No Instant Residency Status In Malaysia

No Instant PR Status In Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: -- The government does not have a policy to provide instant permanent residence (PR) status to foreigners who invest large sums of money in the country, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho said Thursday.

"Granting PR is the government's right. We have to study carefully before giving it to foreigners," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby when asked to comment on Singapore's decision to grant PR to wealthy foreigners.

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who is also the chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, yesterday said that foreigners could now become permanent residents there if they placed S$5 million (RM11.6 million) in the island republic's financial institutions for a continuous period of five years.

Tan said the Malaysian government would only allow foreigners who worked here to make Malaysia a "second home" by permitting them to buy houses and properties.

However, they had to show proof of income of not less than RM7,000 a month.

Earlier, replying to a question from Lim Hock Seng (DAP-Bagan) in the Dewan Rakyat, Tan said the government had no plans to abolish visas for all foreign tourists as the existing policy was already liberal and after taking into consideration national security.

He said Malaysia at the moment imposed visas on visitors from 32 Countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Myanmar, Bhutan, Israel, Serbia and Montenegro, Colombia and 20 African countries.

"The government is aware of the contribution of tourism to the economy. and has instituted very liberal policies for visitors to come here. Tourists visiting Asean countries can enter Malaysia by applying for visas on arrival," he said to a supplementary question by Lim who claimed that tourists to neighbouring countries did not want to come here because of visa complications.

Tan said Malaysians did not require visas to visit 127 countries, including Iran, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Argentina.

-- BERNAMA, Malaysia, 2004-12-02