KUCHING (Oct 31): Effective from Jan 1 next year, applications for the Sarawak-Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H) programme must comply with new requirements, said State Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He said one of the new requirements is that the applicants must be citizens of countries that have diplomatic relations with Malaysia, aged 30 and above.

“[There is also] the mandatory opening of a fixed deposit account with any local bank in Sarawak with the required amount of RM500,000 for each application, including the spouse and dependents.

“All the S-MM2H pass holders also require a minimum annual stay duration in Sarawak for 30 days a year as one of the conditions for consideration of extension or renewal of visas. The S-MM2H pass duration remains five years, and participants can renew their applications for another five years,” he told a press conference here on Thursday.

Since the Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Ministry took over the S-MM2H programme from the Sarawak Immigration Department in 2020, he said a total of 1,462 participants were approved under the MTCP's Panel Committee.

“The total number of S-MM2H participants increased by 22.90%, from 441 in 2022 to 542 in 2023.

“In 2023, the fixed deposit (FD) placement from S-MM2H participants was RM56.7 million in Sarawak local banks.

“As of August this year, 386 participants had been approved with FD placement of RM77.55 million in Sarawak local banks,” he said.

According to him, the top 10 countries taking up the S-MM2H programme were China with 391 participants, the UK (350), Taiwan (262), Hong Kong (255), the US (210), Singapore (207), South Korea (178), Japan (138), Australia (121) and Indonesia (117).

Abdul Karim said further information on S-MM2H applications can be obtained by visiting the ministry’s website at https://mtcp.sarawak.gov.my.

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