Search for how to become a permanent resident in Malaysia and you get agency landing pages, old forum threads, and a confident claim about a points system nobody can show you on a government page. Alamak. Meanwhile the department that decides publishes its whole rulebook, free, in a 66-page guideline linked straight off its own Entry Permit page — and almost nobody quotes it.
Fix the vocabulary first. Malaysia does not hand out a “PR visa”. The Immigration Department issues an Entry Permit (Permit Masuk) under section 10 of the Immigration Act 1959/63; once you hold one, the National Registration Department issues a red MyPR identity card. Two departments, two counters, two fees. Everything below comes from those two, the statute, and the pages they link.
Quick Answer: four published categories — wife of a citizen, husband of a citizen, child of a citizen under 18, and Fully Foreign National. Each needs a stated number of years on a stated pass, and time on the wrong pass counts as zero. The fee is RM120.00, cashless, paid when you collect. You file at the Immigration Office nearest where you live with your Malaysian sponsor beside you, and the decision can be checked 6 months after the file is accepted.
- Where: the Immigration Office nearest your place of residence. Applicant and sponsor both attend, with complete original documents.
- Cost: RM120.00 for the permit, cashless. A nationality-based security deposit applies to the Fully Foreign National category. The MyPR card afterwards is RM40.00 at the National Registration Department.
- How long: the guideline says the result may be checked 6 months after the Acknowledgement of Receipt. The Entry Permit does not appear in Immigration’s Client Charter at all.
- Catch: years spent on MM2H, a Premium Visa pass, a Temporary Employment Visit Pass, a UNHCR card or IMM.13 are expressly not counted — and in the Fully Foreign National category those holders cannot apply.
Table of Contents
What it isThe categoriesCounting yearsThe counterWhat an Entry Permit Is, and What It Is Not
Immigration’s own description: an Entry Permit is a document issued to a foreign national to enter and reside legally in Malaysia without any time limit. Section 2 of Act 155 is drier — “a Permit to enter and remain in Malaysia issued under section 10” — but the effect is the same, and the permit once issued carries no expiry date.
What it is not is an entitlement. Section 10(2) says that on application and payment of the prescribed fees the Director General may issue a permit “on such terms and conditions as the Director General may think fit”, and Immigration calls it the highest privilege granted by the Government to a foreign national, revocable if conditions are violated. Meeting every published condition makes an application eligible. It does not make it approved.
The rulebook is the Buku Garis Panduan Permohonan Permit Masuk, published by the Entry Permit Unit of the Visa, Pass and Permit Division in Putrajaya. The edition currently linked is marked SEPT ’25, with two appendices stamped later, October 2025. Its stated legal basis is the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Immigration Regulations 1963, the Immigration (Prohibition of Entry) Order 1963, and current government policy.
The Four Categories, and the Years Behind Each
There are four categories and no fifth. Nothing in the guideline resembles a points table, a score, or a merit band — the gates are the conditions below, and the conditions are mostly about years.
| Category | Relationship | Years of marriage | Minimum long-term pass | Interview | Police screening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wife of a citizen | Lawful wife of a Malaysian man, marriage registered in Malaysia | At least 3 years, no separation or divorce | Long Term Social Visit Pass (Wife of Citizen), more than 12 months and still valid | Yes | Yes |
| Husband of a citizen | Lawful husband of a Malaysian woman, marriage registered in Malaysia | At least 5 years, no separation or divorce | Long Term Social Visit Pass (Husband of Citizen), 5 continuous years, not lapsed more than 6 months | Yes | Yes |
| Child of a citizen | Biological child of a Malaysian citizen, under 18 | Not applicable | Social Visit, Student, Professional Visit or Residence Pass, more than 12 months and still valid | No | No |
| Fully Foreign National | Investor, expert or professional in a field recognised and certified by a Malaysian regulatory agency | Not applicable | Employment, Student, Professional Visit or Residence Pass, 5 continuous years, not lapsed more than 6 months | Yes | Yes |
Every category also needs a passport valid at least 12 months and a sponsor — penaja, a Malaysian citizen who vouches for the applicant: the husband, the wife, the Malaysian parent, or for a Fully Foreign National any citizen. Applicants must be free of Immigration’s Suspect List and Blacklist, which the guideline ties to the prohibited immigrant classes in subsection 8(3) of the Act.
