There are two schemes, not one. Malaysia My Second Home is administered federally, and Sarawak runs its own version with its own conditions, which is consistent with the state running its own immigration authority for everything else. Applying under one is not applying under the other, and confusing them is the most common error we see on enquiries.
Where you settle under either one decides the shipping. Goods clear at Port Klang in Selangor, Penang Port in Kedah's neighbouring state or the Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor, and anything continuing to Sabah, Sarawak or Labuan needs a second sea leg from a Peninsular Malaysia port.
The federal scheme has been revised more than once and the financial requirements changed each time. Every moving company website carrying a figure is showing you whenever that page was last edited, which is generally not recently, and people plan around those numbers.
| What changes | What does not |
|---|---|
| Financial thresholds, revised more than once | That relief attaches to the status you hold on arrival |
| Which authority administers the federal route | That Sarawak operates separately, with its own conditions |
| Processing times and application routes | That a pending approval when goods land means storage |
| Any figure printed on a removals website | That the official source is the one to take it from |
Take the current requirements from the scheme's own official source at the time you apply. What follows is the part that does not move: how your status affects the shipping.
Relief on used household effects attaches to the status you hold when the goods arrive. Entering on one of these is not the same as entering on an employment pass, and the declaration is built against whichever applies to you.
That makes approval timing a shipping question rather than only an immigration one. An application still pending when the container lands is a shipment waiting at the port, and port waiting is the expensive kind. Raise storage in transit with your moving company before you ship, so goods can clear and sit in a warehouse if the timing slips.
Households on this route generally travel as a part load, sharing a container and paying for the cubic metres occupied. How that volume is measured is on shared container pricing, and how relief is assessed is on Malaysian import relief.
Employment postings concentrate in the capital. Long stay arrivals spread much further, and the destinations that come up most are delivery on Penang for the coast and the established long stay community, Ipoh for period property at a fraction of city prices, and Kota Kinabalu for the diving and the pace.
Where you settle changes the shipping more than people expect: which port clears the goods, how long the inland leg runs, and in Sarawak's case which route you should have applied under in the first place.
Long stay moves often involve a property purchase as well as furniture. Currency exchange is handled through trusted partners, with expertise in currency exchange, no hidden fees, 5-star consumer ratings and a competitive exchange rate.
See also and the Malaysia overview.
We do not administer either scheme and we do not carry out removals. Your enquiry goes to one vetted moving company from the AGM Group network, agm.group, which handles the shipping and the declaration. The scheme application itself remains between you and the authority running it.
Because the federal scheme has been revised more than once and the figures have moved each time. Any threshold printed on a moving company website is a snapshot of whenever that page was last touched, and people plan around it as though it were current.
From the scheme's own official source, at the time you apply. Not from a moving company, not from a relocation blog, and not from a forum post, all of which lag the changes and none of which is accountable for the difference.
No. Sarawak administers its own version with its own conditions, consistent with the state running its own immigration authority generally. Applying for one is not applying for the other.
It decides which relief conditions apply to your used household effects. The declaration is prepared against the status you actually hold on arrival, so approval timing and shipping timing need to be planned together rather than in sequence.
That is worth avoiding, and it is avoidable. Talk to your moving company about storage in transit before you ship rather than after, so the goods can clear and wait rather than accruing charges at the port.
These are residence arrangements rather than work authorisations, which is a distinction that matters for the customs position as much as the legal one. If you intend to work, that is a different pass and a different set of relief conditions.
Malaysian import requirements are set by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and change without notice, so confirm the current position with the moving company before shipping. For the United Kingdom side, including Transfer of Residence relief on a return move, see HM Revenue and Customs.
Send your collection address, the Malaysian delivery address, your move date, a rough inventory and which scheme you are applying under. One vetted moving company confirms the customs position before contacting you.
Get your free quoteA free enquiry service. We do not carry out removals. Your enquiry goes to one vetted moving company from the AGM Group network, agm.group, that covers your route.
FIDI FAIM Certified, BAR Overseas, IAM, EUROMOVERS, FEDEMAC.