Visa policy of Malaysia

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The visa policy of Malaysia consists of the requirements for foreign nationals to travel to, enter, and remain in Malaysia. Most visitors to Malaysia are granted visa-free entry for a period of 90, 30, or 14 days respectively. However, nationals from some countries must first obtain a visa from one of the Malaysian diplomatic missions around the world before being allowed into the country.

All visitors to Malaysia must:^[1]

• hold a passport, passport replacing document or a travel document valid for at least 6 months^[3] upon arrival;^[1]
• hold a return ticket;^[1]
• not be an illegal immigrant;^[1]
• have sufficient funds for the duration of stay in Malaysia;^[1]
• have a visa^[1] and/or a yellow fever vaccination certificate^[4] (if applicable).

Before entering Malaysia, all travellers, except

• citizens of Singapore; and
• diplomatic and official passport holders, regardless of nationality; and
• residents (Malaysian citizens, Permanent Residents and Long-Term Pass holders); and
• holders of a Bruneian General Certificate of Identity (GCI); and
• users of the "Brunei-Malaysia Frequent Travel Facility"; and
• holders of a border pass issued by Thailand; and
• holders of an Indonesian cross-border travel document (PLB);

are required to submit a Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) online to Malaysia immigration.^[5]

The electronic Malaysia Digital Arrival Card must be submitted within three days before the date of arrival in Malaysia.^[5]

According to Timatic, holders of passports issued by the following jurisdictions can enter Malaysia without a visa for up to the duration listed below.^[6]

Holders of passports issued by the following jurisdictions are granted visa-free entry to Malaysia for 90 days:^[6]

Holders of passports issued by the following jurisdictions are granted visa-free entry to Malaysia for 30 days:^[6]

_{T1 - Temporary measure until 31 December 2026.}^[7][8]
_{T2 - Temporary measure until 31 December 2026.}^[9][10][11]

Holders of passports issued by the following jurisdictions are granted visa-free entry to Malaysia for 14 days:^[6]

In addition, holders of Macao Special Administrative Region Travel Permits are granted visa-free entry for 14 days regardless of their nationality.

Holders of passports issued by the following countries who possess an APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) containing the "MYS" code on the reverse, which indicates that it is valid for travel to Malaysia, can enter Malaysia visa-free for business trips for up to 60 days.^[6]

ABTCs are issued to nationals of:^[12]

Holders of diplomatic or official / service passports of Andorra, Albania (90 days), Algeria (90 days), Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belarus (90 days), Barbados (90 days), Belize (90 days), Botswana, China, Dominican Republic, Georgia, India, Iran (15 days), Jordan (90 days), Kazakhstan, Libya (14 days), Moldova, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia (90 days), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,^[13] Taiwan, Timor-Leste, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and United Kingdom (90 days) do not require a visa for up to 30 days (unless otherwise stated), however they must first request for entry permission at any port of entry in order to enter Malaysia.

In addition, holders of diplomatic or official / service passports of Brunei and Singapore do not require a visa for up to 90 days while all other ASEAN member states do not require a visa for up to 30 days but do not require entry permission under ASEAN Visa-Exemption agreement.

On 1 March 2017, Malaysian government set up a new online application system to accept applications for Electronic Visa (eVISA) and Electronic Travel Registration and Information (ENTRI) to facilitate tourism.

eNTRI program is good for Chinese and Indian passport holders and lasts until 31 December 2020 while e-Visa is good for citizens of more countries and is still available so far.^[14]

E-Visa application also applies to those seeking student or expatriate visas for entering Malaysia, although they must report to immigration authorities upon arrival in Malaysia in order to obtain their immigration passes.

Citizens of the following countries can apply for an e-Visa:

In addition, holders of Hong Kong Document of Identity for Visa Purposes are eligible for applying e-Visa regardless of their nationality.

• Place of application: all countries and territories in the world except Israel, Malaysia and North Korea
  • As of 22 February 2023, Single Entry Visa (SEV) and Multiple Entry Visa (MEV) applications are now available in Singapore for all nationalities that require an eVISA.
  • The application website contains IP address detection, applicants out of designated countries (see above) will be blocked from the application.
• Fee: varies by nationality and applicant's location
• Place of departure: no restrictions
• Port of entry and exit: any port of entry
• Valid for: 3 months (multiple entries for Indian nationals, single entry for others)
• Duration of stay: 30 days for single-entry eVisa holders, 15 or 30 days for multiple-entry e-Visa holders
• Visa review: 2 business day after application submitted, visa interview or extra proof materials may be requested

Nationals of non-visa-exempt countries can transit through Kuala Lumpur International Airport for a maximum of 24 hours in the transit area; however, they are not permitted to switch between the terminals of the airport unless they hold a valid visa.^[6]

Nationals of the following countries require an International Certificate of Vaccination in order to enter Malaysia:^[4] The vaccination requirement is imposed by this country for protection against Yellow Fever since the principal mosquito vector Aedes aegypti is present in its territory.^[15]

• Citizens of Israel are required to obtain visa along with approval from the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs in order to enter Malaysia. In addition, they are banned from participating in Malaysia My Second Home programme.^[16][17]
• Citizens of North Korea are visa required since 6 March 2017 due to the diplomatic tensions caused by assassination of Kim Jong-nam.^[18][19]
• Citizens of Western Sahara are visa required and may enter by air only.^[20]

In 2016, Malaysia recorded 26,757,392 tourist arrivals, a growth of 4.0% compared to 25,721,251 in 2015. The table lists the top 15 arrivals to Malaysia by their origin countries.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Malaysia

