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All Expatriates Required to Receive Employment Passes in Malaysia

October 24, 2011— All expatriate employees, regardless of the length of their assignment or employment, will now receive Employment Passes, following a decision by the Malaysian government to eliminate the Visit Pass/Temporary Employment (VPTE) category. This work permit category previously granted to expatriates who work in the country for less than two years. This change means that the employers will no longer be required to pay the levies that were previously applicable to VPTE applications.

Beginning October 24, 2011, employers completing Stage One of the Employment Pass application (for approval of the position) at the Malaysian Immigration Department’s main office in Putrajaya must indicate a job title listed in the Malaysia Standard Classification of Occupations Code (MASCO). In renewal cases, if an expatriate’s current job title does not correspond to a job title listed in MASCO, he or she must change to a listed job title, and the case will be treated as a new application.

The Employment Pass security check procedure has been simplified for Chinese, Iranian and Iraqi nationals who are sponsored by companies that have been granted Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia status. Qualifying Employment Passes can now be endorsed even if the security check -- which takes place during Stage Two of the application process -- is still pending. Previously, security checks had to be completed during Stage One, which would delay the process by at least two to four weeks. Chinese, Iranian and Iraqi nationals must now wait at least two business days following the Stage One approval before they can move on to Stage Two of the application process.

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