COVID-19 and expatriation in Malaysia
The COVID-19 crisis inevitably impacts Malaysia, between closed airports or periods of containment in some cities or even the entire country .
We would like to hear from you during this unusual period, to find out what the consequences of this pandemic are on your expatriation or expatriation project in Malaysia.
Does the current crisis call into question your long-term expatriation project?
If you are already settled in Malaysia, do you plan to return to your home country?
How are you living through such an uncertain period, especially if you are far from your loved ones?
Have any of you ended your expatriation in Malaysia unexpectedly?
Paradoxically, has this crisis brought you closer to some people?
What are your plans for the future?
Thank you very much for your feedback.
Hope you are doing well.
尝辞茂肠.
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No i dont want to back my country now. cause its very risky to movement in current situation. its better for everyone to stay at home and keep safe.
I have decided not to go to my country, as this outbreak is spreading very quickly and easily. My suggestion to everyone is to stay safe and calm where ever you are,
Regards,
TK
Thank you
H T Mengesha
Nemodot wrote:After the Malaysian government said "far cough" to expats and MM2H visa holders I have decided to not apply for a MM2H visa. After a decade in Malaysia I moved for work to Korea as Money far better and the weak RM (and poor Malaysian economy before the pandemic), but wanted to buy a retirement property in Malaysia, but now the government can stick MM2H where the sun don't shine.
I somewhat share your sentiments about the Malaysian government.聽 To me, how it is handling this crisis will show me if Malaysia is up to the task.聽 Believe me, that first bulletin about telling wives to not nag husbands but do wear make-up while at home while humorous was not a good omen.
I am starting to love it here in San Francisco even more....
Since I am employed here, I have continuous work going on remotely (via telecons). Though, even before COVID-19, I was always working from home. So, for me, nothing much changed.
Only point - I am not sure when my family will be able to return back to KL (hopefully before September 2020)
Thanks for business continuity and on-going operations, I will extend mt work visa till end of 2022, so apparently I do not have any plans moving out of Malaysia
I heard that some of my friends are leaving Malaysia once MCO finishes. They are expats in international oil&gas companies. Looks like O&G companies will lay off almost 80% of expats worldwide
My original flight聽 home was on the 19th March and sadly the MCO came into place on the 18th.
I am currently聽 not with the people whom i had come to visit (they are in another state), I am聽 in Melbourne, alone, renting an聽 apartment for the unknown duration, whilst of course still incurring all my rent/bills back home in KL and missing my own surroundings terribly.
To say i am disappointed聽 that "residents" have not been allowed to re enter and go into self isolation or quarantine like Malaysian citizens is an understatement. I believe measures are necessary to keep this virus at bay, however I feel very displaced and rejected by a country that I have called home for such a long time.聽 聽My friends are my family!
Hoping we can all get back to "normal" soon.
Take Care.
But now stuck here as like you I am in a high risk group.
So now stuck in my apartment unless I can hitch an ocean journey back to Australia!
I dont think that there is much possibility that the MM2H will be attended to and taking a flight back to Australia in these circumstances is tantamount to suicide esp when they lock people up in recirculating airconditioned hotels !
Good luck every one-- its gunna be the closest thing to jail I have experienced
I've lived in Japan for over 15 years and debated whether to retire here or in Malaysia.聽 Long story but Malaysia became my first choice and I applied for the mm2h visa last November.聽 I had just given notice to my employer and got rid of 1/3 of my furniture in preparation of moving to KL in May when the MCO was announced in mid-March.聽 Like others I'm just waiting.聽
Footnote:聽 I lived at the actual epicenter when the Northridge earthquake hit in 1994 and was working in downtown Seattle (Washington Mutual Building) when in 2001 that city experienced it's biggest earthquake since 1949.聽 [The day before my colleague from San Francisco was visiting and he asked me if Seattle experienced earthquakes and I told him only minor ones.聽
]聽 聽And of course I was in Japan when the 2011 Tohoku earthquake occurred.聽 I know Malaysia doesn't experience any earthquakes of size but you may not want to live in KL after I arrive.dwhitedurango wrote:We are awaiting the acceptance of our MM2H visa, having filed it last August.聽 We left Penang聽 in December, as our 3-month visa was expiring. Our plan was to travel for 6 months and then return to Penang in June and spend another 3 months, hoping our visa would be approved before the end of that time, which would have been over a year's wait.聽 However, the best-laid plans .........聽 We are now in Spain and arrived just before the lockdown, which is currently in place until the end of April.聽 We are lucky to be in Costa del Sol where there is litte virus.聽 However, our plan to return to Penang in June is very questionable.聽 We do not know when we will be able to leave Spain or return to Penang.聽 We just have to wait it out and see what happens.聽 Luckily, our 3-month visa here is being extended for the length of the lockdown, so that is not an immediate problem.聽 In terms of the time frame for approval of MM2H visas, we have been advised by our agency that the time frame will, of course, now be longer, although no estimate has been given.聽 So who knows what the future holds!
If you don't mind, could you please let us know when you do get your mm2h approval?聽 聽I heard that some people who applied in July received approval in late January, and that the ministry actually stopped the approval process the first week of February.聽 I'm three months behind you btw.
It was very good to hear that people who filed in July were receiving approvals in January.聽 We were told it would be a year's wait, so that is very good information.聽 Since we filed in August, we should not be too far down the list when they resume processing applications.聽 The agency that filed our application for us said that there had been some changes to the process but did not explain further.
I will make a note of your user name and keep you up to date if we hear anything.聽 Currently, we are still in Spain.聽 Spain will be opening its border to tourism in July, but no idea when Malaysia will open theirs.聽 Hopefully we will be able to return to Penang in August.
Thanks for answering my post--I will keep in touch with any new information.
But I have to say that overall it looks like Malaysia, and in particular our Health ministry, have been doing some things right. I do feel safer here than in Europe or the US. I have good enough private health insurance, the local hospitals aren't bad either (very good recovery rates), and the majority of the population are considerate enough to wear a mask when in a public space. Grabfood and other delivery services have been so fantastic during the MCO. My friends in England who were in lockdown were unable to get food and grocery deliveries were backlogged for weeks. In KL we could get artisanal breads, fresh fruit, fresh seafood and deli cold cuts delivered in less than an hour.
Regarding immigration, well the latest Head of Immigration seems to be anti-foreigner, and not supportive of any of the other initiatives being rolled out like MM2H, MDEC's Tech programmes and Talentcorp's Returning Expert Programme. In the past, fast-track PR was promised to spouses and children of returning Malaysians who qualified for the programme, but after the change of head, immigration no longer honours this benefit, even if people had already been approved for the REP with this benefit clearly mentioned. My husband had to wait pretty long to get his spouse visa, and it was in 6-month intervals for a few rounds. Thankfully we had a 1-year renewal just before the MCO. So yes, immigration is a major pain, and you might feel "unwanted" but if you can jump through those hoops, you can live comfortably. And if you're not willing to jump through hoops, I think moving countries and moving to Asia is not for you. It's not so different elsewhere. I just feel sorry for those who were caught unaware by the sudden MCO announcement and got stuck overseas..... MM2H can definitely come back in now so I hope you'll make your way back soon!
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