The Fully Foreign National category carries one gate the other three do not: it is written for investors, experts and professionals in fields certified by a Malaysian regulatory agency, and the guideline supplies both lists — 10 regulatory agencies, from Bank Negara Malaysia to the Ministry of Digital, and 49 critical occupations, from managing director and chief executive down to plantation and forestry plant operators. Both are marked updated October 2025. An applicant here may bring a spouse and biological children into the same file, if they hold a qualifying pass for more than 12 months that is still valid.
The Years That Do Not Count
This is the paragraph that quietly decides most cases, and it is the one least often repeated. Two clauses near the front of the guideline rule out whole groups of long-term residents:
- For the wife and husband categories: holders of a Temporary Employment Visit Pass, a UNHCR card, or IMM.13 are not eligible to apply, and the time spent holding those passes cannot be taken into account.
- For the Fully Foreign National category: holders of MM2H, a Premium Visa Programme pass, a Temporary Employment Visit Pass, a UNHCR card, or IMM.13 are not eligible, and again that time does not count.
Read the second one twice if you are on MM2H. The guideline’s own definition says the programme lets a foreign national live here long term with non-permanent-resident status, and Malaysia My Second Home is run by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, not by Immigration. A decade on that pass leaves the Entry Permit clock at zero — the most expensive misunderstanding in this subject, stated plainly on page 10 of a document nobody reads.
MM2H is not a route to permanent residence, but it is its own long-stay programme with its own deposits, property floor and rules — covered in our MM2H guide.
The passes that do count are the ones named in each category. The spouse Long Term Social Visit Pass is itself a separate application: issued for a minimum of 6 months, grantable up to 5 years for the foreign husband or wife of a citizen, and it already allows work or business without converting to an Employment Pass. Immigration also runs Naziran checks on pass holders — visits to the registered address, interviews, document review — and feeds the findings back into approval and extension decisions.
The Counter: Documents, Interview, Police Check
The application form is IM.4 – PIN.1/93, Application for an Entry Permit into the Federation, and it is obtained at the nearest Immigration Office. Applicant and sponsor must attend together, with complete original documents, and the guideline is explicit that only complete applications that clear the mandatory conditions are accepted.
| Category | Mandatory items | The ones that catch people |
|---|---|---|
| Wife or husband | 13 | The marriage certificate registered in Malaysia; a statutory declaration on the marriage; children’s MyKad for ages 12 and above; MyKad copies of 2 citizen referees; a utility, assessment or phone bill showing the current address; the spouse pass deposit receipt |
| Child under 18 | 10 | The foreign birth certificate, translated into Malay or English and certified by the embassy of the country of birth and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the parents’ marriage certificate |
| Fully Foreign National | 8, plus 16 supporting | The supporting list is the real assessment: the last 3 months’ income, the SSM business registration certificate, proof of investment from a regulatory agency, and income tax paid for the last 5 years |
The statutory declarations are the Commissioner for Oaths kind, and the guideline supplies the forms. Then two filters: applicant and sponsor sit an interview for assessment and verification, and the application goes through a Royal Malaysia Police security screening — the eligibility table marks both as not applicable in the child category. When the file is complete and the conditions are met, Immigration issues an Acknowledgement of Receipt. Keep it: the clock in the next section runs from its date.
