The fixed deposit is the part of MM2H people research first and understand least.
Two things are widely repeated and both are now wrong: that you must wait a year before touching it, and that you can spend the withdrawal on whatever you like. Neither appears in MOTAC’s current guidelines.
Here is what the rules actually say, and — more usefully — what the arithmetic looks like when you run it.
1. How much, by tier
| Tier | Fixed deposit | Pass validity |
|---|---|---|
| SEZ / SFZ, ages 21–49 | USD 65,000 | 10 years |
| SEZ / SFZ, ages 50+ | USD 32,000 | 10 years |
| Silver | USD 150,000 | 5 years |
| Gold | USD 500,000 | 15 years |
| Platinum | USD 1,000,000 | 20 years |
The SEZ tier is the only one that varies by age, and the gap is substantial — an applicant of 50 places less than half what a 49-year-old places for the identical pass.
Note the currencies. The deposit is denominated in US dollars. The property requirement, the participating fee and the renewal fees are all in ringgit. That mismatch matters, and we come back to it.
2. Where it has to sit
The deposit must be held in “any Malaysian financial institution licensed under the Financial Services Act 2013 [Act 758] or Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 [Act 759].”
That is a wide field. It covers the licensed commercial banks and the licensed Islamic banks — a long list, not a shortlist of favoured institutions. MOTAC does not name banks, and any agent who tells you the deposit must go to one particular bank is describing their own arrangement, not a rule.
Two practical points that follow from the legislation rather than from MOTAC:
- Licensed banks in Malaysia are covered by deposit insurance through PIDM, subject to its limits and terms. Check the current limit and whether it applies to foreign-currency deposits before you assume coverage.
- Both conventional and Islamic institutions qualify. If you would prefer a Shariah-compliant deposit, the Islamic Financial Services Act route is explicitly within the rules.
3. What you can take out — and when
This is the clause that has changed, and the one most sites still get wrong.
MOTAC’s wording is identical across all four tiers:
A maximum withdrawal of 50% is allowed on the principal FD value after the visa endorsement and signing the SPA agreement for the property as MM2H participant has been obtained for the purposes of purchasing a residence, education, medical and tourism activities in Malaysia.
Three things in that sentence.
“After the visa endorsement and signing the SPA agreement for the property… has been obtained.” Not after one year. The old twelve-month waiting period is not in the current guidelines. Approval is the trigger.
“A maximum of 50% on the principal FD value.” Half the capital, and not more than half under any circumstance described. Accumulated interest/profit can always be withdrawn without any approval or reason as the Principal amount less 50% withdrawal must remain as long as you hold the MM2H visa.
Four permitted purposes, and only four:
- Purchasing a residence in Malaysia
- Education
- Medical
- Tourism activities in Malaysia
All four are qualified by “in Malaysia”. This is not a general-purpose release of your own money. It is a mechanism for spending inside the country, which is rather the point of the programme.
4. The arithmetic nobody shows you
Here is the calculation that actually decides whether a tier works for you.
Every tier now requires a compulsory property purchase. The 50% withdrawal exists partly to fund it. So how far does it go?
| Tier | Deposit | 50% withdrawal | Property minimum | Withdrawal covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEZ (21–49) | USD 65,000 | ~USD 32,500 | RM 500,000 | roughly 25% |
| SEZ (50+) | USD 32,000 | ~USD 16,000 | RM 500,000 | roughly 13% |
| Silver | USD 150,000 | ~USD 75,000 | RM 600,000 | roughly half |
| Gold | USD 500,000 | ~USD 250,000 | RM 1,000,000 | comfortably all |
| Platinum | USD 1,000,000 | ~USD 500,000 | RM 2,000,000 | comfortably all |
* MOTAC does not publish a ringgit figure for SEZ. It states the purchase must be in Forest City, Johor, with the floor price “subject to Johor state property acquisition policy, currently at RM 500,000”
At Silver, the withdrawal covers something in the region of half the minimum property price at prevailing rates. You need the balance from elsewhere. A great many Silver applicants budget for the deposit and the property as though the first pays for the second, and it does not.
At Gold and Platinum the withdrawal comfortably exceeds the property minimum — but by then you have USD 500,000 or USD 1 million tied up, and Platinum carries a RM 200,000 participating fee on top.
