Tag Archives: Video

  • 0
India Travel Plan

India Travel Plan 🗺️ West Coast

Tags : 

Choosing the best dates and flights for a long-haul trip to the tropics involves more than making a quick selection shortly before you leave.

When it comes to finding the best travel opportunities, whether the Seychelles, India or the Caribbean, it pays to start making yours plans well in advance. We started preparing our India travel plan around 4 months before departure.

Highlights

 

Choosing your Airline

The major cost of most trips to the tropics is the airfare. A good way to get the cheapest fares – on the best airlines – is to start searching several months before your trip. Flexibility also helps.

To start with, we had several promising itineraries:

♦  The Caribbean, taking a relocation cruise back to Europe.
♦  The Seychelles (from Rome returning to Paris).
♦  South Africa (via Dublin).
♦  South India (via Istanbul and Edinburgh).

We researched each of these primary destinations in search of the best flights on offer. By best, we don’t necessarily mean the cheapest.

There are some good deals with Air Seychelles, but you’ll get what you pay for. Check out the The World’s Top 100 Airlines and you’ll find Air Seychelles doesn’t even make the list. For long-haul, we’re looking for an airline at least in the top 20, and ideally in the top 5.

This was how we stumbled upon what looked like a great deal – travelling to India with Turkish Airlines (who at the time were ranked ahead of Emirates – they’ve since dropped a little lower in the rankings).

Our India Itinerary

After trying multiple dates and city combinations on the Turkish Airlines website, we assembled a rich itinerary for a visit to India, as follows:

♦  Rome – Istanbul
♦  Istanbul – Mumbai
♦  Mumbai – Edinburgh

Our flight itinerary would span 31 days, primarily in India, but including 3 short city stays in Rome, Istanbul and Edinburgh. Not bad for just €457 per ticket… and flying with one of the top airlines in the world. We booked the flight 4 months before the departure date.

Once the flight was booked there was no going back – the trip became a reality. The flight schedule provided the framework for the rest of the trip: Everything else had to be planned and coordinated accordingly.

Always be Planning…

Recreational travel can mean so much more than just the actual time spent travelling. Before the trip there is the anticipation, the preparation and the expectation. After the trip there is reaction, reflection, compilation and analysis. Over the years, we’ve probably spent as much time planning and recording our adventures as the time spent experiencing our trips.

Although sometimes frustrating, we enjoy these other aspects of our travels. The planning stage is really educational, so we don’t regret the trips we’ve planned which never (…as yet) came to fruition.

Flights, then More Flights

Our itinerary with Turkish Airlines meant we would be flying into and out of Mumbai Airport. We would therefore have 22 days in India starting and ending in Mumbai. On previous trips to India, we have visited the Rajastan area, and Chennai (Madras) down the east coast to Trivandrum.

On this trip we wanted to discover the west coast, between Mumbai and southern Kerala.

 

This is quite a distance to cover in just 22 days (3,400 km there and back again). We therefore decided to take a couple of internal flights to reduce the amount of time required to travel overland – which can be considerable in India.

We booked a domestic flight from Mumbai to Trivandrum, scheduled to depart around 6 hours after our arrival in Mumbai. This had several advantages: Firstly, we wouldn’t have to experience Mumbai twice (on our way in and on our way out)… And, in retrospect, experiencing Mumbai just the once is more than enough.

This also would mean we would get directly to our southern-most destination. From there, it would be (…simply?) a question of travelling slowly back up the coast, through Kerala, Karnatica and Goa to Mumbai.

We booked the domestic flight online with Jet Airways – which was one of the more popular Indian domestic airlines (certainly more popular than Indian Airways, although later unfortunately Jet Airways went bankrupt).

Of course, we were taking a risk that our Turkish Airlines flight wouldn’t be delayed by more than 6 hours. It’s all a trade-off really: We booked early with Jet Airways to get the flight at a decent price – in our case, 4,043 rupees (€54) per person. Wait until you arrive and flights will either be fully booked or will cost twice as much.

