Malaysia – Visas

British and American citizens are allowed to enter the country of Malaysia, and stay for up to three months without a visa. This is only permitted if the purpose for your travel is either for social or business reasons. If your stay is going to exceed 3 months or if you are going to want to be employed whilst you are out there, or open a bank account etc. then you will need a visa.

But if you are planning to stay in Malaysia for a long time, and wish to have all of the incentives which are offered to expats out there, then you should look at your visa options.

Ten Year Visa for Malaysia

Without a doubt, the ten year visa, issued under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) scheme is the best one to take if you plan to be in Malaysia for a while. Successful individuals will receive a ten year visa which will allow them multiple entries into and multiple exits out of Malaysia. Obtaining this visa allows the applicant to set up a business in the country and to work part time if he/she wishes. It is worth noting that the ten year visa will not automatically lead to permanent residency, however.

The MM2H Application

You can apply for the MM2H visa whether you are currently located in Malaysia or overseas. Once the committee has reviewed and approved your application, you will have 6 months to submit the necessary extra documents (medical insurance, medical examination, fixed deposit etc.) before obtaining your visa.

Submission Requirements:

The following documents are required to complete the application process, some at the time of original submission and others after receiving the letter of conditional approval.

- Covering letter (The covering letter should state all of the names of the people who are applying with you, how you will support yourself in Malaysia and which financial criteria you wish to use)

- Three copies of IM.12 Social Visit Pass

- One copy of the Application Form MM2H

- 4 passport sized photographs of applicant and spouse (if accompanied by spouse)

- Certified true copies of all pages of passport/travel document of applicant and spouse (if relevant)

- Certified true copy of every page of previous passport if your current passport is less than one year old (Note: only the page with personal particulars needs to be certified)

- Certified true copy of Marriage Certificate (if accompanied by spouse)

- Certified true copy of children’s birth certificate (if relevant)

- A current CV/ resume

- Evidence of financial assets

- Evidence of regular monthly income

- Medical report of applicant - Form RB 1

This can be a self-declaration initially but after the conditional approval letter is issued, it must be signed off by a doctor in Malaysia

- Letter of Good Conduct by a government agency where you currently live (if you have lived there several years) or your home country (usually the Police Department or Criminal Records Bureau)

- Authorization letter from applicant to Malaysia My Second Home Centre authorising them to verify the financial documents with the relevant financial institutions

- Evidence of purchasing property in Malaysia over RM1 million (if requesting approval to make lower fixed deposit)

Visa collection

Once your visa has been accepted, you must submit the following documents before being allowed to pick it up:

- Evidence of placing the Fixed Deposit – if applying under this criteria

- Copy of Malaysian medical insurance

- Copy of medical report

- Letter of Good Conduct from Government Agency

Approval

It usually takes about 90 days from submission for your visa to be properly processed, so make sure that you apply for it well in advance.

Fee Rate

Instead of paying all in one go, the MM2H visa will charge you RM 90 per year in order to issue you with a social visit pass. This means that overall, the visa will cost RM 900, but this is only if your visa is actually valid for 10 years. The Malaysia visa runs in accordance with your passport expiry date, so make sure you have plenty of time left on your passport before you a apply. If you have to get a new passport before your visa runs out then you will also have to apply for a new visa.

- Current passport and previous passport

- Copy of both passports – (every page, but not a certified true copy)

- Form IM.12 (one per person)

[Source: http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-malaysia-visas]

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Malaysia Visa Guide

Types of Visa

The Malaysian Government issues Three (3) types of visa to foreign nationals:

1. Single Entry Visa

This visa is issued to foreign nationals who require a visa to enter Malaysia mainly for a social visit. Normally this type of visa is valid for a single entry and for a period of three (3) months from the date of issue.

2. Multiple Entry Visa

This visa is issued to foreign nationals who require a visa to enter Malaysia mainly for business or government-to-government matters. Normally it is valid for a period within three (3) months to twelve (12) months from the date of issue.

Citizen of India and People's Republic of China who wish to enter Malaysia for the purpose of Social Visit are eligible to apply for Multiple Entry Visa.

The validity of the Multiple Entry Visa is for one (1) year. Each entry is 30 days only and the extension of stay is not allowed.

Conditions for Multiple Entry Visa are:

Applicant must show proof of sufficient fund for staying in Malaysia

Possess valid and confirmed return ticket

Group tour is not eligible to apply for Multiple Entry Visa.

