# Visas for Business Owners — Employment Pass, MM2H, PVIP and Dependant Pass Compared

> Which long-term pass actually permits work, business or a directorship in Malaysia — Employment Pass, the four MM2H tiers, PVIP, Dependant Pass, LTSVP, PVP and DE Rantau, compared on the permissions that matter.

- Category: business
- Language: en
- Status: published
- Updated: 2026-07-20
- Canonical: https://negaraku.md/en/business/malaysia-business-visa-comparison

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The question behind every one of these programmes is the same: **may I actually work,
or run my company, on this pass?**

Marketing material for residence programmes is careful never to answer it directly, and
the market has settled on a shorthand — MM2H does not permit work — that is half right
and therefore misleading in both directions.

Here is the permission table, read off the issuing authorities.

## What each pass permits

| Pass | Issued by | Employment by a Malaysian company | Business or investment activity |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Employment Pass** | Immigration (ESD) | Yes — this is its purpose | Sponsored by the employer |
| **MM2H Silver** | MOTAC | **Not allowed** | **Not allowed** |
| **MM2H Gold** | MOTAC | **Not allowed** | **Not allowed** |
| **MM2H Platinum** | MOTAC | **Permissible** | **Permissible** |
| **MM2H SEZ / SFZ** | MOTAC | **Not allowed** | **Not allowed** |
| **PVIP** | Immigration | Yes — permitted to work and carry out legal business activities | Yes |
| **Dependant Pass** | Immigration (ESD) | No — must convert to an Employment Pass | No |
| **LTSVP, spouse of a Malaysian citizen** | Immigration | Yes, by endorsement | Yes |
| **Professional Visit Pass** | Immigration (ESD) | No — non-salaried, employed by the overseas company | No |
| **DE Rantau** | MDEC (a form of PVP) | Not the purpose of the pass | Remote work for foreign clients |

For Silver, Gold and SEZ, MOTAC's own wording adds a pointed rider: *the relevant pass
must be requested*. That is the programme telling you to get an Employment Pass.

## The MM2H tiers in full

MM2H is administered by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and since the 2024
restructuring it runs on four tiers.

| | Silver | Gold | Platinum | SEZ / SFZ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fixed deposit | USD 150,000 | USD 500,000 | USD 1,000,000 | USD 65,000 (age 21–49) or USD 32,000 (50+) |
| Property purchase | RM600,000 and above | RM1 million and above | RM2 million and above | Forest City, Johor |
| Participation fee (one-off, principal) | RM1,000 | RM3,000 | RM200,000 | RM1,000 |
| Pass duration | 5 years MEV | 15 years MEV | 20 years MEV | 10 years MEV |
| Minimum stay | 90 cumulative days per year | 90 days | 90 days | 90 days |
| Work and business | Not allowed | Not allowed | **Permissible** | Not allowed |

Common conditions across the tiers:

- The fixed deposit must be with a Malaysian institution licensed under the Financial
  Services Act 2013 or the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013.
- A **maximum 50 percent withdrawal** of the principal deposit is allowed after
  approval, for purchasing a residence, education, medical treatment and tourism.
- Purchase of a residence is **compulsory after approval**, and **selling is not
  allowed for 10 years** — though the property may be upgraded to a higher-value one.
- Failure to comply with any term results in the pass being **revoked**.
- The 90-day requirement may be satisfied by the principal and/or dependants for
  participants aged 25 to 49.
- Pass validity tracks the passport, so a passport expiring early forces a renewal.

Dependants may include spouse, children under 21, children aged 21 to 34 if unemployed
and single while in Malaysia, medically certified disabled children with no age limit,
and parents or parents-in-law.

**The correction worth making twice.** Most published guidance states flatly that MM2H
holders may not work or hold a directorship. That is accurate for Silver, Gold and the
SEZ tier. It is **not** accurate for Platinum, where MOTAC states in terms that
business and investment activities are permissible and that career opportunities are
permissible. The price of that permission is a USD 1 million deposit, a RM2 million
property and a RM200,000 fee — so it is a real option for very few people, but it
exists and the blanket claim is wrong.

## PVIP — the overlooked one

The Premium Visitor Pass sits with Immigration rather than MOTAC and is the most
permissive programme on this page.

- **Income:** onshore **and** offshore income of RM40,000 per month, or RM480,000
  annually — or, alternatively, a net worth of at least RM1 billion.
- **Fixed deposit:** RM1,000,000 with a licensed Malaysian bank, **no withdrawal of the
  principal**.
- **Participation fee:** RM200,000 for the principal, RM100,000 per dependant, with a
  10-year option for dependants at RM50,000.
- **Duration:** up to 20 years with a multiple entry visa. **No age limit.**
- **Stay:** exempt from a minimum staying requirement.
- **Permissions:** allowed to work and carry out legal business activities, study,
  purchase residential, commercial and industrial property, and invest actively.