Our West-coast India Travel Plan – 2,500 kms in 3 weeks

On arrival in Trivandrum, our plan was to take a taxi down to Kovalam. From there, we would slowly work our way back up north – using buses and trains – as far as Goa.

We would then take another pre-booked Jet Airways flight from Vasco Da Gama airport, Goa to Mumbai. This would be 2 days before our return flight from Mumbai to Edinburgh with Turkish Airlines.

 

Our schedule (over a 3-week period) worked out as follows (see maps):

♦  Mumbai – Kovalam
♦  Kovalam – Varkala
♦  Varkala – Kochi
♦  Kochi – Canacona
♦  Canacona – Agonda
♦  Agonda – Mumbai

 

 

Starting in Rome

Rome was the starting point for our flights with Turkish Airlines. For us, this is a bonus destination to begin our holiday. We planned to spend 2 nights in Rome. Time enough to enjoy some excellent restaurants, with a little extra sight-seeing thrown in.

We budgeted €300 for this section of our trip, including guesthouse, meals and transfers (€150 per day).

India Travel Plan - West Coast

The Roman Forum – 1st stop before India

Hotels in Rome

Rome to Istanbul

Since our Turkish Airlines flight stopped in Istanbul, we planned to spend 2 nights in Sultanahmet in the city center. Time for sight-seeing and shopping (since we’d need some warm leather coats when we returned to Europe via Edinburgh).

We budgeted €200 for this section of our trip, including guesthouse, meals and transfers (€100 per day).

This excludes our shopping for leather goods, of course 😉

India Travel Plan - West Coast

Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia, Istanbul – 2nd stop before India

Hotel Offers in Istanbul

Istanbul to Mumbai

Since we were not planning to visit Mumbai city until our trip back out, we booked a domestic flight connection from Mumbai to Kovalam (Trivandrum airport). This flight was leaving a few hours after our Turkish Airlines flight was due to arrive.

We were winging it a bit here, assuming that our Turkish Airlines flight wouldn’t be delayed by more than 6 hours.

India Travel Plan - West Coast

Gateway of India & Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai

Hotel Options in Mumbai

Mumbai to Kovalam, Kerala

Once in Kovalam, we planned to spend 3 nights in an inexpensive but well-recommended guesthouse near the beach.

Our budget here, as with all our destinations in India apart from Mumbai, was €50 per day. Of this, we planned to limit our guesthouse costs to maximum €24 per night.

India Travel Plan - West Coast

India Travel Plan – Kovalam Lighthouse Beach

All Hotels in Kovalam

Kovalam to Varkala

Continuing the beach theme…

From Kovalam, we planned to move 55 km up the coast for a 4-night stay in Varkala (still in Kerala). We would be applying the same €50 per day budget here. After this we should be well-acclimatised and sufficiently relaxed.

We would probably travel up to Varkala using the local buses.

India Travel Plan - West Coast

India Travel Plan – Varkala Backwater Rivers

Hotel Deals in Varkala

Varkala to Kochin

From Varkala, we would take either buses or a train to travel the 169 kms up to Kochi. In Fort Kochi, we expected more of a cultural experience, and could possibly try one of the backwater trips. For accommodation, we booked a guesthouse in Fort Kochi for 3 nights.

After that we had a gap in our schedule of 3 days. During this time, we planned to work our way northwards 733 kms up to Canacona in Goa. We already tried booking trains online, without success (most were fully booked 6 weeks before departure!). This was likely to be the ‘messy’ part of our trip: We’d just have to stay patient and be flexible with whatever options presented themselves.

A bit of adventure never hurt anyone, right?

India Travel Plan - West Coast

India Travel Plan – Fort Kochi Spice Shops

Hotels in Kochin

Kochin to Canacona, Goa

Assuming all went well with our travel arrangements, we’d arrive in South Goa at the start of our third week in India. Here, we’d be staying on Palolem beach, Canacona for the first few days.

We chose South Goa because of its reputation as a peaceful laid-back area, unlike some of the beaches in North Goa. Again, the budget remained at €50 per day. We just hoped there would be reasonable access to ATM machines in these areas.

