In this order
Start with your age, because it closes doors before money does
The countries draw their lines in different places. The Philippines accepts a retiree visa principal from 40 and lowers the deposit at 50. Thailand's retirement visas all start at 50, on the day you apply. Indonesia's retirement and Silver Hair visas start at 55, not the 60 many guides give. Malaysia's MM2H opens at 25 and does not price anything by age, so turning 50 buys nothing there, and Sarawak's own programme opens at 30. Knowing which routes your age already rules out saves reading the terms of the ones it does not.
Decide whether you will prove a deposit or an income
Every route tests money, and most let you choose between money in a bank and money arriving each month. If your pension is paid in a different currency from the test, which is usual, the income route is also a bet on the exchange rate, because it is converted every time someone checks. A deposit is converted once. For a pension near a threshold, that is the difference between qualifying and hoping to.
Price what the headline figure leaves out
The advertised number is rarely the cost. MM2H's cheapest tier is a US$150,000 deposit plus a compulsory Malaysian home of RM600,000 or more that cannot be sold for ten years, while Sarawak's programme makes the home optional but wants RM500,000 on deposit and a local sponsor; [the two routes' upfront sums](/guides/mm2h-vs-sarawak-upfront-cost/) are set side by side. Thailand's O-X wants 3 million baht in a Thai bank, held in full for a year. The Philippine SRRV adds a US$1,500 processing fee and US$360 a year. In Penang, a foreign buyer also pays the state a RM10,000 application fee and a levy of up to 3%, and since 2026 every foreign home buyer in Malaysia pays stamp duty at a flat 8%. Put the obligations next to the deposit before comparing countries on it.
Read the insurance clause as a form, not a premium
Thailand's one-year O-A wants THB 3,000,000 of health cover per policy year, and a foreign insurer must complete, sign and stamp a certificate in the form Thailand's insurance regulator sets. Thailand's LTR asks for US$50,000 of cover, or lets US$100,000 held in a bank stand in for it. MM2H asks for health insurance at renewal. Ask an insurer whether it will sign the form before asking what it costs.
Live there for a month before you sign for ten years
No application on this page needs you to have lived in the country, and every one of them is easier to regret than to undo, MM2H most of all. A month in the city you have in mind, in an ordinary apartment rather than a hotel, answers questions no ministry page can: the heat in the wettest month, the walk to a hospital, the noise at night. It is also the cheapest item in the whole decision.
Know what the visa asks of your time in the country
Some routes require you to be there and some require you to report. MM2H's own pages disagree on whether its 90-day presence rule applies to participants aged 50 and over, so get that answered in writing; Sarawak asks for 30 days a year. In Thailand, most retirees renew their stay every year at the local immigration office and report their address every 90 days, while the LTR replaces the 90-day report with a yearly one. The SRRV exempts holders from the Philippines' annual immigration reporting.
Apply through the door the government names, and no other
MM2H applications go only through a tour operator licensed by Malaysia's tourism ministry. Thailand's retirement visas go through its e-Visa system in your country of nationality or residence, and the LTR through the Board of Investment directly at no endorsement fee, or through a paid VFS service. The SRRV is applied for through the Philippine Retirement Authority. Anyone offering a different route is offering something the government does not.
Five countries in Southeast Asia run routes for people who want to stop working and stay. They differ less in the headline figures than in the obligations underneath: a house you must buy, an insurer who must sign a form, a pension tested in a currency you are not paid in.
The steps on this page put the decisions in the order that saves the most wasted reading. Every rule is sourced on the guide its step links to. The sequence is our judgement.
The routes on one line each
Malaysia, MM2H. From age 25. A US$150,000 deposit in a Malaysian bank and a compulsory Malaysian home of RM600,000 or more, kept for ten years, for a renewable five-year pass on the cheapest tier. No income test. The full terms.
Thailand, retirement visas. From age 50. 800,000 baht in the bank or a pension of 65,000 baht a month for the one-year O-A, with THB 3,000,000 of health cover evidenced on Thailand’s own form. No property requirement. A separate LTR route for pensioners with US$80,000 a year of passive income. The four routes compared.
Malaysia, Sarawak’s SMM2H. From age 30. RM500,000 on deposit in a Sarawak panel bank, a pension or income test alongside it, and a local sponsor or licensed agent. Buying a home is optional. The Kuching terms.
Indonesia, E33F and E33E. From age 55. US$3,000 a month of income for both; the five-year Silver Hair visa adds US$50,000 in a state-owned bank. The three Indonesian routes.
Cambodia, the ER extension. From age 55. Proof of retirement and of sufficient funds, with no published minimum, for 1 to 12 months at a time, renewable indefinitely. What the embassy states.
The Philippines, SRRV. From age 40. From age 50, a US$15,000 deposit with a lifetime pension of US$800 a month, or US$30,000 without one, for permanent residency with indefinite stay. No property requirement. The deposit and fees.
Why the scouting month comes before the application
The visa feels like step one because it carries the paperwork. The paperwork only tells you whether you may live somewhere, and the most expensive route in this cluster obliges you to buy a home and keep it for a decade. Find out first whether you want to live there.
Rent an ordinary apartment for a month, in the neighbourhood you would actually live in. For that stay the site’s usual advice reverses. A chain hotel is better booked direct, but a small independent property or apartment is where a booking site helps, and Trip.com’s coverage of independent stays in Southeast Asian cities is why we use it for this.
Book the month before you instruct anyone or send any deposit, and keep it refundable while your dates can still move. The flights and transfers for that trip are the one purchase on this page worth making early.
What this page leaves out
This page is not tax advice, and it does not say whether you will owe tax at home on a pension received abroad. For what Thailand’s Revenue Department says about pensions brought in, see the 180-day test on remitted income. Vietnam and Japan have no retirement visas, covered in what a retiree can use in Vietnam and Japan’s one-year long-stay visa.
The rules here are governments’ published rules, which change. Every figure was read on 23 September 2026, and the guide each step links to carries its own date.
Trip.com for a month's stay and the transport to get there (affiliate link)