Report: 30 day extension of Malaysia visa in Malacca (cheap and easy)

[lifemagic]

Just back from Immigration today, to extend my Malaysian visa, easy and cheap but no info 'out there', so I'm adding this.

Situation. British passport. Entered and got ninety days in Padang Besar 'social visit pass'. Last year I extended by a visa run after 90 days but was hassled coming back, so this year went for an extension rather than leaving Malaysia and coming straight back.

First, you will need your passport. The visa needs to be in it's last week of validity or they can't do it. A ticket out the country, I have a KTM train ticket to Hat Yai which I got at the station but they also said an online ticket would have been OK. Xerox the onward ticket, your photo page of passport, entry visa to malaysia and onward visa to Thailand if you already have it (I think OK if not), the passport itself and the fee, which is fifty ringet for 30 days.

Go to Malacca bus station. Bay 15 bus number 19. The area is called Ayer Keroh and this is written on a board just before where the bus pulls in. Fare 2.50. It stops directly outside immigration. It travels for about twenty minutes (Look for 'Ayer Keroh' signs), on the left passes a Petronas filling station, Mydin superstore, turns right at a junction, and then passes immigration on the right side of the bus. It's sign-posted 'home affairs' and is a modern attractive building. Ask the driver and sit at the front and they'll tell you when you arrive. You'll have to cross the highway to get to it. It's a modern attractive building with vending machines, massage machines (really) clean toilets etc. The immigration room is, I think, down one floor. It's the only room that's quite busy with more than fifty people in, though it's air con with cushioned seats. There's a little booth to the right of the entrance where someone will give you a queue ticket, then go to the main room and wait for your number to come up.

Fill in the form at one window. Pay at the next. Visa given out back at first window. All in took about twenty minutes. The extension itself is a full page sticker and runs thirty days from expiry of the previous entry (so 120 day stay in total), which is actually a week longer than I asked for. The people dealing with me spoke perfect English and were polite. The atomsphere around me was calm and the office attractive.

To get back to Malacca, I exited the main entrance, turned left and left again at the entrance (opposite the mydin store). There's a covered bus stop with a pictoral sign showing it's a bus stop. Same bus, number 19, fare just two ringett coming back.

Easy, cheap, much better than three days in Singapore. I might post this info in a couple of forums around as I basically discovered this with the help of a Malaysia friend, otherwise the info just isn't written about anywhere.

[MrWorldwide]

Thanks for that, but can I ask how long you left the country for, before getting 'hassled coming back' ?

Last year I extended by a visa run after 90 days but was hassled coming back, so this year went for an extension rather than leaving Malaysia and coming straight back

Everything I've read on the various forums related to Malaysia (some posts from guys who had worked in M'sia for ~10 years using the 90-day stay) made it clear that you need to stay in another country for 2-3 nights at least before returning. For me, it will be something to look forward to, and I expect that I'll leave Penang for a month at a time, but it's all good background info. I met a lady on a flight to KL who told me she has to take her daughter to Bangkok for the weekend every ~90 days and she claimed they have no hassles with M'sian immigration.

FWIW, the consensus seems to be that after 10-years of getting stamped back in without question, Immigration starts to make life harder - still seems like a very good deal for mine.

[lifemagic]

Last year I stayed out of Malaysia for about a minute, then came straight back. I'd done it about ten years previously and didn't know things had changed. I was taken to a back office and explained I'd been sick with kidney infection and just needed another couple of days to rest (which was actually true, I'd only just recovered). Anyway, she made a call to the supervisor and ended up stamping in for another 90 day stamp and I left a week later. I asked how long I'm supposed to stay out the country between 90 day periods and she considered it and said 'two weeks', though that seems just some arbitory thing she said. Yes, the general consensus (I now know with the benefit of hindsight) is that three nights outside Malaysia seems to suffice.

This trip, another reason I didn't want to do this is that I've a Thai visa I don't want to trigger with an entry. Also, at just fifty ringget, if people are near to Malaysia, this would be cheaper than purposefully leaving if that wasn't part of the plan.

[MrWorldwide]

Thanks for the response - just needed to confirm that 3 nights out should be plenty.