figure is the tech threshold; non-tech professions need USD 60,000 a year.

What the table can't show you

A fixed deposit is not a cost. It stays your money. The fees are the money that actually leaves. On MM2H Silver that difference is USD 150,000 committed against RM46,000 genuinely spent — RM1,000 participation, RM5,000 processing and a RM40,000 government-set agency fee — and the compulsory RM600,000 property is a third category again.

Agent fees are fixed on MM2H and not on PVIP. This is the reverse of how the market is usually described. MM2H agency fees are set by the government — RM40,000 Silver, RM55,000 Gold, RM70,000 Platinum, all inclusive of 8% SST — so a higher quote is wrong rather than expensive. PVIP agency fees are commercial, published nowhere official, and the one number on this page you have to get in writing yourself.

The property minimum is not the price you will pay. MM2H's figures are national minimums. A foreign buyer must also clear the state's own floor — RM2,000,000 in Selangor, RM1,000,000 in Kuala Lumpur — and where that is higher, it is the one that binds. Silver's RM600,000 is the number this catches hardest.

The work right is a tier question, not a programme question. PVIP and MM2H Platinum both carry it — MOTAC's December 2025 guide marks business, investment and career activity Permissibleon Platinum. MM2H Silver and Gold bar it outright, and S-MM2H is restricted. So “MM2H doesn't let you work” is only true of two tiers out of three, and if you intend to earn a living in Malaysia the row above narrows the field to PVIP and Platinum rather than to PVIP alone.

Written and reviewed by Jason Yap, Managing Director of MYPVIP.
Last reviewed 28 July 2026.

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Every figure above is drawn from the official source cited on each programme's guide page. Last reviewed 28 July 2026.