India Travel Plan - West Coast

India Travel Plan – Canacona, Palolem Beach

Hotel Offers in Canacona

Canacona to Agonda

Our second and final location in Goa was Agonda, just 12 kms north of Canacona, and reputedly one of the best beaches in India. This being the case, we planned to stay 4 nights here in a quiet guesthouse.

This would be our last taste of the easy life, before the culture shock that would surely be waiting for us in Mumbai.

India Travel Plan - West Coast

India Travel Plan – Agonda Beach, Goa

Hotels in Agonda

Agonda to Mumbai

Agonda is only 60 kms from Vasco Da Gama airport, where we had pre-booked a flight back up to Mumbai. Our reasoning was that by this time we would have had enough of the local transport on buses and trains.

We were also running out of time, and overland travel in India is subject to long delays or cancellations, as well as being uncomfortable and tedious. It’s 625 kms between Agonda and Mumbai (10 hours by car), with the best of the sightseeing already behind us.

We pre-booked a hotel in the Fort area of Mumbai, with a pickup from the airport. Our plan was to stay just 2 nights so we could visit the Fort area, and maybe do a little shopping before leaving.

India Travel Plan - West Coast

India Travel Plan – The Chaos that is Mumbai

Hotel Options in Mumbai

Mumbai to Edinburgh

The last part of our trip would provide quite a contrast to everything that had gone before. With a change in temperature of around 25°, we’d be spending our last few days in Edinburgh, courtesy of Turkish Airlines.

We would be needing the leathers bought in Istanbul, plus every other item of warm clothing we carried with us.

We budgeted €450 for these last 3 days, including hotel, meals and transfers (€150 per day).

India Travel Plan - West Coast

The Beauty of Scotland: Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Hotel Deals

India Travel Plan – Our Budget

Our budget (over 31 days) was divided into 3 areas, based on two people sharing::

♦  International flights.
♦  Domestic flights and trains
♦  Daily cash allowance for everything else (including accommodation)

International Flights: We booked 2  flights from Malta (our home base) to Rome with Ryanair for €54. Our Turkish Airlines flights (Rome – Istanbul – Mumbai – Edinburgh) cost us €914. Our return flights from Edinburgh to Malta (again with Ryanair) cost €130.

Domestic Flights and Trains: Four weeks before departure we went to the Jet Airways website and booked 2 domestic one-way flights: Mumbai to Trivandrum (8,086 rupees for 2 seats – €112) and Goa to Mumbai (5,112 rupees for 2 seats – €74). We also had to count on 2 train journeys: Varkala to Kochin (approximately 1,750 rupees for 2 seats – €24) and Kochin to Goa (approximately 5,085 rupees for 2 seats – €71). Train fares depend on which class is booked: More on this later.

Daily Cash Allowance: Four to five weeks before departure we went online and booked some of the guesthouses in the places we had decided to visit. Our daily cash budget, including accommodation, was €150 per day in Rome (2 days), €100 per day in Istanbul (2 days), €50 per day in India (23 days), and €150 per day in Edinburgh (3 days).

We therefore calculated our combined cash requirement as €2,100 for 30 days (€1,050 per person).

The estimated budget for our entire trip came to a total of €3,479. The only other cost not accounted for was our holiday insurance (€109). Adding this in makes a grand total of €3,588 (€1,794 per person).

India Travel Plan: How it Played Out

This, then, was our plan. Quite an eclectic mix of destinations and cultures. Our itinerary was pretty well worked out, with some flexibility around halfway through. We traveled from February through to the middle of March, covering just over 20,000 kms.

So how did we actually get on?

Read the articles 

Check out our related articles. We discovered plenty of useful and current information on the practicalities of travelling around India: Guesthouse recommendations, places to avoid, overland travel tips and some great places to eat.

It was a bumpy ride, but well worth the admission price.


If you enjoyed our India Travel Plan, check out our other Tropical Travel Plans. You may also like:


  • 14
Our Personal MM2H Application Experience

Malaysia My Second Home 🛂 Our Personal MM2H Application Experience

Tags : 

Explore the allure of Malaysia as your ultimate destination through the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program. This recently updated initiative beckons global travelers to make Malaysia their second home, offering a unique blend of cultural richness, modern amenities, and a tropical paradise.

