Marry A Malaysian Lady And Be Allowed To Stay

[Aussie]

From New Straits Times, Malaysia

Passes for foreign spouses

Ruling allows aliens married to local women to stay longer

By Alina Simon [email protected]

PETALING JAYA, Wed. — From next month, foreign men married to

Malaysian women can stay longer in this country under the new

immigration rulings.

At the same time, foreign wives who are either estranged or divorced

from Malaysian men will also be given the same privilege.

Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Aseh Che Mat today said that a

year's visit pass, which can be renewed annually, would be issued to

these men and women.

Aseh said the foreign spouses could apply for a permanent residence

(PR) status after staying in Malaysia for over five years.

He said the move would encourage foreign men especially those with

high qualifications or skills to follow their wives back to Malaysia

instead of the other way around.

He said it was also in line with the recent government decision to

amend Article 8 (2) of the Federal Constitution to do away with gender

biased regulations.

Previously, Malaysian men and women married to foreigners were subject

to different immigration rules in certain matters.

Malaysian men with foreign wives could bring in their spouses into the

country on a one-year visit pass and were eligible to be considered

for PR status after five years, but women with foreign husbands did

not enjoy the same privilege.

Foreign husbands were given the normal social visit pass which must be

renewed bi-annually and this hampered their chances of finding jobs

here.

Aseh said the Government was concerned over losing a number of

qualified women professionals who were forced to migrate in order to

be with their husbands.

"If the foreign husbands are already working and if they can find jobs

here, they can apply for the professional or expatriate pass. But if

they had just graduated or are unemployed, we can give them the

one-year visit pass so they can come here with their wives and look

for jobs," he said.

He said the Government was also sympathetic over the plight of foreign

wives who faced deportation upon the breakdown of their marriage.

"The present policy requires the husband to sponsor their wives' stay

but it has been abused resulting in the women being deported when the

man refused to sponsor her stay.

"Now the wives can stay in this country upon separation or a divorce

and apply for a PR after that." However, he said, the new ruling would

not cover the 800,000 foreign labourers already here on a temporary

working permit as they were forbidden to marry while working here.

"The question of local women being coerced into a marriage of

convenience by the many foreign workers will not arise.

"This is because these men are not allowed to marry while they are

here on a temporary work permit.

"If they do, we can revoke the pass. If they want to marry, the men

will have to leave the country and apply for the one-year visit pass."

However, he said, there was no policy made on foreign husbands in the

event of a marital breakdown.

On the issuance of PR status, Aseh said it was not automatically given

but at the discretion of the ministry.

Meanwhile, Aseh said the Immigration Department would consider waiving

the RM100 fee on the special visit pass for abused foreign maids

currently seeking shelter at the Women's Aid Organisation (WAO).

He said the waiver would be given considering that the women were

staying here while waiting for their cases to be heard in court and

advised the WAO to provide the list of names to Immigration

directorgeneral Datuk Mohd Jamal Kamdi.

In Kangar, Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said

implementation of the proposed regulation to give permanent resident

status to foreigners who married local women should be postponed.

He said Perlis Barisan Nasional Assemblymen who met today agreed to

call for its postponement, concered that it would result in women

being exploited.

Back to top

Me

Guest

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2004 8:15 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks Mehta! Thats truly a great news. But one thing that they going to consider is to allow Malaysian wife abroad who married to foreigner to register their newborn at Malaysian Embassy as Malaysian citizenship. So far this only allow for Malaysian men married to foreign wives abroad.

I believe, many M'sian women wants their children to have Malaysian citizenship. The only option now is to go back to M'sia and giving birth there. There will a lot of financial and stress involved. I hope to hear the good news in the future. Have a nice day.

Back to top

Immigration Consultant

Joined: 14 Jul 2004

Posts: 13

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 11:43 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear nmehta,

Actually this article is not informing about big changes yet but mainly giving important directions the immigration is planning to follow.

