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Flag of Malaysia

Malaysia

DE Rantau Nomad Pass

PR: NoUTC+8

The requirements

Programme status
Open, accepting applications
Minimum monthly income
$2,000 a month
Required savings
None
Annual total
$24,000
Initial duration
12 months, renewable once
Family allowed
Yes
Apply online
Yes

USD 24,000/year (tech roles); USD 60,000 non-tech.

How this figure is set: A fixed amount set in law or on the official page. The wording on the source is: USD 24,000/year (tech talent) or USD 60,000/year (non-tech).

Income confidence: high · checked 2026-09-07
Legal basis: MDEC DE Rantau Nomad Pass FAQ v9 (official programme document), Q3 'annual income requirement'.

Does this lead to permanent residence?

No pathway. Professional Visit Pass, max 24 months; no PR credit, no official pathway.

MDEC's official DE Rantau FAQ (v9, mdec.my) states the pass is a Professional Visit Pass under the Immigration Act 1959/63, valid 3-12 months and renewable once for a maximum stay of 24 months; it makes no mention of permanent residence anywhere. MDEC's digital.gov.my communications describe post-expiry options as the 5-year Residence Pass-Talent or an Employment Pass, both time-limited, not PR. Malaysian PR itself is a separate Entry Permit process under the Immigration Department (imi.gov.my) with its own investor/spouse/points criteria unconnected to Visit Pass holders. The 'no PR pathway' conclusion is read from omission in official material, not an explicit prohibition clause.

Pathway confidence: medium · checked 2026-09-07

Where it is

Kuala Lumpur sits at 3.14° N, 101.69° E.

Malaysia picked out on a world map

Open in Google Maps ↗A map of Kuala Lumpur. This is the only link here that leaves the site.

Your position is worked out on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Time zone

  • UTC+8 Kuala Lumpur (Asia/Kuala_Lumpur)

The country

Region
Asia · Southeast Asia
Capital
Kuala Lumpur
Currency
MYR

Next door

2 of the 3 countries Malaysia shares a land border with are covered here.

What it costs to live there

$674 per person, per month. That is what one resident of Malaysia spends in an average month with housing included — not what a newcomer renting at market rates will spend, which is higher, and furthest above it in the cheapest countries.

Kuala Lumpur
$844 / month incl. rent
of which rent $374
Penang
$716 / month incl. rent
of which rent $304

City figures are crowdsourced from livingcost.net, not official: one person's monthly spending plus the rent of a one-bedroom flat outside the centre. They are here because a national average cannot show the spread between a capital and the places people actually move to. Checked 2026-09-20.

Cost of living confidence: high · checked 2026-09-20
World Bank national accounts, reference year 2025: households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (NE.CON.PRVT.CD, current US$) divided by population (SP.POP.TOTL) and by twelve. This is what one resident spends in an average month with housing included, since national accounts count the imputed rent of owner-occupiers. It is an average over the whole population, not a visitor's budget, so a newly arrived remote worker renting at market rates will spend more - see the city figures for what that looks like.

Languages

  • Malay official
  • English common in cities
  • Chinese common in cities
  • Tamil limited
  • Iban limited

Shares of the population from Unicode CLDR: official, then anything spoken by a quarter of the country, an eighth, or a fiftieth. It answers "will I be understood", not "how good is their English".

How to apply

  1. Check you clear the requirements above — $2,000 a month is the figure this row records.
  2. Gather what the official page asks for. Expect proof of income, a passport, health insurance and a criminal-record check as the common core.
  3. Apply online through the official portal.
  4. Sort out where you will stay for the first stretch. Airlines check this at the desk and will not board you without it, whatever your visa says —what counts as proof of accommodation.
  5. Verify every figure on the official page before you spend money. Thresholds are set in local currency and move every year.

MDEC DE Rantau portal ↗

Non-tech needs USD 60k/yr; fee ~RM1,080; MDEC portal.

A starting point, not advice. Figures are converted to US dollars at open-market rates; official thresholds are set in local currency. Sources: official source ↗. Data checked . Compiled by .