The Fee, the Deposit, and the MyPR Card
The permit fee is RM120.00, cashless, by credit or debit card — the only ringgit figure printed in the body of the guideline. The other money sits in an appendix. The security deposit, Wang Cagaran, is a guarantee sum payable at application and set by the applicant’s nationality; the rate table is marked as applying to the Fully Foreign National category, and it is refundable after holding the permit for 2 years from the date of issue. All 21 rows, because nobody else prints them:
| Nationality | Security deposit |
|---|---|
| America | RM2,000.00 |
| Canada | RM2,000.00 |
| Nigeria | RM2,000.00 |
| China | RM1,500.00 |
| Vietnam | RM1,500.00 |
| Yemen | RM1,500.00 |
| Stateless | RM1,500.00 |
| All other countries | RM1,500.00 |
| Japan | RM1,000.00 |
| Korea | RM1,000.00 |
| Macao | RM1,000.00 |
| Bangladesh | RM750.00 |
| India | RM750.00 |
| Pakistan | RM750.00 |
| Philippines | RM750.00 |
| Myanmar | RM750.00 |
| Sri Lanka | RM750.00 |
| Nepal | RM750.00 |
| Indonesia | RM500.00 |
| Thailand | RM300.00 |
| Singapore | RM200.00 |
One footnote: the spouse checklist asks for a deposit receipt too, but a different one — the deposit already paid for the spouse pass, not a new payment under this table. The guideline brackets these rates to the Fully Foreign National category and does not extend them to the spouse or child categories, so ask at the counter rather than assuming either way.
The card is a separate errand. Everyone with permanent resident status has been required to change their identity card to MyPR since 1 June 2006. It is red, it shows the original nationality, and it displays the entry permit number where applicable. First application only at the National Registration Department headquarters in Putrajaya or a state office; replacement at any counter. Bring the entry permit, the passport, and for those born in Malaysia the birth certificate, each in original and copy. The fee is RM40.00.
Six Months to a Decision, Thirty Days to Appeal
The honest position on timing: the guideline says the decision may be checked 6 months after the Acknowledgement of Receipt, through the myPermit status page on Immigration’s e-services portal or the QR code printed beside it, and the decision letter goes by post to the sponsor’s address. Separately, the Director General’s foreword says the work process has been improved to six months, against a longer period before.
⚠️ Editor’s note — why there is no service standard here: Immigration’s Client Charter has no Entry Permit line at all. The Visa, Pass and Permit Division table covers the Visa with Reference at 5 working days, the Long Term (Social) Visit Pass at 25 working days, the Short Term (Social) Visit Pass and MM2H at 1 working day, artist and student passes at 5 working days, missionary at 25 working days, and the APEC Business Travel Card at 6 months — and stops. The charter also carries its own carve-out: it applies only in a normal situation, excluding incomplete, complicated, or applications that require further reference.
If the answer is no, both the route and the deadline are set out. An appeal goes in within 30 days of the date on the rejection letter, addressed to the Ketua Setiausaha, Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration Affairs Division, Level 4, Setia Perkasa 2, Federal Government Administrative Centre, 62546 Putrajaya; enquiries on 03-8886 3316 / 3319 / 3170 or [email protected]. That deadline is not internal policy — section 10(3) of the Act gives a person aggrieved by a refusal thirty days to appeal by petition in writing to the Minister, whose decision is final. Separately, a refused applicant may file a fresh application at the nearest Immigration Office only after 1 year from the date of the decision. Two different doors, two different clocks.
Collecting It, and the Stamp You Redo Every Passport
Approval is not collection, and the approval letter is perishable. It is in force for 6 months from the date it is issued; if the applicant or sponsor does not turn up within that window the approval is cancelled, and the guideline repeats the point in a second paragraph for anyone who missed it.
- Step one: applicant and sponsor attend the nearest Immigration Office with the sponsor’s identity card, the applicant’s passport valid more than 12 months, and the original approval letter, so the validity of the current pass can be amended.
- Step two: within 30 days of that amendment, both attend the Visa, Pass and Permit Division at Immigration Headquarters to pay and have the permit issued. The passport must be valid for not less than 12 months and have 4 blank pages.