The new changes apparently already made are the followings:

- men are now eligible (not entitled) to PR status after 5 years of marriage,

- to give more time for men to find a job while being married to Malaysian, visit pass length will be increased to one year,

- foreign women are no longer subject to sponsor by the Malaysian husband to renew their visit pass, whether they are still married, separated or divorced.

On the other hand, the immigration seems to be working on issuing the PR status automatically after 5 years marriage with a Malaysian spouse. At the moment, approval is still subject to conditions and given at the discretion of the Government.

What this article does not mention at all concerns the Spouse Program which is supposed to make application of work permit easier to those married to Malaysian spouse. Unfortunately, conditions of this program are currently not really clear as far as the min. paid up capital of the company (it is normally RM100K but also happened to be RM250K in certain cases) and status of the applicant upon approval (still given visit pass and not normal professional pass) are concerned.

We trust that it should only be a matter of time for the immigration to get this clearer, as the procedures in general are really improving and we can really sense the efforts currently invested by the immigration to get everything more straight forward.

...to be continued

[Erich]

From New Straits Times, Malaysia

Passes for foreign spouses

Ruling allows aliens married to local women to stay longer

By Alina Simon [email protected]

PETALING JAYA, Wed. — From next month, foreign men married to

Malaysian women can stay longer in this country under the new

immigration rulings.

At the same time, foreign wives who are either estranged or divorced

from Malaysian men will also be given the same privilege.

Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Aseh Che Mat today said that a

year's visit pass, which can be renewed annually, would be issued to

these men and women.

Aseh said the foreign spouses could apply for a permanent residence

(PR) status after staying in Malaysia for over five years.

He said the move would encourage foreign men especially those with

high qualifications or skills to follow their wives back to Malaysia

instead of the other way around.

He said it was also in line with the recent government decision to

amend Article 8 (2) of the Federal Constitution to do away with gender

biased regulations.

Previously, Malaysian men and women married to foreigners were subject

to different immigration rules in certain matters.

Malaysian men with foreign wives could bring in their spouses into the

country on a one-year visit pass and were eligible to be considered

for PR status after five years, but women with foreign husbands did

not enjoy the same privilege.

Foreign husbands were given the normal social visit pass which must be

renewed bi-annually and this hampered their chances of finding jobs

here.

Aseh said the Government was concerned over losing a number of

qualified women professionals who were forced to migrate in order to

be with their husbands.

"If the foreign husbands are already working and if they can find jobs

here, they can apply for the professional or expatriate pass. But if

they had just graduated or are unemployed, we can give them the

one-year visit pass so they can come here with their wives and look

for jobs," he said.

He said the Government was also sympathetic over the plight of foreign

wives who faced deportation upon the breakdown of their marriage.

"The present policy requires the husband to sponsor their wives' stay

but it has been abused resulting in the women being deported when the

man refused to sponsor her stay.

"Now the wives can stay in this country upon separation or a divorce

and apply for a PR after that." However, he said, the new ruling would

not cover the 800,000 foreign labourers already here on a temporary

working permit as they were forbidden to marry while working here.

"The question of local women being coerced into a marriage of

convenience by the many foreign workers will not arise.

"This is because these men are not allowed to marry while they are

here on a temporary work permit.

"If they do, we can revoke the pass. If they want to marry, the men

will have to leave the country and apply for the one-year visit pass."

However, he said, there was no policy made on foreign husbands in the

event of a marital breakdown.

On the issuance of PR status, Aseh said it was not automatically given

but at the discretion of the ministry.

Meanwhile, Aseh said the Immigration Department would consider waiving

the RM100 fee on the special visit pass for abused foreign maids

currently seeking shelter at the Women's Aid Organisation (WAO).

He said the waiver would be given considering that the women were

staying here while waiting for their cases to be heard in court and

advised the WAO to provide the list of names to Immigration

directorgeneral Datuk Mohd Jamal Kamdi.

In Kangar, Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said

implementation of the proposed regulation to give permanent resident

status to foreigners who married local women should be postponed.

He said Perlis Barisan Nasional Assemblymen who met today agreed to

call for its postponement, concered that it would result in women

being exploited.

