MM2H in 2026: What Each Tier Actually Requires You to Buy

Photo: Axadem / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

MM2H is no longer a visa you can get just by parking money in a fixed deposit. Since the 2024 overhaul, every mainland tier also forces you to buy a residential property, and that property has to clear whatever minimum price your state sets for foreign buyers, not just the programme's own floor. If you're looking at Centre of KL, Mont Kiara or the PJ/Subang side of Selangor, the two rulesets don't always line up neatly, and that's the part most generic guides skip over.

The four tiers, as MOTAC publishes them

This is pulled straight from MOTAC's own MM2H portal, so treat it as the current baseline rather than something I've estimated.

Participants below 50 years old must be present in Malaysia for a cumulative 90 days in a year, and that requirement is waived once you turn 50. Participation is open to foreign individuals from countries that have diplomatic relations with Malaysia.

The property purchase is compulsory, not optional

Every tier requires you to compulsorily purchase and own a residence after approval, and that residence cannot be sold for 10 years, though you can upgrade to a higher-value property, with non-compliance leading to the pass being revoked. For Silver, that purchased residence has to be worth RM600,000 or above; for Gold it's RM1 million under the same compulsory-purchase condition. Advisers say the purchase must be completed within one year of receiving approval, so confirm the deadline with MOTAC. You're also allowed to withdraw up to 50% of the principal fixed deposit after approval specifically to fund the property purchase, education, or medical and tourism activities.

One detail that trips people up: this has to be a genuine, livable residential property. Shoplots and other commercial units do not count.

Where KL and Selangor's own minimums take over

MOTAC's property floor is the national baseline for the programme. It is not the last word on what you're allowed to buy in a given state, because land administration sits with the state authority, and every state sets its own minimum purchase price for foreigners on top of it. For Kuala Lumpur and Selangor specifically:

Selangor restricts foreigners to strata and landed-strata gated-and-guarded properties, with standard individual-title landed property not permitted. That means PJ and Subang, which sit in the Petaling district, fall under the RM2,000,000 minimum. Mont Kiara sits in Kuala Lumpur, not Selangor, so it stays under KL's RM1,000,000 floor.

Put the two rulesets together and the practical effect is this, as I read it, which is my own reading of two separate regulations rather than a single published rule, so confirm it with your lawyer before relying on it: a Silver MM2H holder's RM600,000 property floor isn't enough on its own to buy in KL or Selangor, because the state minimum is higher. Gold's RM1 million floor happens to land exactly on KL's own minimum, so a single Gold-tier purchase in KL can satisfy both rules at once. Platinum's RM2 million floor lines up with Selangor's Zone 1 & 2 minimum for the area this site covers in that zone, KL West/PJ/Subang. Centre of KL and KL North/Mont Kiara sit in Kuala Lumpur and only need to clear the RM1,000,000 floor.

A freehold project like Damansara City Residency (DC Residensi), listed from RM1,140,000 in Centre of KL, is a reasonable illustration of what clears both the Gold-tier floor and KL's own minimum in one purchase. TRX Residences in KLCC is listed from RM2,200 per square foot. At that rate a unit needs roughly 910 square feet or more to reach RM2 million, though a KLCC purchase only has to clear KL's RM1,000,000 floor, so check the actual unit price against the floors that apply to you.

The 8% stamp duty applies to you even with an MM2H pass

Effective from January 2026, foreign buyers purchasing residential properties in Malaysia are subject to a flat stamp duty rate of 8%, calculated on the purchase price in the SPA or LHDN's market value assessment, whichever is higher. Malaysian permanent residents are not affected and keep the standard 1%-4% tiers. No source I found says MM2H holders are treated differently from other foreigners, so assume the 8% applies and confirm with your lawyer. On a RM1 million Gold-tier purchase in KL, that's RM80,000 in transfer duty alone, on top of the state consent fee, legal fees and loan stamping.

Platinum doesn't buy you permanent residency

It's worth saying plainly because MM2H marketing sometimes implies otherwise: Early MOTAC communications floated the idea that Platinum participants might qualify for permanent residence, but that option was dropped before the tier was finalised. MM2H, at every tier, remains a renewable long-stay pass under MOTAC, not a pathway to PR or citizenship. If PR is the actual goal, that's a separate application track with its own rules, which I've covered elsewhere on this site.

Rules like these get revised by MOTAC and by individual state land offices without much warning, and the two don't always move in sync. Before you commit a deposit to any tier, verify the live figures on MOTAC's own MM2H portal, confirm the current state minimum with the relevant Pejabat Tanah or state authority, and have a lawyer check both against the specific unit you're buying.

Sources

• MM2H Category Overview, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture
• MM2H Guidelines, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture
• MM2H Category Silver, MOTAC
• MM2H Category Gold, MOTAC
• MM2H Category Platinum, MOTAC
• MM2H Category SEZ/SFZ, MOTAC
• National MM2H property purchase FAQ
• Can Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Recover Its Lost Ground?, Fulcrum (ISEAS)
• Minimum Property Price for Foreigners in Malaysia 2026 (All States)
• Foreigner's Guide to Buying Property in Malaysia, IQI Global
• FAQs on Stamp Duty and RPGT in Malaysia 2026 Updates, Yeo & Associates
• Can Foreigners Buy Property in Malaysia? 2026 Limits & 8% Duty, Superhomes
• Damansara City Residency (DC Residensi)
• View of Mont Kiara viewed from Mont Kiara Bayu condominium 01, Axadem, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons