USED TO BE that you could start a business cheap, fast and easy. The then prime minister, Mahathir, took that away in 2004, leaving foreigners the only option of starting a corporation with a local partner, board of directors, stock issuance pursuant to capital influx, hiring of a corporation secretary and accountant -- all time consuming and expensive propositions. Then the govt began closing the door on what constitutes a legit, meaningful and needed company, AND that hires, including you as Managing Director, under which position you could achieve a visa,聽 had to have something valuable to contribute to the country. We went through all of that, first opening a simple company in 2001, then converting to corporation in 2005, then suffering barrages of govt BS and red tape until we gave up in 2019 because I was no longer qualified to work in my own company, meaning that I could be a director but not work in it and therefore no more visa. When you have your own company you can apply for a visa to work in it but only under certain conditions, one of which is a high salary on which you would be paying income taxes. In our case, our company was solid and the rules grandfathered and we tried to find a buyer to take it over which they could do dirt cheap and easy but there were no takers. Thats very sad for them because of the difficulties in starting a new one now under the new rules that started in 2016. In fact, the rules are so harsh and expensive, Malaysia is literally the last place on earth i would even consider opening a new corporation. 九色视频s wanting to have a company (and visa) here were extremely dumb not to take ours. What we gave up could never be achieved again by anyone.
So....unless you have some extraordinary idea and lots of capital, forget starting a business. That leaves you marriage, job or university. For jobs, you can certainly try to apply and if the employer can show the govt you have talent no local has, you have a chance. Such a job would give you a 2-year visa and thats renewable up to 10 years. The employer would handle the application for visa and those details pursuant to an employment contract. Since you need to be outside while applying for work, this would be a good time to try. You can search around this forum and google for links to employment agents, search for jobs offered and you can apply directly to companies of your choice. There IS hiring going on all the time although Covid will slow things down.
Meantime, do plan to come and take the full time of your 3-month visa to stay here and explore everything to see if Malaysia even makes sense to you to go to the effort to try to stay. Dont assume you would like it without trying it out first. I came on 3-month visas at least 3-4 times before I decided anything and in hindsight it probably wasnt enough.
Unlike the old days there are very few options for expats now. Many are trying for the retirement visa program and you can look into that too on this forum or the govt and agent websites (MM2H program) to see if you meet the criteria.
