KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 (Sin Chew Daily) — The Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program had attracted a total of 56,394 foreigners as of September 30.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said 27,803 of them were participants while 28,591 were their family members.

In a written reply to Ong Kian Ming, the member of parliament for Bangi, Hamzah said his ministry did not have the latest number of participants after the MM2H program was revamped and reactivated in October.

MM2H was revamped with more stringent requirements to ensure that foreigners participating in the program are serious about residing in Malaysia and can provide positive contribution to the country’s economy.

It has been reported that the government has relaxed the criteria for existing MM2H participants after backlash.

They now have to adhere to only two of the ten new criteria under the revamped program.

The two new conditions for existing MM2H participants are increase in annual fee from RM90 to RM500 and the requirement to stay in Malaysia for a minimum of 90 days every year.

New MM2H applicants, meanwhile, have to comply with all the revised requirements.

Among others, MM2H applicants must maintain a minimum of RM1 million in fixed deposits with Malaysian banks, an increase from RM150,000 for applicants above 50 years old, and RM300,000 for those aged 50 and below.

Applicants must also have an offshore income of at least RM40,000 a month, compared with RM10,000 previously.

The MM2H program generated an estimated revenue of RM40.6 billion for the country from 2002 to 2018.