Starting from January 2020, Indian and Chinese passport holders will be able to visit Malaysia without needing to apply for a tourist visa beforehand.
The exemption will be valid until December 2020 and is in conjunction with the country's ‘Visit Malaysia Year 2020’ promotion.
Tourists from India and China will however have to make note of the following do’s and don’ts:
- Tourists must register online via the electronic travel registration and information system, either individually or through travel agencies
- Once registered, the tourists must travel to Malaysia within three months
- Tourists must limit their visit to Malaysia for up to 15 days only, without a tourist visa
- The 15-day visa-free period cannot be extended
- Upon arrival, tourists must prove they have sufficient cash, bank or credit card, as well as provide an itinerary of their travel plans in Malaysia
- Tourists are prohibited from entering the country with any other types of passes
- Tourists must also possess a return ticket or an air travel ticket to a destination in any country if they travel by air
- Entrance to and exit from Malaysia would have to be through authorised airports or through the immigration control posts. These include the Sultan Iskandar building in Johor, Johor Bahru railway station, the Johor Immigration control post at Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar, Tanjung Kupang, Johor; Padang Besar, Perlis; Bukit Kayu Itam, Changloon, Kedah; Sungai Tujoh, Sarawak; and the Immigration control post at Tedungan in Limbang, Fifth Division, Sarawak
- Tourists will be allowed to re-register to enter Malaysia after 45 days from the date they leave
China and India along with Thailand are already among the top five nations visiting Malaysia, with tourists from Singapore and Indonesia as the top two arrivals. Singapore is one nation that already has visa-free privileges to travel to Malaysia. The new rule means that Indian passport holders living in Singapore will now also be allowed to make quick visa-free trips to Malaysia for a game of golf or a shopping spree, though in all likelihood traffic jams at border will further increase.
Malaysia aims to attract 30 million international tourist arrivals for the ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ campaign, bringing in total tourist receipts of 100 billion Malaysian Ringgit (Dh89.45 billion).
