The fixed deposit is the largest number in MM2H and the most misunderstood, because it is routinely added to the participation fee and the property purchase as though all three were the same kind of money. They are not.
The deposit is capital, not cost
The fixed deposit stays yours. It sits with a Malaysian financial institution and remains your asset. The programme’s own tax position is that incoming funds such as the deposit are exempt.
The participation fee is different money. It is one-off, per principal application, no fee for dependants, and it is spent: RM1,000 on Silver, RM3,000 on Gold, RM200,000 on Platinum, RM1,000 on the SEZ category.
The property purchase is a third thing again: an asset you own but cannot sell for ten years.
Blur those categories together and you get the wildly different answers people quote for what MM2H costs.
What each category requires
| Category | Fixed deposit |
|---|---|
| Silver | USD150,000 |
| Gold | USD500,000 |
| Platinum | USD1 million |
| SEZ / SFZ | USD65,000 (ages 21 to 49) / USD32,000 (50 and above) |
The SEZ category is the only one that varies the deposit by age, and at USD32,000 for applicants aged 50 and above it is a fraction of Silver. The condition attached is that the residence must be bought in Forest City, Johor.
Where it has to sit
With a Malaysian financial institution licensed under the Financial Services Act 2013 (Act 758) or the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (Act 759). The programme specifies the licensing regime, not a list of banks, which means both conventional and Islamic institutions qualify provided they hold the relevant licence.
Which specific banks will open an MM2H deposit account for a non-resident, and on what terms, is a commercial question those banks answer individually. It is not published centrally, and any list claiming otherwise is someone’s summary rather than a programme rule.
The withdrawal you are allowed
After approval as a participant, up to 50 percent of the principal may be withdrawn. The permitted purposes are defined and narrow:
- purchasing a residence
- education
- medical treatment
- tourism activities in Malaysia
This matters for the arithmetic. On Silver, half of USD150,000 can go toward the RM600,000 residence you are in any case required to buy, which means the deposit and the property requirement are not two entirely separate demands on your capital.
The deposit is not just held, it is encumbered
The renewal guidelines from the Immigration Department ask for an original confirmation letter from the bank stating the fixed deposit is tagged under lien. A lien is a formal charge over the money, not a polite request to leave it alone.
That single phrase explains several things the programme pages leave implicit. It is why the 50 percent withdrawal has to be authorised rather than simply taken. It is why the bank, not the participant, is asked to confirm the position at renewal. And it is why moving the deposit between banks is a matter for the programme rather than a private banking decision.
It also means the deposit does work beyond sitting there: at renewal it is the evidence, and the alternative evidence route is three months of offshore income of RM10,000 or more, which the federal category pages never mention.
The part people get wrong
The deposit is not an application fee, it is not consumed by the programme, and it is not a payment to an agent. An agent’s service fee is a fourth kind of money altogether, set by each company, not published in the ministry register, and quoted individually.
If a quotation you receive does not clearly separate the deposit, the participation fee, the property and the agent’s own fee, ask for one that does.