In this article, we describe the process of obtaining MM2H status, granting you unparalleled access to the vibrant cities, pristine beaches, and lush landscapes that define this Southeast Asian gem.

Highlights

 

Malaysia Standard Visa Limitations

If you have the time, then taking an extended multi-week break in Malaysia works out much cheaper (average cost-per-day) than a classic 20-day trip. For many nationalities (63 jurisdictions), visitors to Malaysia are by default given a 90-day visa on arrival.

This is more than sufficient in most cases, and allows travelers to offset the cost of the flight ticket (the most expensive item) with a longer and relatively inexpensive holiday.

But there are limitations:

  • Not all nationalities are granted a 90-day visa; If you’re from Russia, Singapore, the Philippines, Panama (or 93 other jurisdictions) you’ll get only a 30-day visa.
  • Both the 30-day and 90-day visas are single-entry visas. This means that if you leave Malaysia for a trip elsewhere during your stay, you will need a new visa to re-enter Malaysia. Immigration officials can be quite punctilious about people re-entering after a short break, and they’re not keen on visa runners. Either way, as a foreigner you need to be careful about leaving and re-entering the country during your stay.
  • If you want to extend your trip beyond 90 days, you have no choice other than leaving the country and trying to re-enter after at least 5 days away, and ideally after renewing your visa from a Malaysian embassy outside the country. If you come back sooner, or hope to get another 90-day visa when re-entering the country, questions will be asked and you may be refused entry.

 

Introducing MM2H

Our interest in the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program started after several visits to Malaysia and some long trips through the Malay Peninsula and Borneo, all spread over a 5-year period.

But what if you want to regularly spend longer periods in Malaysia (over 3 months) or if you want to treat Malaysia as a second home? Well, the Malaysian Tourism and Immigration departments came up with a solution – called MM2H (Malaysia My Second Home).

This basically is a program which allows you to apply for a multiple-entry visa for Malaysia – A renewable  Social Visit Pass, in return for which you must submit a refundable Security Bond.

It’s not our intention here to go into detail about the MM2H program. There are plenty of other online resources that do this well enough, not least the official MM2H portal. If you are reading this, it’s probably because you already know about MM2h and are interested to hear about somebody else’s real experiences with the application process.

Initially this process can seem quite daunting, which is why there are so many 3rd-party agents who will handle it for you – at a price. We decided against using an agent and instead made what is called a direct application.

Whether or not this was a good decision on our part is for you to judge at the end of this article. 😳

Our Personal MM2H Application Experience

For direct applications, you’ll be making several trips to Precinct 5 Putrajaya

MM2H 2024 – New Rules ‘v’ Previous Rules

The MM2H rules and conditions have gone through a number of transformations since its inception in 2002:

  1. 2002 to 2019: The original MM2H offered a social visit pass with a multiple-entry visa, valid for ten years and renewable thereafter. Applicants under 50 needed liquid assets above RM 500,000 and a monthly income of over RM 10,000. Applicants over 50 needed liquid assets over RM 350,000,and a monthly income over RM 10,000. A Security deposit of RM 150,000 was also required.
  2. 2019 to 2023: In the wake of the Covid pandemic, the MM2h program was suspended (from around May 2019). In 2021, when the program restarted, the rules were much stricter, prohibitively-so for many potential applicants. You needed to prove a monthly income of at least RM 40,000 ($8,662), up from RM 10,000 ($2,165) previously. A fixed deposit of RM 1 million ($216,567) was also required.
    During this period, the program saw applications decline by 90%.
  3. 2023 to the present: Due to much controversy over the stricter rules, in 2023 the conditions were again revised, making MM2H a more realistic option for a (still reasonably wealthy) expat. Under the revised program, the visa is open to applicants aged at least 30, compared with 35 previously. There are also now 3 MM2h tiers:
    • Silver: Applicants need to make a fixed Security deposit of RM 500,000 ($108,283). This visa is valid for 5 years.
    • Gold: Applicants need to make a fixed Security deposit of RM 2 million ($433,135). This visa is valid for 15 years.
    • Platinum: Applicants need to make a fixed Security deposit of RM 5 million ($1,082,837). This visa provides eligibility for permanent residency – a difficult status to achieve in Malaysia.