The Multiple Entry Visa is RM100.00 for Indian Citizens and RM30.00 for People's Republic of China's citizens.

3. Transit Visa

This visa is issued to foreign nationals who require a visa to enter Malaysia on transit to other countries. Foreign nationals on transit without leaving the airport precincts and who continue their journey to the next destination with the same flight do not require a transit visa.

How to Apply for the Visa

Malaysia visa application must be made at any nearest Malaysian Representative Office Abroad.

For countries that do not have Malaysian Representative, application can be made at the Embassy or British High Commissioner's Office.

Application can also be made online through I-Visa System (Applicable for tourist from India and China only).

1. Application for Visa without Reference

Document required for visa application without reference (approval of visa is given by High Commission of Malaysia) are:

Original passport

Two (2) photocopies of passport

Two (2) photocopies of visa application form (Form IMM.47)

Two (2) passport size photograph of applicant

Original air ticket and two (2) photocopies (confirmed and returned ticket)

Bank statement / travelers cheque

Invitation letter (if any)

Payment of Malaysia Visa Fees

Note: Visa Without Reference is required for the purpose of social visit.

2. Application for Visa with Reference

Document required for visa application with reference (visa will issued after the application is being referred and approved by Department of Immigration Malaysia / Other Authority Agencies) are:

Original approval letter from Department of Immigration Malaysia/other authority agencies

Original passport

Two (2) photocopies of passport

Two (2) photocopies of visa application form (Form IMM.47)

Two (2) passport size photograph of applicant

Original air ticket and two (2) photocopies

Payment of visa fee

Note: Visa With Reference is required for student, employment, dependent and professional visit pass.

[Source: http://www.cityturtle.com/Malaysia-Visa.html]

Malaysia to ease visa application process for students

Malaysia is planning to do away with student pass application forms in a bid to make it easier for foreign students to apply for visas online. Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, the Malaysian Higher Education Minister, stated that henceforth students could apply directly to the EMGS (Education Malaysia Global Services) through the government website for education, educationmalaysia.gov.my.

“In addition, students can now also apply for a visa, known as iKad, which would be valid until they complete their entire course,” added Idris while addressing a press conference, following his visit to the EMGS which is located in Cyberjaya.

Earlier, students had to renew their visas once a year. This initiative will now allow students to hold a visa for the entire duration of their course.

However, students intending to pursue another educational course would have to apply again for a new visa.

The EMGS’s new online Malaysia Visa Fees  system will need universities or institutions to continue to submit reports of each student annually. Also, it was the responsibility of the university or institution to inform the EMGS in case a student abandoned a course or was not attending classes frequently.

In the past, students wanting to go home to their countries had to face problems due to the annual visa renewal requirement. This new system is said to be connected directly to the Immigration Department, allowing Malaysian authorities to identify students who are no longer eligible for visas.

The EMGS would also be housing officers belonging to the Immigration Department’s Student Pass Unit, helping hasten visa process of overseas students.

This unit would discharge the duty of processing applications, besides issuing Visa Approval Letters (VAL), a document that all new students entering Malaysia need to have. It is subject to issuance only if an application meets all the requirements needed by the EMGS for the academic and security screenings of the Immigration Department.

EMGS is responsible for managing and processing of student applications and renewals received by Malaysia from across the globe in order to issue passes and visas at all higher education institutions in the country.

This step will reportedly help Malaysia in achieving its target of enrolling 200,000 students from abroad by the year 2020.

In the year 2015, Malaysia was home to more than 150,000 students from different countries, 80 percent of whom were pursuing studies in higher education.

The Southeast Asian country had managed to register an increase of intake of foreign students by 12 percent as against the year 2014.

Malaysia offers good prospects for Indian students wishing to pursue higher studies. A major advantage with that country is that it is home to lot of Indians who have settled there decades ago. In fact, 7.3 percent of the citizens in Malaysia are of Indian origin. This will help Indian students feel at home there.

[Source: http://blog.y-axis.com/malaysia-to-ease-visa-application-process-for-students/]

How to Get a Thai Visa in Kuala Lumpur

Thinking about getting your Thai tourist visa in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia? The Thai embassy in Kuala Lumpur is located just outside the KLCC city center.

