THE rejection of 90% of Malaysia My Second Home Programme (MM2H) applications has caused a loss of RM776 million for the country, the programme’s agents said today.

Malaysia My Second Home Consultants Association (MM2HCA) president Lim Kok Sai said more than 1,000 applications submitted between September to November last year were rejected without reason.

“The more than 1,000 rejected applications means an estimated loss of RM776 million in business,” he said at a press conference today. 

Lim also said the rejection rate used to be 10% and were due to the applicants’ financial status and security clearance issues. 

He said agents under MM2HCA are in a limbo as they have to return fees to applicants following the rejection.

“We will try to appeal first and we will also try to resubmit the application. Worse comes to worst, we have to return the money.

“But it is hard as the agents have already spent some of the money, especially during the movement-control order (MCO). They have salaries to pay.”

The agency is also trying to meet with government officials to discuss the problem.

“We are not blaming anybody, we just want to find a solution. We are in a difficult position, we do not want to retrench people. It’s difficult to find jobs now,” Lim said, adding that agencies had to cut corners.

MM2H applications were previously under the purview of the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac), but the Immigration Department earlier today confirmed that it had taken over applications for the MM2H visa.

Lim said the agents were also in the dark about this change.

Since the start of the MCO in mid-March, however, Putrajaya closed all its borders to foreign travel except for limited categories. 

MM2H visa holders, however, were denied entry into Malaysia, causing some 200 visa holders to be stranded abroad. 

Lim said he had heard of several cases but most of them have been resolved, especially with the guidelines the government has introduced.

“Now I think it should not be a problem because they have been given clear guidelines. Once given approval, they must do a swab test within 14 days and then proceed to buy tickets to return here,” he said.

MM2H was launched in 2002, with the majority of being Chinese applicants, followed by Japan, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom and South Korea. – July 2, 2020.