To date however, there are still no details regarding monthly income or asset requirements.

Hotel Deals in Kuala Lumpur

Our MM2H Application Experience

The following sections describe our experiences under the original MM2H rules, dating back to 2019. Some details of this may be different under the new rules, but the procedures will largely be the same.

Getting Started with the Online Application

Our application process began online at the official MM2H website.

Before finding the official website, we had a few false starts with websites which look like the government website (with official logos and all) but which are in fact 3rd-party agent sites. These websites include sections telling you how difficult it can be to apply for an MM2H visa if you go it alone – known as a ‘direct’ application.

Instead they try to convince you to use their services as your ‘official agent’. These services come at a healthy price – typically around RM 8,000 (€1,750).

Is an official MM2h agent worth the money?

An officially-recognized agent will save you from having to make a couple of trips to the MM2H offices near KL. You will still need to supply them with notarized copies of a whole dossier of documents, as well as some original documents (including passports) which will have to be couriered back and forth. However, if you’re not yet spending much time in Malaysia, then using an agent is probably the best way to go.

If you decide not to use an agent, then your first step is to find the ‘official’ MM2H government website from were you can initiate a direct application online.

You’ll need to dedicate some time to this process since there are a lot of forms to fill, questions to answer, and information to provide. When completed you can print out your application data (over 20 pages).

Don’t get your hopes up too high about your initial online application. This is a totally automated process to enable you to print out the correct forms. At this point your application has not been officially accepted, and won’t be until you visit the MM2H offices in person with all the required originals and hard copies.

Compiling your MM2H dossier

Compiling your MM2H dossier is a task you should prepare well in advance. Apart from the need to have many of the documents certified (by a Malaysian lawyer/notary), you also need to apply for a Letter of Good Conduct from the Police in your home country.

Most importantly, you’ll need to provide detailed information about your financial assets, which must be in excess of RM 350,000, and which will be checked by the Malaysian Immigration Department before they will consider your application.

Although the minimum liquid assets you need to declare is RM 500,000 (under 50 years old) or RM 350,000 (over 50 years old), independent advisors suggest that this amount should always be in excess of RM 500,000 (€108,000)  – and preferably more – to improve your chances of approval.

All documents must be in English or otherwise be accompanied by a certified translation.

What are your chances of approval? According to the Malaysian Reserve, 4,487 MM2H applications were approved between July 2018 and November 2019 — about half of the 9,439 applications received during this period.

Submitting your application in person at Head Office

As far as the MM2H officials are concerned, your application process begins only after you visit their office  – in person – and after they have formally accepted your application documents.

Putrajaya, KL (First MM2H visit)

So to get the ball rolling for a direct application, a visit to the MM2H offices in Precinct 5 Putrajaya (close to Kuala Lumpur) is necessary.

If you are not yet in Malaysia, then you are best advised to use an agent to handle your application, since the costs of making the necessary 2 or 3 visits to Putrajaya from abroad will likely outweigh the agent’s fees of typically RM8,000 – RM10,000 (€1,750 – €2,200).

If you are already in Malaysia, then it’s a relatively inexpensive return flight to KL followed by a ‘Grab’ taxi from the airport to Putrajaya (the taxi takes around 40 minutes each way for approximately RM 25 per trip).

Submitting an application shouldn’t take more than a few hours, so you can book your return flight for later the same day. Alternatively, like us you can use the opportunity to spend a day or two in Kuala Lumpur while you catch up on your shopping 😀.

There are plenty of centrally located apartments that you can rent. Apartments such as KL Shortstay Apartments-188 suites or Parkview Suite KLCC are spacious, good quality, close to KLCC – and won’t break the bank. If you prefer to stay in Putrajaya rather than travelling in to the city, you could also stay at the nearby Dash Box Hotel.

