Malaysia has recently introduced a new pass for short-term work assignments. This is certainly good news for companies as it allows fast arrival of foreign experts, when critical tasks are urgently needed. See below full details and analysis from our local partner: 

“The Immigration Department has just announced that effective 3 Oct 2022, Companies who require foreign individuals to perform short-term assignments in Malaysia (duration of below 30 days) can now apply for the Permission to Work under the Social Visit Pass (PTW-SVP) under the following sectors:

    i.      Education

   ii.      Technology & Communications

 iii.      Commodity

  iv.      Security & Defense

   v.      Financial & Banking

  vi.      Agriculture & Farming

 vii.      Tourism

viii.      Factory & Manufacturing

  ix.      Services

   x.      Wholesale & Retail

  xi.      Petroleum & Energy

•       The applicant must be outside Malaysia when the PTW-SVP application is submitted.
•       The processing time of the PTW-SVP is 3 working days upon submission.
•       The PTW-SVP will be granted for 30 days upon arrival at the Immigration Checkpoint in Malaysia. Visa required nationals will need to obtain the Entry Visa prior to arrival.

Our comments

•       In comparison to the current process, any short-term assignments/work will require the Professional Visit Pass (PVP) application regardless of the duration of assignment. The PVP application process is relatively longer to process i.e. between 2 – 6 weeks depending if the local Company has the quota available or not. As such, the introduction of this new PTW-SVP will certainly aid Companies who need to urgently bring in foreign expertise for time critical work/assignments like repairs of machinery, testing & commissioning etc.
•       Companies will need to ensure that the duration of work cannot be more than 30 days as no extensions in-country will be allowed.
•       For any work assignments above 30 days, the PVP must be applied for per prevailing guidelines.”

This alert was prepared based on the information shared by our partner June Mok and her team from The Corporate Lab, and published with their permission.