First post looking for information

Member since 13 June 2023

freeheeler87Member27 June 2023 18:35:50

Hello

My family, wife and two young kids, currently live in San Diego, California. i will be retiring in a couple of years time and we are eager to move out of the country, mostly because of our children

I am originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland and my wife is from the Philippines. I've never been to Malaysia but i had a number of friends who lived in the Philippines and they always went there on vacation and loved it.. We have looked at other options like the UK but see the same set of problems that we have in the USA. We will likely come to Malaysia for a vacation to try and get some idea as to what to expect

Our list of priorities are

Schools for the kids

My son is a competitive swimmer and triathlete (10yrs old) We need good swim clubs and access to a cycling club or track or roads which are good and safe for cycling on. He will be 12yrs old when we move so I'm not sure whether he would qualify for middle or high school.

My daughter is 2 1/2 so will be 5 when we leave

i will be retired but my wife is a fully qualified Pilates instructor and i know she would like to find work in either a studio or leisure center or perhaps start her own business.

I really only know about Kuala Lumpur and nowhere else in Malaysia so we are open to suggestions.

We will likely look at renting for 6 months so we have time to look around and then hopefully buy somewhere if we like it. we would want our own home, not an apartment.

Are there special immigration packages available?

How is the healthcare? Private or public?

Schools, private or public?

Bhavna Team

Member since 01 June 2015

BhavnaTeam28 June 2023 02:41:10

42579

Hello freeheeler87,

Welcome on board !

Have you sorted out which visa you will apply for ?

I would recommend that you read the Living in Malaysia guide for expats to gather as much information as possible till members provide you their insights.

You may also contact the embassy nearest to your country of residence to enquire about formalities : https://www.kln.gov.my/web/usa_washington

All the best

Bhavna

Nemodot ViP

Member since 03 April 2011

NemodotViP18 July 2023 06:31:54

2128

Hi realistically the cheapest method for Malaysia is PR by investment. All you need to do is deposit 2 million USD into a fixed deposit in Malaysia and apply. This will allow your wife to work, no other realistic way as work permits are not available for pilates instructors. You can run a business as well.

MM2H is under review, but is actually more expensive that PR for the mainland over all allowing for cost of capital, and you can't work. It may be made more sensible, but currently you need 40,000 RM of offshore income per MONTH (eg a pension c. 8,000 USD per month currently) and 1.5 milluon RM of liquid assets (eg not a house). All that for a 5 years visitor visa in effect. Sarawak has a cheaper MM2H but can only spend 14 days in the mainland so is useless really if you have 2 kids). Currently MM2H is a shite show of stupidity.

Good schools for your kids run at at least 8,000-10,000 USD per year per kid (depends on fx rate), so two kids you need 16,000-20,000 USD per year. You can get dependent visas to stay with them BUT cannot work.

Good schools are ISKL, Garden International School etc. Check their fees.

If you think 2 million USD in liquid assets is lot then you are too poor for Malaysia! Try Phillipines (!) or Thailand, way better value for money.

Btw beware of the filthy scumbag "agents" who will say "easy set up business very cheap". They will fleece you and cheat you out of lot, people end up pay 10,000s of USD for nothing. PR is definitely the way to go for what you want.