The long-stay routes open to people not working locally, ordered by the age they open at. The binding constraint is rarely the money — it is the health insurance requirement, which varies from none at all to the strictest rule in the region, and which is where most applications actually fail.
MM2H now runs as four categories with fixed deposits set in US dollars: Silver USD 150,000 (5-year pass), Gold USD 500,000 (15 years), Platinum USD 1,000,000 (20 years), and a Forest City-only SEZ/SFZ tier at USD 65,000 for ages 21-49 or USD 32,000 for ages 50 and over (10 years). Every mainland tier now forces a property purchase you cannot sell for 10 years — RM600,000 minimum on Silver, RM1,000,000 on Gold, RM2,000,000 on Platinum — on top of a one-off participating fee of RM1,000 (Silver), RM3,000 (Gold) or RM200,000 (Platinum) and a processing fee of RM5,000 for the principal plus RM2,500 per dependant. Minimum age is 25 for Silver, Gold and Platinum; participants under 50 must be in Malaysia 90 cumulative days a year, while those 50 and over have no minimum stay.
Commonly wrong: MM2H needs a RM1 million ringgit fixed deposit, and you can withdraw half of it to buy a house.
Sarawak-Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H) is the Sarawak state government's own long-stay pass, run by the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts (MTCP) in Kuching rather than by federal MOTAC, and valid for residence in Sarawak only. Since 1 January 2025 it requires a RM500,000 fixed deposit at a Sarawak panel bank in the main applicant's name plus proof of RM10,000 a month in pension or offshore income (RM15,000 with a dependent), or RM100,000/RM200,000 in savings if you have neither, with a one-time non-refundable RM5,000 processing fee, a minimum age of 30, and Malaysian-valid medical insurance. The pass runs 5 + 5 years, obliges you to spend at least 30 days a year in Sarawak, and requires RM250,000 to stay in the fixed deposit for as long as you hold it.
Commonly wrong: Sarawak MM2H only needs about RM150,000 in the bank and RM7,000 a month in income — it's the cheap one.
The Philippines restructured the SRRV in September 2025, dropping the minimum age from 50 to 40 and reducing the programme to two categories. Deposits run from USD 15,000 to USD 50,000 depending on age and pension status, and the visa permits indefinite residence.
Commonly wrong: You must be 50 to qualify for the SRRV.
Thailand's O-A retirement visa is open from age 50 and carries the strictest insurance rule in Southeast Asia: health cover of at least USD 100,000 (3,000,000 THB), from a Thai insurer on the TGIA long-stay list or a foreign insurer able to issue the official certificate.
Commonly wrong: Thai retirement visa insurance is 400,000 THB inpatient and 40,000 THB outpatient.
Oldest figure on this page checked 10 September 2026. Every number is transcribed from a source cited on that visa’s own page.