The city guides
The visa rules on this site are free and always will be. These guides cover the part you can't look up: which neighbourhood, which school, which hospital, and what other people actually paid their agent. From $29.
We live here. Most of what follows came from working it out the hard way, and from talking to people who've already made the move.
What's in a city guide
Pick Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Sabah or Sarawak. Each one covers:
- Neighbourhoods — where MM2H families actually settle, what each area is like, and roughly what you'd pay to rent or buy there.
- Schools — the international schools, what they charge, which curriculum, and which neighbourhoods they draw from.
- Healthcare — which hospitals, which specialists, what a visit costs, and which insurers will still take you after 60.
- Getting around — whether you need a car, what public transport is like, and how to convert your licence.
- Everyday life — groceries, malls, parks and playgrounds, and how close they are to each neighbourhood.
- Staying fit — gyms, clubs and classes, with what they cost.
- Your pets — import rules, quarantine, vets, groomers, and which parks allow dogs.
- A real monthly budget — for a couple and for a family, not an average.
- Finding your people — the expat groups that actually meet up.
What's only in the full guide
What other people paid their agent
Agent fees aren't regulated and aren't published. The government fee is fixed and public — RM 1,000 for Silver, RM 3,000 for Gold, RM 200,000 for Platinum — but what the agent charges on top is whatever they decide. We collect what real applicants paid, so you can tell whether your quote is normal. No agent will ever publish this, for obvious reasons.
- How to check an agent's licence — four checks, about five minutes.
- A monthly cost calculator — your age, your your family, your city, your school fees. Not a national average.
- Tax notes for your nationality — separate ones for the UK, US, Australia, Singapore, China, Japan and Korea.
- A year of updates. The rules changed in 2021, 2023 and 2024. When they change again, you get the corrected version.
- A straight answer on whether to go ahead — including when it's no.
What it costs
| One city | All five | Talk it through | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $29 | $89 | $349 |
| City guides | One | All five | All five |
| Agent fee data | — | Yes | Yes |
| Cost calculator | — | Yes | Yes |
| Tax notes | — | Yes | Yes |
| A year of updates | — | Yes | Yes |
| An hour on a call | — | — | Yes |
| A written plan | — | — | Yes |
Why it's worth paying for
MM2H Silver ties up about USD 283,000 once you count the deposit, the home you have to buy and the 8% stamp duty. Around USD 133,000 of that you never see again. Eighty-nine dollars is three hundredths of one percent of that decision.
And the thing most people don't find out until too late: the Premium Visa gives you the same right to work as MM2H Platinum, for about a fifth of the money. Nobody selling you a visa application has any reason to mention that.
If we talk you out of it, you don't pay
Read it. If you decide Malaysia isn't right for you, email us within 60 days and we'll refund you in full. Keep the guide. We'd rather refund $89 than watch someone commit $283,000 to something that was never going to suit them.
Common questions
What's the difference between the $29 and $89 guides?
The $29 guide covers one city of your choice in full: neighbourhoods, schools, hospitals, transport, everyday life, pets and a realistic monthly budget. The $89 guide covers all five cities and adds the agent fee data, the licence verification checks, a personal monthly cost calculator, tax notes for your nationality, a year of updates and a written recommendation. You can upgrade later and we credit what you already paid.
Can I get a refund?
Yes. If you read the guide and decide Malaysia isn't right for you, email us within 60 days and we'll refund you in full. You keep the guide. There's no form and we won't ask you to justify it — we would rather refund a guide than have someone commit a six-figure sum to something that doesn't suit them.
Is this information not free on government websites?
The visa rules are, and they're free on this site too. What isn't free anywhere is which neighbourhood suits a family with a twelve-year-old, which vet in Kota Kinabalu is any good, what an international school actually charges once you add the fees they don't advertise, or what other applicants paid their agent. That's what you're buying.
How often is the guide updated?
Whenever the rules change, and you get every update free for a year from purchase. MM2H changed substantially in 2021, again in December 2023 and again in June 2024, and the foreign-buyer stamp duty doubled in January 2026. Anything that changes gets corrected and re-dated.
Are you an MM2H agent?
No. We're not licensed to submit applications and we don't want to be. We take no fee from any agent and no commission on any property. That's precisely why we can publish what agents charge, and why we can tell you when a visa isn't worth it.
Prices in US dollars. Guides are delivered as a PDF plus a web version you can search. My Second Home is an independent publisher, not a licensed MM2H agent.