Expatriate Forums in Malaysia

admin · Last edited by admin on Wed May 26, 2004 11:26 pm; edited 1 time in total

Hi everybody,

Here is a short brief about visa requirements in Malaysia.
Enjoy your stay in Malaysia Smile

MALAYSIA IMMIGRATION VISA REQUIREMENTS

All persons entering Malaysia must possess valid national passports or other internationally recognised travel documents valid for travel to Malaysia. These passports or travel documents must be valid for at least six months beyond the date of entry into Malaysia.

Commonwealth citizens (except for India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), British protected persons or citizens of the Republic of Ireland and citizens of Switzerland, the Netherlands, San Marino and Liechtenstein do not need a visa to enter Malaysia.

Citizens of certain countries which include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, Italy, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America do not require a visa for a visit not exceeding three months.

Citizens of European Countries, Baltic and Commonwealth of Independent States, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Romania and Syria do not need a visa for a visit not exceeding two weeks.

Citizens of North Korea, Cuba, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the People’s Republic of China and holders of Hong Kong Certificate of Identify, Myanmar and Taiwan are allowed to enter Malaysia subject to their application for a visa being approved.

Application for Visas
Application for visas for the purpose of entry into Malaysia should be made at the nearest Malaysian mission abroad. In countries where Malaysian missions have not been established, applications should be submitted to the nearest British High Commission or Embassy.

Entry into Malaysia
Passes to be Obtained at Point of Entry - a visit pass for the purpose of a social, tourist or business visit may be obtained at the point of entry if the visitor can satisfy the immigration authority at the point of entry that he has a valid passport and visa (wherever applicable).

Visit Pass (Social or Tourist)
Visit passes (social or tourist) are issued solely for the purpose of a social or tourist visit. A person who has been issued with a social or tourist visit pass is not permitted to take up employment, business or professional work while in Malaysia.

Visit Pass (Business)
Visit Passes (Business) are issued to :

Owners and company representatives entering for the purpose of attending company meetings, seminars, inspection of company’s accounts or to ensure the smooth running of the company concerned.
Investors or businessmen entering for the purpose of looking at business opportunities and investment potential.
Foreign representatives of companies entering for the purpose of introducing their goods that are to be manufactured in Malaysia, but not engaging in direst selling or distribution.
Property owners entering for the purpose of negotiation, selling and leasing of properties.
Foreign reporters from mass media agencies entering for the purpose of covering conventions or any other event in Malaysia.>
Participants in sporting events.
These passes cannot be used for the purposes of employment or for supervising the installation of new machinery or the construction of a factory.

Conversion of Passes
Foreign visitors, except those from the Republic of Singapore, who have entered Malaysia on social or tourist visit passes may apply to the Immigration Department to convert their social or tourist visit passes into business visit passes. This ruling is designed to assist foreign visitors who wish to undertake business activities.

All applications for converting social or tourist visit passes into business passes must be submitted to the Immigration Department with a letter of recommendation from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

Passes to be Obtained upon Arrival in Malaysia
Other than applications for entry for the purpose of tourist, social or business visits, all applications for passes mentioned below must be made upon arrival in the country.

All such applications must have sponsorship in Malaysia. The sponsors must agree to be responsible for the maintenance and repatriation of the visitors from Malaysia should it become necessary.

The types of passes issued are as follows :

Visit Pass (Temporary Employment): This is issued to persons who enter the country to take up temporary employment.
Employment Pass: This is issued to any foreigner who enters the country to take up a contract of employment with a minimum period of two years.

Visit Pass (Professional): This is issued to foreigners for the purpose of engaging in short-term contract with any agencies. The validity of the pass varies but does not exceed twelve months at any one time.

Dependent’s Pass: This is issued to the wife and children of any foreigner who has been issued with an Employment Pass. This pass may be applied together with the application of Employment Pass or after the Employment Pass is approved. The wife and children of any person who enters the country on a visit pass (temporary employment or professional) will be issued a visit pass (social).

Student’s Pass: This is issued to any foreigner who enters the country for the purpose of taking up studies in any approved educational institution Smile

admin · Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:22 pm Post subject:

Immigration issues can sometimes be tricky when we do not necessarily know the rules and regulations of the country where we are planning to settle in. The Malaysian administration is not much different compared to any other. This country, located at the crossroads between East and West, has warmly welcomed foreigners for centuries and the current multiracial population of Malaysia is certainly due to the large immigration of mostly Chinese and Indian emigrants from the Malacca Empire till the British Malaya. For as much they welcome foreigners, Malaysian authorities are also cautious not to affect the carefully balance proportion of the population. As such, immigration procedures and guidelines are rather strict. The first step, if you are below 50 years old and planning to work or manage your business from Malaysia, is to apply for a work permit.

