Malaysia digital nomad visa (2026)

Who can apply

Open to all nationalities except Israel.

• Remote worker with a foreign employer, or freelancer with foreign clients
• Active contract longer than 3 months
• Annual income above USD 36,000 (tech) or USD 60,000 (listed non-tech roles)
• Any nationality except Israeli

Income requirement

You need to show at least USD 36,000 per year (tech); USD 60,000 per year (non-tech). From 1 December 2026 tech talent needs more than USD 36,000 a year (previously USD 24,000) and non-tech roles more than USD 60,000; the same threshold applies at renewal.

Documents you need

• Valid passport
• Active employment contract or up to 3 project contracts with foreign clients
• Proof of annual income
• Documents for dependants (spouse, children, parents of main holder)

How to apply, step by step

1. Register on the DE Rantau platform (you can apply from outside Malaysia)
2. Submit the application with contracts and income proof
3. Enter Malaysia and collect or activate the Professional Visit Pass
4. Pay the processing fee when you apply; the immigration pass fee and bond are paid at endorsement in Malaysia within 1 month of arrival.

Where and how to apply

Everything runs through MDEC (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation), the government agency that manages DE Rantau. You register and apply online on the DE Rantau portal (malaysiadigital.mdec.my, linked from mdec.my/derantau), and you can do this from anywhere; you do not need to be in Malaysia. MDEC also acts as your official sponsor, which is why a personal bond is signed with it. MDEC screens the file, but the final immigration decision belongs to the Immigration Department of Malaysia, and MDEC states it cannot influence or override that decision. There are no embassy appointments for the pass itself. Only if your nationality needs a visa to enter Malaysia do you deal with a consulate or the eVISA portal (malaysiavisa.imi.gov.my), to get the entry visa named in your approval letter. A tourist entry cannot be converted into a DE Rantau pass: if you are approved while visiting Malaysia, you have to leave and re-enter. Employment Pass and Student Pass holders have a separate route that can let them stay in the country once their current pass is shortened or cancelled. New applications are paused from 1 to 30 November 2026 and reopen under the enhanced framework on 1 December 2026; renewals continue during the pause.

Timeline

1. Register and apply online Day 1
   Upload contracts, the last 3 months of payslips or invoices and bank statements, and pay the non-refundable processing fee at submission. Your passport must have more than 14 months of validity.
2. MDEC and Immigration assessment 6-8 weeks
   The clock starts once the file is complete; requests for more documents, holidays or extra checks extend it, and there is no fast-track option. Watch your registered email for document requests.
3. Approval letter Valid 6 months, cannot be extended
   You must enter Malaysia and finish endorsement within this window or start a new application.
4. Entry visa, if your nationality needs one Before travel
   Obtain the eVISA or Visa with Reference (VDR) named in the approval letter. Without it you cannot complete endorsement.
5. Arrival Day of entry
   Use a manual immigration counter, not the autogate, so you receive an entry stamp; endorsement depends on it.
6. Tax registration and insurance Before endorsement
   Register for a tax number with LHDN through the e-Daftar service on MyTax and keep the e-Registration slip; buy health insurance that covers Malaysia for the pass period.
7. Endorsement Within 1 month of entry
   Upload the bond agreement, passport, entry stamp, visa, insurance and tax slip, and pay the immigration pass fee and bond. Stay in Malaysia until it is finished, or the application may be cancelled.
8. e-Pass issued About 1 week after endorsement
   Download the e-Pass from the portal; issuing is at the Immigration Department's discretion.
9. Renewal Apply at least 3 months before expiry
   Renewals take 6-8 weeks plus endorsement within 1 month of approval. From the second renewal you must also file a Renewal Eligibility Report.

Proving your income

MDEC assesses actual earnings over recent months, not savings. Remote employees provide a signed contract with a foreign company that is not registered in Malaysia; it must show the remote arrangement, job title, salary and employer details, it should have started at least three months before you apply, and preferably it should run for at least six more months. They add payslips and bank statements for the last three months, with deposits matching the payslips, and ideally an employer letter confirming remote status. Freelancers provide up to three signed contracts with foreign clients (scope, duration and payment terms), invoices for the last three months, proof of payment through a bank or platforms such as PayPal, Stripe or Wise, and three months of bank statements showing income consistently above the threshold; a portfolio or website helps. Content creators without client contracts can use platform income records. Income is stated in US dollars or an equivalent. Every document must be in English or come with a certified English translation, in clear PDF form, and names and amounts must match across documents; inconsistencies are a stated ground for rejection. If your monthly income varies, you can show the annual total instead. The same evidence, and the income threshold in force on the date you apply, apply again at each renewal.

Bringing your family

Dependants who may join are a spouse or common-law partner, children (biological, adopted or step) under 18, children with special needs of any age, and the main holder's own parents. Each dependant pays a separate processing fee, and MDEC assesses dependants separately, so the main applicant can be approved while a dependant is still pending. Dependants may travel with the main holder or arrive later, once the main holder is in Malaysia, and can be added at renewal, including a newborn or a spouse left out of the first application. A child who turns 18 during the pass keeps dependant status until it expires but cannot be renewed as a dependant unless the child has special needs. Spouses are not allowed to work in Malaysia on the dependant pass. Children who attend a Malaysian school need a Student Pass arranged through the school, while home-schooled children do not.