We got to the MM2H office around mid-morning, after arriving in KL on the first early morning flight.

Our Personal MM2H Application Experience

The MM2H Office (application submissions)

In our case, the young lady who dealt with our application carefully checked that all the required documents were contained in our dossier. She also checked that our stated financial resources were sufficient.

Applicants are required to show they have sufficient financial resources to live in Malaysia without seeking employment. Applicants under 50 need liquid assets above RM 500,000 and a monthly income of over RM 10,000 (equivalent). Applicants over 50 need liquid assets over RM 350,000,and a monthly income over RM 10,000.

MM2H Application Received for Verification

After confirming that all our documents were in order, the young lady gave us our confirmation letter and our unique application number. However, she also said that because of the backlog of applications already pending we could expect to wait around 6 months before our application would be reviewed.

Apparently, applications are processed in sequential order and there is a considerable backlog (hence your application number).

Note that the Confirmation letter isn’t a Conditional Approval letter (see later). This is simply an acknowledgement that MM2H Immigration have received your application for review and verification.

MM2H Confirmation Letter (NOT Approval Letter)

MM2H Confirmation Letter (NOT Approval Letter)

The Waiting Begins

When we got back home, I browsed to the Check ‘N Track website to check the status of our application (for this, you need your application number).

Frustratingly enough, when I entered our application number the response was ‘Your record is not found. Please try again’.

This was still the case 2 weeks later. I emailed and called their office several times, but the response (when I could get through…) was always conciliatory but uninformative.

Our Personal MM2H Application Experience

The Check ‘n Track Portal – Not very helpful…

6 Months Later and Still No Word

So 6 months passed and there was still no progress.

Check ‘N Track still stated that our record could not be found. We received no communications from the MM2H office, and our repeated emails and phone calls were fruitless. Worse still, we started to hear about other applicant’s experiences, with one lady already waiting for over a year!

An additional issue is this: The longer it takes, the longer you have to leave substantial funds in a personal account that MM2H Immigration can check.

We were beginning to worry.

8 Months Later and Counting…

After 8 months I was beginning to wonder if we had done the right thing by going it alone and not using an agent.

  • Maybe agents, dealing with dozens of applications get preferential treatment?
  • Maybe our direct application keeps getting pushed lower down the list?

In any event, since we had planned to return to Malaysia around this time, we determined to return to the MM2H office in person to pursue the matter.

8 ½ Months later – At Last A Reply

Email Notification of Acceptance!

By November we had returned to Malaysia and were planning to fly to KL the following week.

Then out of the blue up pops the email:

Our Personal MM2H Application Experience

MM2H Approval Notification

I replied to the email requesting that they email a copy of the Approval Letter to me so that I could go ahead and open a bank account (for the banks, MM2H Approval is a requirement). Unfortunately, this would not be possible. Approval Letters have to be picked up – in person – from their office in Putrajaya.

I then received a follow up email informing me that the MM2H Immigration Unit was unable to process my application due to my passport validity, which after all this time had actually expired!

Fortunately, this new setback was quickly resolved by emailing them a copy of my new passport. Once they had received this, they confirmed the Approval.

All we now had to do was go and pick up the Approval letter.

Picking up the MM2H Conditional Approval Letter

Fortunately for us, we had already returned to Malaysia to chase up our application. So now we just needed to take a short hop to KL to pick up the letter.

2nd Visit to Putrajaya, KL

When we returned to the MM2H offices in Putrajaya the following week, we were directed to the 10th floor. The immigration department here was much busier than the application department down on the 1st floor, with standing-room only and scores of people waiting to be processed.

It looked like we could be in for a long day. We’d booked a late return flight on the same day, but we would still have to leave the MM2H office by 4:00 pm at the latest.

We explained why we were there to one of the young receptionists. He asked us to wait, but promised to call us when they were ready.

If you want to beat the queues you need to make an early start – ideally arriving at the MM2H building an hour before they open at 8 am. To do this it’s easier to book a local hotel for the night before in Putrajaya – or you could try the Dash Box in Cyberjaya.

