Sarawak-Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H) Social Visit Pass
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.
This record has not been fully source-checked yet. The headline figures come from secondary sources and some fields are incomplete. Treat it as a starting point and confirm with the embassy before acting.
Requirements at a glance
| Stay per entry | Multiple-entry social visit pass with no per-entry day cap — you come and go for the life of the pass. The binding number runs the other way: you must spend at least 30 days a year in Sarawak, and MTCP treats that as a condition for extension and renewal. |
|---|---|
| Total validity | Ten years in practice, issued as 5 + 5: an initial five-year multiple-entry social visit pass, then an extension covering years 6–10 granted on passport validity and a fresh RB II medical report. Continuing beyond ten years means filing a new application, submitted six months before expiry. |
| Extendable | Yes. The pass is issued as 5 + 5: five years, then an extension covering years 6–10 subject to passport validity and a fresh medical report (RB II Form). Past year 10 there is no extension — you file a completely new application, six months before the pass expires. |
| Entries | Multiple |
| Government fee | RM5,000 — One-time, non-refundable processing fee paid to MTCP Sarawak, introduced 1 January 2025. Charged on acknowledgement of the application, before any decision. Excludes the personal/security bond (RM200–RM2,000 depending on nationality, RM2,000 for US and Canadian citizens), agent fees, and the Sarawak medical examination. |
| Income required | RM10,000 — Per month. RM10,000 for a single applicant, RM15,000 for an applicant with a dependent. Accepted as either a government-approved pension (pension letter plus three months of payments) or offshore employment income (employment confirmation plus three months of payslips and bank statements). This is required in addition to the RM500,000 fixed deposit, not as an alternative to it. |
| Savings required | RM100,000 — Closing balance over the latest three months: RM100,000 for a single applicant, RM200,000 with a dependent. Open only to applicants who have no offshore income or pension, and explicitly 'Subject on Panel Approval' — a discretionary fallback rather than a guaranteed route. Held separately from and in addition to the RM500,000 fixed deposit. |
| Deposit required | RM500,000 — RM500,000 fixed deposit in the main applicant's name at an S-MM2H panel bank in Sarawak (Affin, Maybank, Alliance, Hong Leong, UOB, HSBC). One deposit covers the family — it is not doubled for a spouse. After one year you may withdraw up to 50%, and only for a house, a car, medical expenses or children's education in Sarawak; RM250,000 must stay in the account for the life of the pass. |
| Minimum age | 30 |
| Health insurance | Required |
| Processing time | Around three months from submission to approval when the file is complete, per licensed agents. MTCP publishes no service standard, and the clock only starts once the RM5,000 processing fee is paid and every document is in. |
| Apply from | Inside Sarawak, through the S-MM2H Management and Online Application System (MOAS) at service.sarawak.gov.my, submitted by a Sarawak-based personal sponsor or an S-MM2H licensed agent. The medical report must be done at a Sarawak facility and endorsed by a Sarawak government doctor, so an in-person trip is unavoidable. |
The insurance rule, precisely
There is no published coverage figure, which makes the qualifying conditions the whole of the requirement:
- Medical insurance must be a Malaysian-valid policy — the checklist asks for a 'Certified copy of Local Medical Insurance Purchase'
- The main-applicant checklist qualifies the insurance requirement as applying to applicants below 60 years old
- Dependants' checklists (spouse, parents, children) list the insurance document with no age qualifier
- MTCP publishes no minimum coverage amount, so any figure quoted by an agent is that agent's own standard
- Separate from insurance: the RB II medical report must be done at a registered Sarawak facility and endorsed by a Sarawak government doctor; an overseas medical must be redone in Sarawak before the pass is issued
What most guides get wrong about the Sarawak MM2H
Each of these is a rule that changed, or a detail that is widely repeated incorrectly. Checked 11 September 2026.
Sarawak MM2H only needs about RM150,000 in the bank and RM7,000 a month in income — it's the cheap one.
Those are pre-2025 numbers and they no longer exist. From 1 January 2025 the fixed deposit is RM500,000 at a Sarawak panel bank, the old RM84,000-a-year (RM7,000/month) income test was scrapped and replaced with RM10,000/month for an individual or RM15,000/month with a dependent, and a RM5,000 non-refundable processing fee was added. S-MM2H is still cheaper than federal MM2H, but it is no longer a cheap programme in absolute terms.
You choose one: park RM500,000 in a fixed deposit, or show the monthly income. It's an either/or financial test.