Health insurance

A valid health insurance policy that covers you in Malaysia is a required endorsement document. It must have at least three months of validity and must remain valid for the whole period of the pass, so many holders buy a policy that matches the 12-month pass term. MDEC does not set a minimum sum insured in its FAQ, but the policy must clearly name Malaysia as a covered country. You need it after approval and before endorsement, not at the first application stage.

Cost and processing time

The fee is rM1,080 per applicant and RM540 per dependant (including 8% SST), paid when you apply; the pass fee and bond are paid at endorsement. Processing takes 6–8 weeks after a complete application. Budget extra for translations, certified copies and health insurance.

After you arrive

• Entry stamp: on the entry used for endorsement, clear a manual immigration counter rather than the autogate, and keep the approval letter and any VDR or eVISA with you.
• Endorsement within 1 month: submit the endorsement on the portal within one month of the entry stamp and remain in Malaysia until the e-Pass is issued (about one week after a complete submission).
• Fees at endorsement: an immigration pass fee of RM90 per three months or RM360 per year, a multiple-entry visa charge for some nationalities, and a personal bond of RM200-2,000 depending on nationality, which is refunded when the pass expires.
• Tax number: register with LHDN through e-Daftar on mytax.hasil.gov.my; the e-Registration slip is an endorsement document and you must show taxes are settled when you renew.
• Where you can live: the pass covers Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan only. You can visit Sabah and Sarawak, but you enter them on a tourist pass.
• Banking: most Malaysian banks do not accept the Professional Visit Pass for opening an account, so plan to keep using foreign accounts or ask banks individually.
• Re-entry: after your first endorsed entry you can use the KLIA Terminal 1 and 2 autogates, provided you submit the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) online three days before arrival.

Tax

The DE Rantau pass has no special tax regime, and MDEC tells applicants that tax depends on their residence status and income source under the Income Tax Act 1967. You are generally a Malaysian tax resident if you are physically present for 182 days or more in a calendar year; LHDN also applies linked-period tests that can make shorter stays count when they connect to a 182-day period in an adjacent year. Residents pay progressive rates from 0% up to 30% on chargeable income above RM2,000,000 and can claim reliefs; non-residents pay a flat 30% with no reliefs. LHDN's Public Ruling 2/2026 states that employment income is treated as derived from Malaysia when the work is physically performed in Malaysia, wherever the employer is based or the salary is paid. MDEC's FAQ applies this to remote employees: pay for work done in Malaysia is exempt if your employment in Malaysia totals no more than 60 days in a year, and becomes taxable from the 61st day. For freelancers, MDEC says payments from Malaysian sources are subject to 10% withholding tax (or a treaty rate) during the first 182 days, after which income is taxed as resident business income, with credit for tax already withheld. Returns are due by 30 April for people without business income and 30 June for those with business income; late filing attracts penalties of 15% to 45% of the tax. Renewals require proof that all tax has been paid, and the second-renewal Renewal Eligibility Report must show your tax filing and payment history.

Does it lead to permanent residence?

There is no path to permanent residence. MDEC states that the DE Rantau Nomad Pass is a temporary immigration pass that leads neither to permanent residency nor to Malaysian citizenship. Under the enhanced framework, total time on the pass is capped at four years (the initial pass plus up to three 12-month renewals), after which you would need a different immigration status to stay.

Why applications get refused

• Income below the threshold in force on the date you apply, including renewal applications assessed against the USD 36,000 tech threshold from 1 December 2026.
• Contracts that started less than three months before applying, an employer registered in Malaysia, more than three clients, or a role outside the listed tech and non-tech professions.
• Inconsistent or unverifiable documents, such as names or amounts that differ between contracts, payslips, invoices and bank statements, or documents not in English.
• Passport with 14 months or less of validity at submission.
• Security or compliance concerns raised by the Immigration Department, which can lead to refusal even with complete documents.
• Failing to respond to MDEC email requests for more documents, or letting the 6-month approval letter expire before endorsement. Refusals cannot be appealed and the processing fee is not refunded, but you may reapply.

Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur

1-bedroom rent

RM1,700-4,040 per month in the city centre (average about RM2,810); RM1,000-2,200 outside the centre (Numbeo, updated 11 November 2026)

Coworking desk

RM169-500 per month for a hot desk; RM405-640 for a dedicated desk (Servcorp KL price guide, January 2026)

Home broadband of 60 Mbps or more typically costs RM99-130 a month (Numbeo, November 2026).

Good to know

• New applications paused 1–30 November 2026; renewals continue
• The pass does not lead to permanent residence
• Renewals can be filed up to 3 months before expiry

Visiting first? Entry rules for popular passports

165 passports can enter Malaysia visa-free for a short stay, a common way to try the country before applying. Check Malaysia visa requirements for your passport.

Official source

MDEC – DE Rantau Digital Nomad Pass

Not yet confirmed on an official source: tax. Check these with the consulate before you apply.