Country	Visitors (6/2024)[21]	Visitors (2023)[22]	Visitors (2022)[23]	Visitors (2021)[24]	Visitors (2020)[25]	Visitors (2019)[26]	Visitors (2018)[27]	Visitors (2017)[28]	Visitors (2016)[29]	Visitors (2015)[30]
Singapore	4,276,007	8,308,230	5,222,991	16,308	1,545,255	10,163,882	10,615,986	12,441,713	13,272,961	12,930,754
Indonesia	1,786,630	3,108,165	1,481,739	11,025	711,723	3,623,277	3,277,689	2,796,570	3,049,964	2,788,033
Thailand	813,783	1,551,282	715,528	59,607	394,413	1,884,306	1,914,692	1,836,522	1,780,800	1,343,569
China	1,449,711	1,474,114	211,363	7,701	405,149	3,114,257	2,944,133	2,281,666	2,124,942	1,677,163
Brunei	565,999	811,833	301,757	773	136,020	1,216,123	1,382,031	1,660,506	1,391,016	1,133,555
India	537,493	671,846	324,548	3,916	155,883	735,309	600,311	552,739	638,578	722,141
South Korea	232,711	400,853	146,384	3,028	119,750	673,065	616,783	484,528	444,439	421,161
Vietnam	168,015	344,361	173,763	583	64,184	400,346	375,578	248,927	216,877	229,926
Australia	178,931	343,438	152,265	1,321	72,680	368,271	351,500	351,232	377,727	486,948
Philippines	192,067	339,282	159,442	2,317	66,051	421,908	396,062	370,559	417,446	554,917
Taiwan	178,038	283,380	48,132	563	60,090	382,916	383,922	332,927	300,861	283,224
United Kingdom	175,545	272,297	134,667	2,676	63,868	346,485	361,335	358,818	400,269	401,019
Japan	132,684	229,892	83,309	3,114	74,383	424,694	394,540	392,777	413,768	483,569
United States	134,474	229,476	108,141	2,030	48,810	269,928	253,384	198,203	217,075	237,768
Bangladesh	63,427	142,748	59,033	1,509	17,634	179,000	150,053	111,836	114,607	147,152
Germany	82,721	125,987	57,780	824	27,458	130,221	128,895	109,816	130,276	144,910
France	71,874	115,145	55,087	843	28,237	141,661	139,408	131,668	134,257	151,474
Russia	60,072	109,689	33,003	399	28,694	79,984	72,785	67,564	50,893	55,263
Pakistan	44,983	107,657	60,535	2,043	17,777	105,757	74,458	53,453	58,388	69,112
Myanmar	51,680	86,298	36,765	377	9,745	46,257	38,513	42,314	49,175	66,553
Cambodia	32,382	72,627	39,823	250	16,548	97,097	90,113	42,004	61,844	75,059
Canada	42,783	71,981	30,656	471	16,631	87,568	84,705	67,056	72,337	79,557
Netherlands	33,700	68,448	31,070	466	14,486	82,110	81,651	75,885	72,200	84,584
Sri Lanka	26,241	55,050	24,906	385	8,142	26,058	28,376	43,738	33,340	51,337
Saudi Arabia	27,365	51,375	35,980	687	23,390	121,444	112,263	100,549	123,878	99,754
Italy	24,561	48,440	18,866	300	8,971	54,710	52,055	44,638	42,747	51,946
New Zealand	21,854	42,955	18,238	196	8,794	50,140	50,698	55,923	53,352	60,846
Spain	18,920	40,762	20,474	147	6,367	43,616	42,267	35,149	28,018	36,692
Switzerland	13,239	23,312	10,486	197	5,263	25,659	25,680	20,775	26,628	28,141
Poland	17,372	21,472	8,472	161	7,539	27,033	24,364	20,067	19,768	19,920
Egypt	10,795	20,783	11,117	652	6,204	29,831	27,909	23,760	30,231	25,637
Iran	14,377	19,908	7,570	314	7,078	46,559	67,094	59,023	47,102	65,066
Nepal	9,402	18,488	11,379	198	5,067	20,437	19,914	20,553	60,476	93,159
Ireland	10,664	18,127	8,739	137	3,735	25,659	19,687	20,854	18,208	22,746
Sweden	11,244	18,006	8,083	253	9,292	29,592	32,665	34,304	32,861	35,586
Belgium	10,584	17,726	7,543	122	3,734	22,082	20,624	17,327	14,283	18,789
Turkey	11,851	17,275	7,169	286	3,152	15,290	15,406	14,594	13,029	15,395
Laos	8,657	16,781	7,010	425	5,424	26,955	23,782	39,460	31,061	24,448
Denmark	10,009	16,053	7,717	214	6,061	22,314	23,566	23,219	21,612	24,113
South Africa	7,365	15,155	7,937	168	3,876	22,674	21,977	21,560	20,053	20,625
Iraq	7,851	12,562	6,008	452	3,628	21,421	22,291	18,555	22,533	20,098
Ukraine	7,398	11,129	4,381	298	6,326	16,019	14,529	13,068	12,971	10,672
Norway	6,375	9,981	4,960	136	3,552	14,585	15,202	14,121	14,709	18,622
Kazakhstan	13,317	8,298	2,836	141	6,065	18,138	13,861	12,577	10,717	15,410
United Arab Emirates	2,258	7,877	3,230	86	679	11,174	9,386	8,555	14,150	15,769
Grand Total	11,808,937	20,141,846	10,074,964	134,728	4,332,722	26,100,784	25,832,354	25,948,459	26,757,392	25,721,251

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Malaysia.

• Visa requirements for Malaysian citizens
• Malaysian passport

• Countries that require visa/do not require visa to visit Malaysia (PDF) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia

• List of Malaysian missions
• Immigration Department of Malaysia
• Malaysia Digital Arrival Card
• eVisa application