Disclaimer: The information in this article is current as at 12th April 2023, and has been prepared by Employment Hero Pty Ltd (ABN 11 160 047 709) and its related bodies corporate (Employment Hero). The views expressed in this article are general information only, are provided in good faith to assist employers and their employees, and should not be relied on as professional employment or legal advice. Any reference to government policies, regulations, or guidance is for informational purposes only and should not be considered official government advice. The information is based on data supplied by third parties. While such data is believed to be accurate, it has not been independently verified and no warranties are given that it is complete, accurate, up to date or fit for the purpose for which it is required. Employment Hero does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracy in such data and is not liable for any loss or damages arising directly or indirectly as a result of reliance on, use of or inability to use any information provided in this article. You should undertake your own research and seek professional advice before making any decisions or relying on the information in this article.
Employment Pass
An Employment Pass (EP) is a work visa that allows expatriates to work in Malaysia. It is primarily available for senior or technically skilled professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) with specialist work experience, and on higher salaries.
The EP allows them to live and work legally in Malaysia for up to 60 months. It can then be considered for renewal, subject to approval.
The final decision on approvals for all Employment Pass applications (Category I, II, and III) will be at the discretion of the Immigration Department of Malaysia. But before that, companies will need to submit an approval letter from the relevant agency or regulatory body in their sector, for each employment pass application. You can find the full list of approving agencies according to their regulatory sector in Annex A here.
There are three categories of EPs in Malaysia:
| Employment Pass (Category I) | |
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| Employment Pass (Category II) | |
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| Employment Pass (Category III) | |
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You can find more information regarding the documents required for each EP application and the application process here.
Professional visit pass
A professional visit pass (PVP) is a short term working pass which allows expatriates with the relevant qualifications and skills to work in Malaysia on a temporary basis. They are to provide their services in a Malaysian registered company on behalf of an overseas company.
The PVP is valid for up to 12 months — it is non-renewable, and is restricted to one contract or project at a time. It is non-salaried. PVP holders are not entitled to apply for Dependent Passes for their family members.
To qualify for a PVP, applicants must be outside of Malaysia at the time of application.
PVP holders will only be allowed to work with the company stated on the pass. If the PVP holder changes their employer while the pass is still valid, they must cancel their current pass and serve a cooling off period of 3 months before applying for it with a new employer.
Expatriate applicants will need to fall under one of these categories to be granted a PVP:
- Expertise Transfer
- Research
- Training at ESD-registered companies
- Volunteers
- Exhibitors under regulation of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB)
- Student Internships (relevant to the applicant’s education background) under:
- Foreign embassies;
- ESD-registered companies; or
- Hotels.
You can find more information regarding the documents required for each PVP application and the application process here.
Resident pass — Talent
The Resident Pass – Talent (RP-T) offers expatriates the ability to work and live in Malaysia for up to 10 years.
To be considered for the RP-T, applicants have to first fulfil the following criteria:
- Have worked in Malaysia for a minimum of 3 consecutive years at the time of application;
- Hold a valid Employment Pass with more than 3 months validity during the submission/resubmission of the application;
- Earns a basic monthly salary of RM15,000 which excludes any allowances and/or bonuses;
- Has a Malaysian income tax file number and has paid income tax for the most recent 2 years (minimum) at the time of application;
- Holds a PhD/Master’s/Bachelor’s Degree or Diploma in any discipline from a recognised university or a professional/competency certificate from a recognised professional institute; and
- Possesses at least 5 years of total work experience.
With RP-T, expatriates also enjoy the flexibility of being able to change employers without renewing the pass. They are allowed to bring dependents as well. Their spouse and children under 18 years old are eligible for the RP-T dependent pass, while their dependents over 18 years old, parents and parents-in-law are eligible for a renewable one-year Social Visit Pass for up to five years.
An RP-T holder’s spouse can seek employment without having to apply for an Employment Pass. Their children under 18 years old are also eligible to pursue primary or secondary education in Malaysia — higher or tertiary education is not included.
Malaysia Tech Entrepreneur Programme
The Malaysia Tech Entrepreneur Programme (MTEP) is a specially designed pass to attract foreign tech entrepreneurs from all around the world and help them set up and develop their business in Malaysia. Targeted sectors include agritech, dronetech, fintech, healthtech, cybersecurity, blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data analytics and more.
There are 2 different tiers of passes under the MTEP:
- Professional Visit Pass (PVP-MTE) for new entrepreneurs with a 1-year validity; and
- Resident Pass (RP-MTE) for established entrepreneurs and investors with a 5-year validity.
Only resident pass holders are able to bring dependents. Spouses are eligible to work in Malaysia and must hold a professional designation under the approved National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) as outlined in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).
The 11 NKEA industries are:
- Oil Gas & Energy
- Palm Oil
- Financial Services
- Tourism
- Business Services
- Communication Content and Infrastructure
- Electronics & Electrical
- Wholesale and Retail
- Education
- Healthcare
- Agriculture
You can find the full list of documents required for submission here.
Temporary employment pass
The temporary employment pass (TEP) is issued to semi-skilled or unskilled workers in certain pre-approved sectors.
There are two types of temporary employment passes issued:
- To foreign workers in the manufacturing, construction, plantation, agriculture and services sectors; and
- To foreign domestic employees.
Foreign workers:
To qualify for the TEP, foreign workers have to:
- Be between 18 and 45 years of age;
- Undergo a medical examination by an approved medical centre and cleared as healthy and fit to work;
- Undergo immigration security clearance (ISC) verification in an ISC Centre in their home country; and
- Come from one of the following countries.
The list of approved countries are:
- Bangladesh
- Cambodia
- India (not allowed to work in the manufacturing sector)
- Indonesia (male workers are not allowed to work in the manufacturing sector)
- Kazakhstan
- Laos
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Philippines (female workers are not allowed to apply for any sector)
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam
Foreign workers with a TEP are not allowed to bring dependents. They cannot change jobs or change employers without obtaining permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs. They also cannot marry a local resident or a migrant worker.
They are allowed to work for up to 12 months, and must leave the country when the pass expires, is revoked, or if their employment contract is terminated. The pass is renewable, subject to the approval of the relevant authorities.
Employers are required to obtain a foreign worker quota approval from the Local Centre of Approval, Ministry of Home Affairs before submitting the application. Foreign domestic helpers, cooks who are citizens of Thailand, and rubber tappers in the northern states and east coast do not require such approval.
Refer to the full list of documents required and the application process here.
Foreign domestic employees:
To qualify for the TEP, a foreign employee should:
- Be female;
- Be between 21 and 45 years old;
- Certified to be fit and healthy to work by an appointed medical centre;
- Reside in the country of origin;
- Enter Malaysia via the Visa With Reference (VDR) issued by the Malaysian representative office in the country of origin.
In addition, she must come from one of the following approved countries:
- Indonesia
- Thailand
- Cambodia
- Philippine
- Sri Lanka
- India
- Vietnam
- Laos
Refer to the full list of documents required, employer eligibility requirements, and the application process here.
For more information about HR compliance, check out our complete guide.
Relevant legislation:
