KUALA LUMPUR (July 2): With 90% of Malaysia My Second Home Program (MM2H) applications being rejected, MM2H agents are worried that their companies dealing with the process of the visa may end up closing shop, said Lim Kok Sai, president of Malaysian My Second Home Consultants Association (MM2HCA).

"We are not allowed to make an appeal for these rejections, nor are we informed about the reasons of these rejections. Deposits need to be returned to the applicants, and no new applications could be made at the moment. If the situation persists for half to one year, we expect many agencies to close down," Lim said today at a media conference.

The association revealed about 1,000 rejections have been received since June 25, 2020, from applications submitted between September and November 2019. According to MM2HCA, this translates to a more than 90% rejection rate.

"The rejection rate of the previous batches was less than 10%, with strict filtration being done before the submission," Lim explained.

"This has never happened before, since 2006 when the MM2H programme was started," he added.

The MM2HCA was established in 2006 and it was originally called Malaysian My Second Home Agents Association. It now has about 250 members, mainly from the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Bahru.

The association estimates that the country could potentially lose over RM776 million for every 1,000 application MM2H rejection as there are many business sectors depending on the arrival of such visa holders.

Lim said his association sent a letter to the Ministry Of Tourism, Arts & Culture (MOTAC) concerning the high rejection rate but has yet to get a reply.

As for the closure of the MM2H centre at MOTAC, Lim said the agencies did not receive any notice or plans about such an event.

According to reports, the centre was first closed form March during the Movement Control Order. It opened in the end of April but was recently shut again without any reasons given.

With its current closure, no MM2H applications could be submitted. Lim however, expects the closure to be temporary

Meanwhile, the MM2H immigration office located within the MOTAC building which handles the approval of the application will be moved to the Immigration Department in Putrajaya where other services such as renewal would be continued.

It was reported earlier that Immigration Department will handle all matters related to the MM2H programme from July 6 onwards

Those with MM2H matters would need to go to the department’s HQ in Putrajaya, Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said in a statement yesterday.

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