Do the sum in the currency you actually hold, at today’s rate, before you choose a tier. The deposit is in dollars and the property is in ringgit. A ten per cent move against you between placing the deposit and completing the purchase is a real gap you have to fund, and nothing in the programme protects you from it.
5. The tax position
MOTAC lists, as a “category speciality” on every tier: tax exemption on incoming funds such as the FD.
That is a statement about the programme, and it is the reason MM2H is often described as tax-efficient. Two clarifications, because this is where people go wrong.
It is not a blanket exemption on everything you earn. It concerns funds brought into Malaysia, of which the fixed deposit is MOTAC’s own example and exemption on tax on interest from FD.
It is separate from Malaysia’s foreign-sourced income rules. Those are LHDN’s, not MOTAC’s. The exemption on foreign-sourced income for resident individuals — widely reported as extended to 31 December 2036 in the Budget 2025 announcement, and conditional on the income having been taxed where it arose — is a different provision under different administration. People conflate the two constantly.
We are MM2H consultants, not tax advisers, and the honest answer on tax is that your position depends on your nationality, your tax residence, your other income and any double taxation agreement in play. Get it confirmed by a qualified Malaysian tax adviser before you make decisions on the strength of it.
The honest part: what MOTAC does not publish
Everything above is stated in the guidelines. The following is not, and the gaps are worth knowing before you commit six or seven figures.
How the withdrawal is actually approved. The guidelines state that 50% may be withdrawn. The process is quite straight forward and it runs through an Official Agency and the One Stop Centre (OSC MM2H). Treat it as a process with a lead time, not a debit card.
What happens if you leave the programme.This is also a straight forward process which takes little time and once approved, you can easily take your funds and sell your property.
Interest rates and terms. MOTAC says nothing about them, because they are commercial matters between you and the bank. Rates on foreign-currency fixed deposits in Malaysia are typically above ringgit rates but depend on the currency.
What happens if the ringgit or dollar moves after placement. The deposit is denominated in dollars or ringgit; whether a subsequent currency move creates a shortfall against the qualifying amount is always possible.
The consequence of non-compliance is, however, published — and it is blunt. Failure to comply with any of the terms results in the MM2H pass being revoked. That applies to the deposit conditions as much as to the property conditions.
What this means if you are choosing a tier
If the deposit is the binding constraint, the ranking is not the obvious one.
SEZ at 50 or over — USD 32,000 — is by a wide margin the cheapest entry into MM2H, and it carries a 10-year pass. The trade is that the property must be in Forest City, Johor, and business and career activity are not permitted. We cover the SEZ route in detail separately.
Silver at USD 150,000 with a 5-year pass is the shortest term in the programme for the second-lowest deposit. If you want to try Malaysia rather than commit to it, the shorter term is a feature — but remember the property purchase and the ten-year resale restriction do not shorten with it.
Gold and Platinum buy term length, and Platinum alone buys the right to work and conduct business. Whether a fifteen or twenty-year pass justifies tying up USD 500,000 or USD 1 million is an investment decision, not an immigration one, and it should be tested against what that capital would earn elsewhere.
See the full fee breakdown by tier and every MM2H requirement in one place before deciding, and read renewal and what happens at the end of the term — the deposit obligation does not end when the pass does.
Before you place anything
Every application goes through a MOTAC-licensed agent and the One Stop Centre. Direct submissions are not accepted. Final approval sits with the Ministry of Home Affairs through the Immigration Department, and any appeal is under Home Affairs’ purview — not MOTAC’s.
Check any agent’s licence against MOTAC’s published list before you transfer money anywhere. Ours is MM2H874.
One piece of practical advice we give every client: do not place the deposit before you have an approval in principle and a clear view of your property plan. The deposit is the easy part to arrange and the hard part to unwind.
If you want to work through the numbers for your own situation — your tier, your currency, your property budget — talk it through with a licensed consultant. We have been doing this since 2008 and the conversation costs nothing.
Sources: MOTAC — MM2H guidelines · Silver · Gold · Platinum · SEZ/SFZ
Deposit amounts, withdrawal conditions and permitted purposes were checked against MOTAC’s published guidelines on 4 August 2026, which MOTAC last updated on 10 February 2026. Ringgit equivalents are indicative and move with the exchange rate. Malaysian visa and tax rules change; confirm current terms with a licensed agent and a qualified tax adviser before making financial commitments. General information only — not legal, tax or investment advice.
