How to obtain a work visa for Malaysia and the process

The Employment Pass is for foreigners who are employed in a professional or managerial capacity by an employer such as a branch, incorporated subsidiary, or representative office of a foreign company registered in Malaysia. There are three categories of passes, which specify the length of employment, minimum monthly salary, etc. For employment of more than one year, the minimum monthly salary must be at least 5,000 ringgit.

There is no clear age limit, but the position does require work experience and qualifications appropriate to the position. As a rule, the applicant must have a university degree and at least three years (five years for junior college graduates) of relevant work experience, although it depends on the work history.

In principle, the application for an employment pass must be made by the employer, and both new and renewal applications are submitted online. In practice, it is common for the employer to have a consulting firm or other company contracted by the employer to apply on its behalf.

In addition, this section summarizes the procedures for establishing a local company and applying for a visa as a first-time expatriate in Malaysia. To obtain a work visa in Malaysia, you must first establish a company.

Currently in Malaysia, it is possible to establish a corporation with 100% foreign capital and a single foreigner in most fields, so you do not necessarily need to find a local partner. The incorporation itself can easily be done in less than one month with a capital of one ringgit and through an agent qualified to act as company secretary.

For example, if you want to set up a local company, hire a local (Malaysian) person to take care of the site, and simply control the company from Japan as the owner, there is no problem, but in most cases, the company will either be a subsidiary of a Japanese company with an expatriate posted there, or a Japanese person will start a business in Malaysia and move to the country himself, so that he will need to obtain a Malaysian work visa. However, in most cases, the expatriate will be assigned to Malaysia as a subsidiary of a Japanese company or will start a business in Malaysia and move to Malaysia himself/herself.

In fact, in recent years, the hurdles for foreigners to apply for work visas have been increasing year by year from the viewpoint of protecting local employment.