The official MTCP application guide lays the financial proof out as fixed deposit AND one of the income options. The deposit table reads 'RM500,000 (main applicant) FD placement mandatory' followed by 'AND', then pension income RM10,000/RM15,000 monthly OR offshore income RM10,000/RM15,000 monthly OR savings RM100,000/RM200,000. The savings route is additionally marked 'Subject on Panel Approval' and is only open to applicants with no offshore income or pension, so it is a discretionary fallback rather than a third equal path. Budget for the deposit plus a documented income or savings position, not one or the other.
After a year you can take half the fixed deposit back out, so the RM500,000 isn't really tied up.
The withdrawal is capped at 50% and is purpose-bound: a house in Sarawak, a car in Sarawak, medical expenses in Sarawak, or children's education in Sarawak — each needing a letter of intent and proof of payment filed with MTCP. Separately, the terms for successful applicants require you to 'maintain a minimum balance of RM250,000.00 in the S-MM2H fixed deposit account in panel banks only'. So RM250,000 is locked for as long as you hold the pass, and the other RM250,000 can only leave the account by being spent inside Sarawak.
S-MM2H is just the Sarawak branch of MM2H — same visa, same rules, and it lets you live anywhere in Malaysia.
They are separately administered programmes with different regulators, and S-MM2H residence is tied to Sarawak. Sarawak runs its own immigration control and the pass is issued by MTCP Sarawak, not MOTAC federally. Practical differences: minimum age 30 for S-MM2H versus 25 for the federal tiers; 30 days a year in Sarawak versus 90 cumulative days in Malaysia; no compulsory property purchase under S-MM2H, while federal Silver/Gold/Platinum require buying property of at least RM600,000 / RM1,000,000 / RM2,000,000; federal deposits run USD 150,000 / 500,000 / 1,000,000 against Sarawak's flat RM500,000. Property purchase in Sarawak is optional and, if you do buy, the foreign-acquisition floor is RM600,000 in Kuching Division and RM500,000 elsewhere.
Any friend or business contact in Sarawak can sponsor your application, so you can skip the agent fees.
From 16 May 2025 MTCP limits personal sponsors to immediate family — spouse, parents or step-parents, children or siblings — and the application guide states that a 'Personal sponsor can only sponsor one applicant for a lifetime'. Unless you have close family resident in Sarawak, the only remaining route is a licensed S-MM2H agent registered in Sarawak, whose fees sit on top of the RM5,000 government processing fee. This is a common reason applications stall before they are ever acknowledged.
Medical insurance is a formality and you can show a policy from home.
The document checklist calls for a 'Certified copy of Local Medical Insurance Purchase' — a Malaysian-valid policy — and the main-applicant list qualifies it as required 'For applicants below 60 years old'. The dependent checklists carry no age qualifier. The bigger trap sits next to it: the medical report (RB II Form) must be done at a registered facility in Sarawak and endorsed by a Sarawak government doctor. If you had the medical done overseas, the guide states you must redo it in Sarawak before you are allowed to claim the pass. MTCP publishes no minimum coverage figure, so agents' quoted sums are their own.
Where it wins
- The presence requirement is 30 days a year in Sarawak, against 90 cumulative days a year for the federal MM2H tiers — the lightest stay obligation of any Malaysian long-stay programme.
- No compulsory property purchase. Federal MM2H Silver forces a RM600,000 buy within a year of endorsement; Sarawak leaves it optional.
- One RM500,000 deposit covers the family unit rather than scaling per person, so a couple pays the same as a single applicant on the deposit line.
- Parents can be brought in as dependants, not just a spouse and children under 21 — and disabled children have no age limit.
- Half the deposit can be recycled into a Sarawak house, car, medical care or school fees after year one, so it is not entirely dead capital.
- Limited part-time work is permitted — up to 20 hours a week in education, banking/securities, manufacturing or medical, with State Authority approval — plus minority (up to 49%) partnership in a joint venture with a local partner.
- Cost of living in Kuching and Miri sits well below Kuala Lumpur, Penang or Johor Bahru.
Where it doesn’t
- The RM500,000 deposit is on top of the income or savings test, not instead of it. The official guide sets out Fixed Deposit AND (pension OR offshore income OR savings) — most third-party write-ups get this wrong.
- Residence rights are limited to Sarawak. It does not give you a right to live in Kuala Lumpur, Penang or Johor; peninsular Malaysia is a separate visa question.
- RM250,000 is locked for the whole time you hold the pass. Only half the deposit is ever releasable, and only after a year and only for a house, car, medical bills or school fees inside Sarawak.
- There is no online-from-abroad route. The medical report has to be done in Sarawak and endorsed by a Sarawak government doctor, and applications go in through a Sarawak sponsor or licensed agent.
- Work is capped at 20 hours a week, part-time only, in four approved professional sectors (education, banking/securities, manufacturing, medical), and each job needs State Authority approval.