Back to top

Me

Guest

I'm staying in Thailand and have one question and hope that somebody can give me an answer. My wife's daughter from her first marriage, is married to a Malay citizen and staying in Malaysia. They are married for more than 5 years and have 4 children. Now we were told that the visa expired and to renew the visa it will cost 1000 M-Ringgit. This seems to me a little bit too expensive, because we were asked to send the money. Does anybody have some information regarding this matter ?

Thanks and best regards

Erich

[Alwaysright]

From New Straits Times, Malaysia

Passes for foreign spouses

Ruling allows aliens married to local women to stay longer

By Alina Simon [email protected]

PETALING JAYA, Wed. — From next month, foreign men married to

Malaysian women can stay longer in this country under the new

immigration rulings.

At the same time, foreign wives who are either estranged or divorced

from Malaysian men will also be given the same privilege.

Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Aseh Che Mat today said that a

year's visit pass, which can be renewed annually, would be issued to

these men and women.

Aseh said the foreign spouses could apply for a permanent residence

(PR) status after staying in Malaysia for over five years.

He said the move would encourage foreign men especially those with

high qualifications or skills to follow their wives back to Malaysia

instead of the other way around.

He said it was also in line with the recent government decision to

amend Article 8 (2) of the Federal Constitution to do away with gender

biased regulations.

Previously, Malaysian men and women married to foreigners were subject

to different immigration rules in certain matters.

Malaysian men with foreign wives could bring in their spouses into the

country on a one-year visit pass and were eligible to be considered

for PR status after five years, but women with foreign husbands did

not enjoy the same privilege.

Foreign husbands were given the normal social visit pass which must be

renewed bi-annually and this hampered their chances of finding jobs

here.

Aseh said the Government was concerned over losing a number of

qualified women professionals who were forced to migrate in order to

be with their husbands.

"If the foreign husbands are already working and if they can find jobs

here, they can apply for the professional or expatriate pass. But if

they had just graduated or are unemployed, we can give them the

one-year visit pass so they can come here with their wives and look

for jobs," he said.

He said the Government was also sympathetic over the plight of foreign

wives who faced deportation upon the breakdown of their marriage.

"The present policy requires the husband to sponsor their wives' stay

but it has been abused resulting in the women being deported when the

man refused to sponsor her stay.

"Now the wives can stay in this country upon separation or a divorce

and apply for a PR after that." However, he said, the new ruling would

not cover the 800,000 foreign labourers already here on a temporary

working permit as they were forbidden to marry while working here.

"The question of local women being coerced into a marriage of

convenience by the many foreign workers will not arise.

"This is because these men are not allowed to marry while they are

here on a temporary work permit.

"If they do, we can revoke the pass. If they want to marry, the men

will have to leave the country and apply for the one-year visit pass."

However, he said, there was no policy made on foreign husbands in the

event of a marital breakdown.

On the issuance of PR status, Aseh said it was not automatically given

but at the discretion of the ministry.

Meanwhile, Aseh said the Immigration Department would consider waiving

the RM100 fee on the special visit pass for abused foreign maids

currently seeking shelter at the Women's Aid Organisation (WAO).

He said the waiver would be given considering that the women were

staying here while waiting for their cases to be heard in court and

advised the WAO to provide the list of names to Immigration

directorgeneral Datuk Mohd Jamal Kamdi.

In Kangar, Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said

implementation of the proposed regulation to give permanent resident

status to foreigners who married local women should be postponed.

He said Perlis Barisan Nasional Assemblymen who met today agreed to

call for its postponement, concered that it would result in women

being exploited.

Back to top

Me

Guest

I'm staying in Thailand and have one question and hope that somebody can give me an answer. My wife's daughter from her first marriage, is married to a Malay citizen and staying in Malaysia. They are married for more than 5 years and have 4 children. Now we were told that the visa expired and to renew the visa it will cost 1000 M-Ringgit. This seems to me a little bit too expensive, because we were asked to send the money. Does anybody have some information regarding this matter ?

Thanks and best regards

Erich

Why would anybody want to get married????