- Step three: the fee is settled before the permit is issued. The permit that comes out has no expiry date.
Then the part that surprises new holders: the permit is a document, not a travel endorsement. To leave and re-enter Malaysia you need the Entry Permit Notice stamped in your passport, and its validity is tied to the passport’s — so a fresh Notice stamp at the nearest Immigration Office every time you renew the passport. A complete Notice application is processed and handed over within 1 working day; one needing detailed checking takes 14 working days. If the original permit is lost or damaged, the Notice has to be done at Immigration Headquarters rather than a branch. And one clause in that section is easy to miss: if a holder is found to have stayed outside Malaysia more than 6 months, the new Notice application is deferred while Immigration investigates the absence.
What the Permit Opens, and What It Closes
What the permit allows, in the guideline’s own order: reside permanently and lawfully without a time limit; work, study and run a business without converting to another pass, subject to current law; own property, subject to the relevant agency’s conditions; smoother entry and exit, subject to the rules at entry points; and eligibility to apply for citizenship, subject to the Federal Constitution.
What it forbids is equally explicit. No voting or taking part in any election process. No involvement in local politics, including joining a political party. No eligibility to hold a post in the public service, the armed forces or the police. No altering the particulars on the permit. And it can be taken away: the Director General may cancel it if the holder is found prejudicial to public order, public security, public health or morality, or to fall within the prohibited immigrant classes under subsection 8(3) — which mirrors section 9(1)(c) of the Act. The permit is surrendered, not retired, if the holder is granted citizenship, returns home for good, or dies, in which case the next of kin hands it back.
⚠️ Editor’s note — the guideline disagrees with itself on geography: paragraph 14.5 says a permit issued in Peninsular Malaysia or Labuan does not allow residence in Sabah or Sarawak, while a permit issued in Sabah or Sarawak does allow residence in the Peninsula and Labuan. The disclaimer page of the same document says a permit registered in Sabah or Sarawak is valid only in Sabah or Sarawak. Both sentences are in the same 66-page file. The disclaimer also notes that decisions in the Peninsula and Labuan sit with the Federal Government, while decisions in Sabah or Sarawak are supported by the respective state governments. If this matters to you, ask the issuing office in writing.
Citizenship is a different department and a much longer road. The National Registration Department handles it, and for an adult permanent resident the door is Article 19 of the Federal Constitution, naturalisation: aged 21 or above on the date of application; resident in the Federation not less than 10 years within a period of 12 years, including the 12 months immediately before it; an intention to reside permanently; good character; adequate knowledge of the Malay language; and two citizen referees who are not relatives, not hired persons, and not the applicant’s advocates or solicitors. The entry permit is one of the documents asked for. Registration is RM10.00, and the certificate on approval is RM200.00 for those who were in the Federation on Merdeka Day, 31 August 1957, and RM300.00 for those who were not. Other routes to citizenship — Article 14, for a child born abroad — run through JPN instead and are covered separately.
Walaoeh Verdict
Check which pass you are on before you count a single year. The categories, the marriage lengths and the fee are the easy part. The clause that decides most cases is the one that says time on MM2H, a Premium Visa pass, a Temporary Employment Visit Pass, a UNHCR card or IMM.13 does not count — and in the Fully Foreign National category those holders cannot apply at all. Everything else follows from that one line.
Three practical rules. Keep the Acknowledgement of Receipt — the 6-month status clock runs from its date, and nothing else in the process is dated for you. Diary the approval letter’s issue date, because it dies 6 months after that and takes the approval with it. And read the guideline yourself: it is free, linked from imi.gov.my, and the version currently up is marked SEPT ’25, so check the edition has not changed before you rely on a figure here. A decision under section 10(2) is discretionary, and nobody can promise an outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How long does a Malaysian permanent residence application take?