- The RM5,000 processing fee is charged on acknowledgement of the application and is non-refundable whether or not you are approved.
- At the 10-year mark there is no simple renewal — you file a completely new application, six months before the pass expires.
- Sarawak is not peninsular Malaysia in cost or infrastructure terms: private hospitals are concentrated in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu, and international flights mostly route via Kuala Lumpur or Singapore.
Who cannot use this visa
- Under 30 years old at the time of application
- Citizens of Israel and North Korea, and of any country without diplomatic relations with Malaysia
- Passport with less than 24 months validity at submission
- Letter of Good Conduct older than 12 months at submission
- No Sarawak-resident personal sponsor and no licensed S-MM2H agent willing to bond the application
- A personal sponsor who has already sponsored someone else — a personal sponsor is allowed one applicant in a lifetime
- Since 16 May 2025, a personal sponsor who is not a spouse, parent/step-parent, child or sibling
Recent rule changes
- Those are pre-2025 numbers and they no longer exist.
- From 16 May 2025 MTCP limits personal sponsors to immediate family — spouse, parents or step-parents, children or siblings — and the application guide states that a 'Personal sponsor can only sponsor one applicant for a lifetime'.
Where these figures come from
Every number above is transcribed from one of the sentences below. We publish the sentence rather than only the link, so you can check it in one click — and so a figure nobody transcribed from anywhere cannot reach this page.
“30 years old and above”
Backs: minimumAge
“RM500,000 (main applicant) FD placement mandatory in any S-MM2H Panel local bank in Sarawak”
Backs: depositRequirement.amount, depositRequirement.qualifier
“Are required to maintain a minimum balance of RM250,000.00 in the S-MM2H fixed deposit account in panel banks only.”
Backs: depositRequirement.qualifier
“Participants could make partial withdrawal of their Fixed Deposit (maximum 50% of the Fixed Deposit amount) after one year in the programme based on one of the following reasons:”
Backs: depositRequirement.qualifier
“Certified Copy of Pension Letter and Latest 3 months government approved pension funds: RM10,000.00 monthly (for Individual) RM15,000.00 monthly (for Individual + Dependent)”
Backs: incomeRequirement.amount, incomeRequirement.qualifier
“Copy of Employment Confirmation and latest 3 months payslip and bank statements as a proof of monthly offshore income funds RM10,000.00 monthly (for Individual) RM15,000.00 monthly (for Individual + Dependent)”
Backs: incomeRequirement.amount, incomeRequirement.qualifier
“Certified copy of bank account statement as proof of savings fund for the latest three (3) months (For applicant who does not have offshore income/pension). Subject on Panel Approval RM100,000.00 (for Individual) RM200,000.00 (for Individual+Dependent)”
Backs: savingsRequirement.amount, savingsRequirement.qualifier
“All applicants are required to pay one-time processing fee of RM5,000.00 to the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak (MTCP). The application will be processed upon receipt of the processing fee and submission of all required documents. This processing fee of RM5,000 is non-refundable.”
Backs: governmentFee.amount, governmentFee.qualifier
“All approved participants are required to stay at least 30 days every year in Sarawak as one of the condition for consideration of extension and renewal of S-MM2H programme.”
Backs: stayPerEntry
“Successful applicants will be issued with 5 + 5 years of approved S-MM2H Social Visit Pass and extension can be done for the second half of the period (6 - 10 years) subject to:”
Backs: totalValidity, stayPerEntry
“Certified copy of Local Medical Insurance Purchase For applicants below 60 years old”
Backs: insurance.conditions
“Sarawak-Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H) is a programme that allow foreigners who fulfill certain criteria to stay in Sarawak with a multiple-entry social visit pass.”
Backs: stayPerEntry
“Applications typically take around three months from start to finish”
Backs: processingTime
“The pass holder must also stay in Sarawak for a minimum of 30 days a year with the pass valid for 5 years before it can be renewed for another five.”
Backs: totalValidity, stayPerEntry
Sources for this page
- MTCP Sarawak — S-MM2H Application Guide (official PDF)official
- MTCP Sarawak — SMM2H Application Requirementsofficial
- Service Sarawak — New Application for SMM2H (MOAS)official
- InvestSarawak — New requirements for S-MM2H in 2025official
- IMI Daily — Sarawak Raises MM2H Investment Threshold to RM500,000
- Hudson McKenzie — MM2H 2025 new categories and requirements
- MISHU — A Full Guide To S-MM2H Pass Requirements
Last checked 11 September 2026. Requirements are applied at the discretion of individual embassies and can change without notice. Confirm before you book anything.