The application for this permit is to be made by your employer, you cannot apply yourself. The Immigration department will first approve whether the company is qualified to employ a foreigner. It must have a minimum paid-up capital of 250,000 Ringgit and justify the reasons why it needs to employ a foreigner (marketing, technicality of the position, lack of availability of Malaysians in the same position). Once the position is approved, the foreigner will need to fulfil the qualifications (experience, diplomas, skills, languages,…) corresponding to the position and to be at least 25 years old. Depending of the activities of the company or organisation, the decision doesn’t always belong to the immigration department alone. Other national agencies, such as the Ministry of International trade (MIDA), for industrial projects and the Ministry of Domestic Trade, for commercial projects, might have to give their approval for the expatriate position. The whole process will take between 2 to 8 weeks and Work permit are generally given for 2 years. Your dependents (spouse, children) will be given a pass of similar duration and, if your spouse is Malaysian, the processing is easier. Of course, for shorter periods, in the case of trainees and short term professional missions, professional visit pass can be obtained on a similar process.
After working in Malaysia for a few years (work permit can normally be renewed for up to 10 years) you might consider to settle permanently.

If you are over 50 or even less than that but not working any more, you can go for the “Malaysia my second home”’s program. The authorities will grant you and your family a renewable residence visa for 5 years, as long as you are not engaging in employment and can justify a steady income of at least 10,000 Ringgit (15,000 for a couple).

The last step is the Permanent Resident status and we must say that, for the time being, the process is not easy since it is given on a strict case-per-case basis. Approval for this status takes, in most of the case, at least 5 years. Business organisations are currently actively lobbying the Government on this matter and it is hoped that the process will become easier.

To summarize, if you do fully fulfil all the requirements, you can handle the whole application by yourself. You will save some cost and the procedure is not necessarily difficult as long as you make a point to show some efforts in understanding the way it works. But if you have any doubt that for any reason your application could be rejected, then we encourage you to go through a consultant. There are many in the market, but if you really want to make sure that everything is done properly, go through the well-established organisations. They have a good understanding of the Government policies and guidelines and they will present your application in the right way. Furthermore, it is always difficult to start processing all over again when the application has already been rejected once.

(This text was prepared by Allo' expat Sdn. Bhd. and published in the Expatriate Lifestyle magazine in January 04)

Kevin · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 9:59 pm Post subject: Sponsorship

Does a sponsor have to be a company/employer or can this be a family member or spouse as well?

admin · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 9:52 am Post subject:

The sponsor can be a family member or a spouse, as long as they are malaysian.
Nevertheless, companies have been approved by the malaysian government, so usually get quicker approval.

Hope this help

Admin

Aly · Gender: Joined: 23 Mar 2005 Posts: 92 Home Country: uk

Hi just wondering...

I have a language consultancy in Singapore and am wondering if I set up a regional office here in KL. Would this allow me to obtain a work permit? what are the requirements for setting up like this?

Latingirl · Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:28 pm Post subject: Permits

Hello,

I am holding a working permit that will expire the first week on June, I am planning to stay in Malaysia at least until end of June or the most july in order to sort out my EFP, TAX and so on. It wouldn't make sense ask my company to renew my working permit for another year , can I go out of Malaysia and re enter with a tourist ( visit visa) as they normally give it for 3 months for latin american citizens? what should be advisable at this point since I won't be working anymore but need to settle bills, pack and all the pain of moving from Malaysia.
By the way I have been here for the past 5 years and I love it, unfortunately is too far from my family and I need a change...Asia has been a real eye opener for me...will miss it heaps.

Thanks

Jack · Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:38 pm Post subject:

I think it is the best solution.
You can also apply for a special pass, but I think it will be easier to go for the visit pass.

Jose

I have followed the discussion board and all old posts on Malaysian Immigration keenly over the last few weeks.
I am having an unique problem. I have a job offer but Immigration lawyers (Company Appointed) have said that a work permit is unlikely to be approved.
I am an Indian, 30, with an International MBA qualification for an IT Marketing job!Recruiting Manager is quite keen to get me on board but Personnel has doubts whether it can justify.
Can I still work on a Professional visit pass instead and renew every time it expires ?
Thanks in advance to all.
Jose (My pen name) Confused

steven

Did the lawyer firm give any reason why the work permit wouldn't be approved?

Can you give more info on the company you want to work for (is it and IT company holding MSC status? how many foreign staffs? how much paid-up capital?)

s_iva20290 · Joined: 07 Oct 2005 Posts: 2 Home Country: india

Hello sir,
Would you please give me Ministry's teacher recruitment department website address?