In all, we waited around 1½ hours before being called.

At last, we received our Conditional Approval Letter together with the other forms we would have to complete to finalize the process.

Our Personal MM2H Application Experience

The Holy Grail – MM2H Conditional Approval Letter

The Immigration officer patiently explained everything to us.

  • We would have to open a Malaysian bank account and deposit the Security Bond.
  • We would need to arrange local medical check ups.
  • We would need to take out a 12-month Health Insurance policy.

From the date of issue of the Approval Letter, we would have 6 months to do all this and report back (in person) to the MM2H office. All being good, we should then get the coveted 10-year unlimited access visas stamped in our passports.

However, if we exceeded the 6-month grace period, we would have to restart the whole application process from scratch…

Fortunately then there was no urgent hurry. We planned to return to Malaysia in 3 months time. We could then spend a week finalizing the paperwork before returning (for the 3rd and hopefully the last time) to the MM2H office in Putrajaya.

Final Steps in the MM2H Application Process

So three months later, with our Conditional Approval letter in hand, we were ready to put together the final pieces of our MM2H jigsaw.

Opening a Bank Account in Malaysia

Opening a bank account should be a fairly straightforward procedure, but for foreigners in Malaysia nothing seems to be simple. We first tried at the Maybank – one of the more popular banks in Malaysia. The main branch was busy and chaotic. We were the only foreigners, so there was plenty of waiting around and being referred to different desks and officials. Not ideal.

We then tried our luck at the Affinbank, with much more success. This place was quiet and efficient, and after completing the necessary paperwork our account was opened and ready to receive funding. We transferred funds for the Security Bond the following day, and picked up our official receipt.

Getting a Medical Report

For the Medical Report, we had no idea what to expect. Would this be a complete medical with blood tests etc, or just a cursory quick once-over? And how much would it cost? I expected to pay anything from RM 100 upwards. I’d even read online that some MM2H candidates had paid thousands after using Medical Clinics recommended by their agents.

In fact, we just popped down to the local clinic and arranged it there (for less than RM 100). No blood tests or scans, just a series of simple breathing and fitness tests, and we were registered healthy and ready to go – together with our medical reports.

Getting a Malaysian Health Insurance Policy

Choosing a Malaysian Health Insurance company is a minefield in itself, and deserves some serious study if you’re interested in saving money.

Here is a summary of the lowest-cost policies that we could find. The figures vary according to your exact age (relentlessly spirally up higher the older you get), but the purpose of the following is to demonstrate the differences in price from company to company for almost identical insurance policies:

  • AXA Affin via the Affin bank (SmartCare Optimum Plus) – RM 7,727
  • AIA (Plan 150) – RM 5,317
  • Tokio – RM 4,200
  • Progressive – RM 2,642
  • Allianz – 2443

All of these quotations were for a typical, healthy couple approaching retirement years – between 52 and 63 – the exact profile type that the MM2H program is targeting. In all cases, you need to add on a small processing fee of around RM 10. We went with Progressive Care Insurance, paying a total of RM 2,652 for 2 people.

This was a policy with similar benefits to our European Health Insurance, but 2½ times cheaper.

3rd Visit to Putrajaya, KL

Armed with these last documents, we returned to the MM2H offices at Putrajaya to finalize the process. Again there were big queues, and we had to wait a couple of hours. We also had to pay the application fee – IN CASH. Fortunately, there is an ATM machine on the ground floor. I needed to make several separate withdrawals since the ATMs allow a maximum withdrawal of RM 1,500 per transaction.

So we paid the cashier and finally… finally, after a process started over a year earlier, we received the MM2H stamps in our passports.

It was time to go celebrate 🥂


If you’d like to stay informed about how the new MM2H rules are implemented, subscribe for updates below:

Loading

Hotel Deals in Kuala Lumpur


If you are interested in our MM2H Application Experience, check out our 13-week Langkawi itinerary. You may also like:


________________________________________

Short Breaks Asia

Tropical Accessories

Short Breaks Europe

The SandSpice Shop