Immigration publishes two six-month statements and no more. Paragraph 7.1 of its Entry Permit guideline says the decision may be checked 6 months after the Acknowledgement of Receipt, and the Director General’s foreword says the work process has been improved to six months. There is no Entry Permit line in the Client Charter at all — that table stops at the Long Term Social Visit Pass (25 working days) and MM2H (1 working day). Any average you read elsewhere is not an official figure.
Does marrying a Malaysian give you permanent residence?
No. A foreign wife may apply after at least 3 years of marriage without separation or divorce, holding a Long Term Social Visit Pass (Wife of Citizen) for more than 12 months that is still valid. A foreign husband needs at least 5 years of marriage and 5 continuous years on the pass, unbroken for more than 6 months. The marriage must be one registered in Malaysia — a certificate from the National Registration Department, a State Islamic Religious Department or a Native Court.
Does time on an MM2H pass count toward permanent residence?
No. Paragraph 2.5 puts holders of MM2H, the Premium Visa Programme pass, a Temporary Employment Visit Pass, a UNHCR card and IMM.13 outside the Fully Foreign National category, and says the time spent holding them cannot be taken into account. The guideline’s own definition calls MM2H a long-term visit pass held with non-permanent-resident status; it is run by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, not by Immigration.
What does the Entry Permit cost, and is the deposit refundable?
The permit fee is RM120.00, cashless, by credit or debit card. A separate security deposit is set by the applicant’s nationality, and the rate table in the guideline is marked for the Fully Foreign National category — RM200.00 for a Singaporean, RM500.00 for an Indonesian, RM1,500.00 for most passports, RM2,000.00 at the top. It may be claimed back after holding the permit for 2 years from the date it was issued. The red MyPR identity card is a separate transaction at the National Registration Department, at RM40.00.
Can a permanent resident vote, join the civil service, or apply for citizenship?
Not the first two. The guideline is plain: no voting or taking part in any election process, no involvement in local politics including joining a political party, and no eligibility to hold a post in the public service, the armed forces or the police. Citizenship is a different counter — the National Registration Department’s Article 19 route asks for residence in the Federation of not less than 10 years within a period of 12 years, including the 12 months before the application, age 21 or above, adequate Malay, and two citizen referees who are not relatives.
Sources
Every figure here comes from an official Malaysian source — imi.gov.my, imigresen-online.imi.gov.my, jpn.gov.my, lom.agc.gov.my and mm2h.gov.my — all fetched and checked on 17 September 2026. Two notes on how. The Entry Permit guideline is a PDF that Immigration hosts in a Google Drive folder titled Buku Garis Panduan e-Book and links from its own Entry Permit page in both languages; the copy read here is the edition marked SEPT ’25. And lom.agc.gov.my answers direct requests to its act pages with “Invalid request”, so Act 155 was located through the portal’s Principal Act index and read from the PDF that index points at — a reprint stated as incorporating all amendments up to 1 January 2006.
- Immigration Department of Malaysia — Entry Permit (categories, definition, link to the guideline e-book)
- Immigration Department of Malaysia — Buku Garis Panduan Permohonan Permit Masuk e-book, edition marked SEPT ’25, linked from the page above
- Immigration Department of Malaysia — Client Charter (Visa, Pass and Permit Division timings)
- Immigration Department of Malaysia — Prohibited Immigrant (the classes under subsection 8(3))
- Immigration Department of Malaysia — Long Term Social Visit Pass
- Immigration Department of Malaysia — myPermit application status check
- Immigration Department of Malaysia — state and branch office addresses
- National Registration Department — MyPR (features, application, documents, fee)
- National Registration Department — citizenship under Article 19 of the Federal Constitution
- Laws of Malaysia — Immigration Act 1959/63 (Act 155), reprint stated as incorporating amendments up to 1 January 2006
- Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture — Malaysia My Second Home
About this guide. Written by an independent Malaysian and re-checked against official sources on a schedule. It is general information, not legal, tax, financial or medical advice — rules, fees and thresholds in Malaysia change, sometimes without notice. Where a decision affects your money or your rights, confirm with the official agency or a licensed professional before acting.