Visa Liberalisation Plan for International Students

by StudyMalaysia.com on November 30, 2023 | Top Stories, International Students, Applying & Entering Malaysia to Study

Visa Liberalisation Plan for International Students - StudyMalaysia.com

The Home Ministry of Malaysia has recently announced several new visa liberalisation programmes to be implemented from 1st December 2023 to 31st December 2024 aimed at boosting the country’s tourism industry. This is in line with the announcement made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his Budget Speech 2024 as the government recognises the importance of tourism and its contribution to national development.

This new liberalisation plan includes

Long-Term Social Visit Pass for International students
Streamlining of the approval process for employment pass
Improving the visa-on-arrival, social visit pass and multiple-entry-visa facilities to encourage tourists and investors

The Long-Term Social Visit (LTSV) Pass can be seen as an initiative to attract more international students to Malaysia. As it is, a lot of international students have chosen Malaysia to be their study destination because of many factors like

Affordability - Cost of living in Malaysia is cheaper when compared to many other countries in this region.
English is widely-spoken although Bahasa Malaysia is the official language. Thus visitors will not face any communication barrier.
Malaysia is a potpourri of cultures and religions providing visitors with a diverse and rich environment to live in and to interact with people from different backgrounds.
Malaysia gives visitors a chance to live independently in a safe and peaceful environment.
Malaysia is a leading education hub in South-East Asia with good universities.
Delicious food available at all hours.

Now, with the implementation of the LTSV Pass international students can choose to continue living in Malaysia for one more year after their graduation, to further their studies, travel or work part-time in permitted sectors. The new visa liberalisation plan can also help ease the demands for industrial skilled personnel.

LSTV Pass is offered to international students from 23 low-risk and high-income countries. International students from these countries are allowed to apply for one year LTSV after their graduation:-

Singapore, Brunei, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States.

For now, the government is giving a grace period of one year up to 31st December 2024 to assess the effectiveness of this programme and associated risks in order to make amendments if necessary.

Terms & Conditions

LTSV Pass may be issued for a period of not less than 6 months. Extension of stay can be given based on eligibility and fulfilment of certain conditions.
Visitors are allowed to engage in any form of paid employment or in any other business or professional occupations without having to convert the LSTV Pass to an Employment Pass.
The Malaysian Immigration Department reserves the right to request other evidence/documents if required.
All original documents need to be brought along for rectification and only complete application are accepted.

With such a visa liberalisation plan in place Malaysia is set be a destination of choice for international students.