As Lawrence and I go through the process of preparing to leave Malaysia, friends are making sure we get our fill of Malaysian kueh before we leave, as shown above. We arrived here 6 years ago on a 10-year Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) visa which required us to deposit money in a Fixed Deposit account for 10 years. We cannot access that money unless we formally terminate our MM2H visa. This is a relatively straightforward, but still unnecessarily complicated, process in normal times, but trying to do this during the COVID-19 pandemic and Malaysia still in lockdown is proving to be a challenge. The government recently announced an overhaul to the MM2H system which will likely lead to an exodus of existing visa holders when their visas are up for renewal. So, I thought I would summarise the main steps you need to take during normal times, and include a few notes of how you might get around the obstacles during the current Movement Control Order.
There used to be plenty of useful information on the government’s MM2H website. But when responsibility for the MM2H application process was changed to MOTAC (Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture), much of this information disappeared and is not on the MOTAC website. Furthermore, MOTAC have not responded to my questions left on their ‘Contact Us’ form. So, please direct any questions to mm2h@motac.gov.my or call 03-8891 7424.
If you are near Putrajaya, you can visit their offices at Level 1, No.2, Tower 1, Jalan P5/6, Precinct 5, 62200 Putrajaya. But I live in Johor Bahru and current travel restrictions prevent this long journey.
Application to Terminate visa
Part 1.
Send an email to mm2h@motac.gov.my with copies of the following documents: (1) Letter of Intent to withdraw from MM2H programme, (2) copy of MM2H visa, (3) copy of main passport page (for Principal/Dependent), (4) copy of Fixed Deposit certificate, (5) copy of flight ticket/booking conformation, and (6) copy of conditional approval letter.
They will then prepare a letter summarising your ‘Application to Terminate from MM2H programme’. You are supposed to collect this from their offices in Putrajaya, but they did courier the documents to us at our request.
Part 2.
You will receive the official letter in an envelope addressed to the bank which holds your Fixed Deposit, giving permission for them to release your funds provided you show proof that your visa has been terminated. To officially terminate your visa, you need to take all the documents from Part 1 (MOTAC sends you copies) with you to Visa, Pass and Permit Division, Immigration Department of Malaysia, No. 15, Tingkat 2, Persiaran Perdana, Presint 2, 62550 Putrajaya. Then you can go to your bank with the envelope containing the official letter, and your passports showing termination of visa, and they should release your Fixed Deposit account.
Please note that if you withdraw the Fixed Deposit without terminating your MM2H visa, your visa will be cancelled in the Immigration system and you will be considered as overstaying in Malaysia without permission and will be liable for legal action.
What to do during MCO?
We are leaving in mid-September but cannot get an appointment with Immigration until ‘sometime in September’. With this uncertainty and with COVID-19 cases still very high, we are reluctant to visit enclosed offices in Putrajaya. We could make use of an MM2H visa agency, and courier our passports to them, all at considerable cost. But I am reluctant to lose sight of my passport so close to our travelling date. Because of the MCO, the Immigration Department has announced that one can cancel a MM2H visa from outside of Malaysia by visiting a Malaysian embassy/consulate in your home country, so this is what we will try and do. But, our bank is still noncommital on whether it will accept a digital copy of our cancelled visa or if they still require us to be physically present in Malaysia! Only time will tell. Since the Fixed Deposit is a fixed term of 10 years, it will eventually ‘mature’ and we should then be able to use the bank’s online banking system to retrieve the funds, independent of any visa status. But we must maintain an ‘active’ bank account, meaning at least one transaction per year.
Selling your car
I suspect the majority of MM2H visa holders will own a car and will need to sell their car before leaving Malaysia. So here is what you need to prepare for, whether you are selling provately or via a car sales website.
1. Apply for a Puspakom certificate
All private vehicles have to undergo a Transfer of Ownership Inspection which is done at Puspakom depots. You can make an appointment online at www.puspakom.com.my This certificate is valid for 60 days.
2. Transfer Ownership of Vehicle
The owner and the buyer have to physically visit a JPJ centre to register the new owner of the private vehicle (see jpj.gov.my) So, you must sell your car before you leave Malaysia, no one else can do this for you.
3. If you bought your car under the MM2H visa scheme
Our car was purchased with a tax-free benefit. If the car was less than 5 years old, we would need permission from the Ministry of Finance to sell our car. Thankfully, our car was just over 5 years old so this beaurocratic hurdle was avoided. If you need permission/confirmation, try contacting afiq.yuhanis@treasury.gov.my (03 8882 3269) or ask MOTAC for a contact at the Ministry of Finance. None the contacts we were given by MOTAC worked, but still worth a try! You might have better luck.
We did need to get excise duty assessed though and paid at our local Customs Office before we could sell our car. For this, and if you live in Johor Bahru, you need to contact Mr. Arif (019 948 3412) at Jabatan Kastam Diraja Malaysia, Bahagian Perkastaman, Cawangan Penggudangan, Tingkat 2, Bangunan JB Sentral, Jalan Jim Quee, 80300 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta’zim. He will ask for vehicle details and send you an assessment of the excise duty, which must be paid in cash! You need to park in the JB Central Parking Lot, 3/F, and head towards the CIQ entrance. Mr. Arif’s office in the parking lot side of the CIQ complex and is hard to find, so get a guard to point you in the right direction. And wear conservative clothing and covered shoes or they won’t let you in the building.
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