It’s a fairly hassle free process, but if you already have many Thai visas in your passport it may not be as easy as other places (like Seoul). I had just 1 other Thai visa in my passport when I applied in Kuala Lumpur and the employee really looked though my passport at every page to see if I had more visas. If you have more than a few Thai visas in your passport, they may ask for a copy of your transportation ticket, both in and out of Thailand (this also may depend on the employee at the time).

If you just have 1 or 2 Thai visas in your passport, or are applying for a Thai visa for the first time, getting a Thai visa in Kuala Lumpur is easy and straightforward.

Similar to getting a Thai visa in Yangon, in Kuala Lumpur you are only permitted to apply for a single (1) entry tourist visa.

Here’s what you will need

Passport

1 photocopy of your passport signed

1 filled in visa application form (available at Thai embassy)

1 passport photo 3.5 x 4.5 cm (I had heard you needed 2 – 3 photos, but when I got my Thai visa, they only took 1, so have 2 – 3 photos with you just in case)

110 RM (you must pay in Malaysian currency, and you must have EXACT amount – they don’t give change)

Note: At the Thai embassy in Kuala Lumpur there is no place to get last minute photo copies or passport photos, come prepared!

Procedure

The embassy officially opens at 9:30 am, but they open the outside gate at 9 am and you can go in and grab yourself a visa application form prior to the actual embassy opening.

I arrived at about 8:30 am and there was already a small line of about 10 people in front of me. They opened the gates at 9 am; I got my visa application and then waited in line while filling it out until 9:30 am.

When they open the doors, you get a number and then wait until your number is called to present all your documents and money.

I waited for about 15 minutes minutes or so and I was out of the embassy before 10 am. However, there was a quite a long line behind me, I’d imagine others had to wait around 30 minutes to an hour or even longer.

After applying, you’ll be handed a little receipt which you must present the next day to pick up your passport.

Passport Pick Up

While getting a Thai visa in Colombo takes 4 full business days, in Kuala Lumpur you conveniently pick up your passport the next business day!

Pick up time is from 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm each afternoon. It’s very easy, just show up, show your receipt and you’ll be giving your passport and hopefully your new Thai visa as well as Malaysia Visa.

I arrived at 2:45 pm to avoid the initial rush and didn’t have to wait at all.

[Source: http://migrationology.com/how-to-get-a-thai-visa-in-kuala-lumpur/]

You're not welcome

VISAS are a frustrating necessity for the international traveller. But some countries' labyrinthine forms and hefty fees seem designed to dissuade all but the most determined tourists.

Take Britain, which requires Chinese tourists to fill in a ten-page form with biometric registration requirements—in English. Unsurprisingly, they have stayed away in their droves. Only 18% of Chinese visitors to Europe make it to Britain, but two-thirds visit France, a member of the Schengen travel zone where visas are both easier to get and are 40% cheaper. Chinese tourists are big spenders who shell out an average of £1,618 ($2,500) each, twice as much as the typical American. Visit Britain, the country's tourism trade body, complains that the government's visa policies are costing the country £2.8bn.

Elsewhere, ordinary travellers bear the brunt of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures. American visitors to Brazil pay a $160 visa fee, levied in retaliation for America's exclusion of Brazil from its visa-waiver programme. Neighboring Chile and Argentina cheerily call their fees “reciprocity charges”.

Other countries appear to want to deter all tourists. Sudan’s government says it has intentionally made its visa application process expensive and opaque. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, famous for measuring "gross national happiness", levies a $250 daily tariff on visitors in an apparent effort to discourage hordes from spoiling its pristine scenery

Indeed, poorer countries charge some of the highest fees. Americans who fancy a trip to Burkina Faso, say, must cough up almost $200. And whether these countries benefit from charging visa fees at all is debatable. It is probably safe to assume that the 2,500 British visitors who paid £50 to enter Sierra Leone in 2011 generated far less revenue for the country’s economy, and created fewer hospitality jobs, than the 111,000 visitors who paid nothing to enter Gambia.

Of course, a tourist's best bet is a passport that enables as much visa-free travel as possible. Anyone lucky enough to have a Danish, British or American passport can visit at least 166 countries without a visa, according to Henley & Partners, a consultancy. By contrast, Chinese passport holders, applying for Malaysia Visa Fees

Who are expected to account for half of all global tourism growth over the next 20 years, currently enjoy visa-free travel to only 41 countries. But spare a thought for the plucky Afghan traveller, who has visa-free access to just 26 countries—none of which have direct airline connections to Kabul.

[Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/02/tourist-visas]