Premium visa programme to attract rich foreigners to M'sia

The government has introduced a premium visa program dubbed PVIP to attract wealthy foreigners to invest in Malaysia and live here for 20 years, said Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin.

He said the ‘Residency Through Investment’ programme, the first of its kind introduced by the government to drive the country’s economic growth, will be open for applications from Oct 1.

He said PVIP is offered to business tycoons from all countries except Israel and those that did not have diplomatic ties with Malaysia.

He said participants of the programme will be given benefits including visa approval for up to 20 years, permission to study, permission to purchase real estate for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes, and make active investments in permitted fields.

“Programme participants are also allowed to work and carry out legal business activities in accordance with the laws of the country,” he said in a press conference in Putrajaya today.

Also present was Immigration Department director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud.

Hamzah said to ensure the PVIP does not undermine national security and the country’s sovereignty, his ministry set a ceiling on the number of participants - comprising principals and dependents - to not exceed one per cent of the total number of Malaysian citizens.

“We have to set a ceiling so that it does not exceed one per cent of the total number of Malaysians.

“If there are 30 million citizens now, then it means that there should only be one per cent (300,000) and the ceiling number also includes (participants) of Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme,” he said.

On the conditions of participation, Hamzah said the programme will be open to all participants of all age categories with proof of having an offshore income of at least RM40,000 per month or RM480,000 annually.

Targeting 1k participants in first year

Among other conditions is to have a fixed savings account with at least RM1 million, with no withdrawals allowed on the principal value for the first year, while up to a 50 percent withdrawal from the principal value will be allowed after that for the purchase of real estate, or health and education purposes.

Hamzah said his ministry is targeting at least 1,000 participants in the first year of the programme, which will provide an estimated RM200 million in revenue to the country, as well as RM1 billion in fixed savings.

“The Home Ministry is confident this programme will attract more foreign direct investment that will strengthen the economy and increase job opportunities for locals.

“In addition, demand for the Malaysian ringgit will also increase, strengthening its value,” he said.

He also assured that the Immigration Department and police will carry out monitoring and enforcement to ensure that the programme complies with its implementation policies and goals.

- Bernama

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