Two cautions. Most guides drop the word *onshore* from the income test, quoting it as
an offshore-income requirement. And PVIP does not appear in Immigration's main pass
index — it is published only on the eServices document server, and several
PVIP-branded websites are not government domains.

## Dependant Pass and LTSVP — the endorsement confusion

These two are constantly conflated, and the practical difference is the whole point.

A **Dependant Pass** covers the spouse and children of an Employment Pass holder. ESD's
position is explicit: a DP holder who wishes to work must apply for an **Employment
Pass** through the employing company via ESD Online, and a person may hold **only one
pass at a time**, so the DP must be surrendered or shortened. There is no work
endorsement on a Dependant Pass.

A **Long Term Social Visit Pass** covers the parents and parents-in-law of an
Employment Pass holder, and a common law spouse may be considered. In that form,
employment is not allowed and requires conversion to an Employment Pass; study requires
conversion to a Student Pass.

But the LTSVP issued to the **foreign spouse of a Malaysian citizen** is a different
animal. Immigration states that the holder is permitted to work, engage in business or
undertake professional employment **without the need to convert to an Employment
Pass**, with the permission endorsed in the pass by the Director General of
Immigration. That endorsement route is the one people are thinking of when they wrongly
attribute it to a Dependant Pass.

## Professional Visit Pass and DE Rantau

A **Professional Visit Pass** runs to a maximum of **12 months with no extension beyond
12 months**. The position is **non-salaried**, the expatriate remains employed by the
overseas company, and it is limited to one contract or project at a time. The host must
be ESD-registered, and the sticker must be endorsed within 14 days of entry.

**DE Rantau**, MDEC's digital nomad pass, is legally a type of Professional Visit Pass.
Income requirement is USD 24,000 a year for tech talent and USD 60,000 for non-tech
roles, which now include founders, chief executives, chief operating and chief
financial officers, legal counsel and tax specialists. Duration is 3 to 12 months,
renewable by a further 12 months, to a **maximum of 24 months**. Fees are RM1,000 for
the principal and RM500 per dependant.

## Common mistakes

- **Believing MM2H never permits work.** Platinum expressly does.
- **Believing MM2H generally permits work because Platinum does.** Silver, Gold and SEZ
  expressly do not, and MOTAC tells you to request the relevant pass instead.
- **Assuming over-50s escape the MM2H stay requirement.** All four tiers require 90
  cumulative days a year.
- **Expecting a work endorsement on a Dependant Pass.** DP holders convert to an
  Employment Pass and give up the DP.
- **Reading the PVIP income test as offshore only.** The official wording is onshore
  and offshore income of RM40,000 per month.
- **Using a Professional Visit Pass to run your own Malaysian company.** It is
  non-salaried, single-project and tied to a foreign employer.
- **Forgetting the MM2H 10-year property lock-in.** The residence cannot be sold for
  ten years, only upgraded.

## What's next

Decide first whether you need to be *paid by* a Malaysian entity. If you do, the
Employment Pass is the instrument and every other route is a detour — see the founder
guidance for the ESD sequencing and the salary bands revised with effect from 1 June
2026.

If you do not, and you are relocating on capital rather than salary, compare PVIP
against MM2H Platinum directly: both permit business activity, PVIP has no minimum stay
and no property lock-in, and MM2H Platinum requires a RM2 million residence you cannot
sell for a decade.

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**Verification status.** AI-assisted draft, not yet reviewed by a subject-matter
expert. MM2H figures and permissions were read directly from the MOTAC category pages
for Silver, Gold, Platinum and SEZ. Programme terms change without much notice —
confirm with the issuing authority before committing a deposit or a fee.

## Sources

- Malaysia My Second Home — Category Platinum, Gold, Silver and SEZ — https://www.mm2h.gov.my/ (Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture)
- Terms and Regulations for New Participants Under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Programme — https://www.motac.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Terms-And-Regulations-For-New-Participants-Under-The-Malaysia-My-Second-Home-MM2H-.pdf (Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture)
- Revised Employment Pass Salary Policy Effective 1 June 2026 — https://esd.imi.gov.my/portal/latest-news/announcement/announcement-266-ep-salary-policy-2026/ (Expatriate Services Division, Immigration Department of Malaysia)
- Employment for Dependant Pass Holder — https://esd.imi.gov.my/portal/latest-news/announcement-2018/employment-for-dependent-pass-holder/ (Expatriate Services Division, Immigration Department of Malaysia)
- Long Term Social Visit Pass — https://www.imi.gov.my/index.php/en/main-services/pass/visitor-pass/social-visit-pass/long-term-social-visit-pass/ (Immigration Department of Malaysia)
- Frequently Asked Questions — Premium Visitor Pass (PVIP) — https://imigresen-online.imi.gov.my/eservices/doc/FAQ_PVIP.pdf (Immigration Department of Malaysia)
- DE Rantau Nomad Pass FAQ version 8 — https://www.mdec.my/static/pdf/derantau/251105_DE%20Rantau_Pass_FAQ_V8.pdf (MDEC)

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