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Visa policy of Malaysia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Most visitors to Malaysia may enter without a visa for up to 14, 30 or 90 days, depending on their nationality.

However, citizens from certain countries must obtain an e-Visa or, if they are not eligible, obtain a visa from one of the Malaysian diplomatic missions.

Entry requirements

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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).

Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC)

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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 online to Malaysia Immigration within three days before the date of arrival in Malaysia.[5]

However, Malaysian authorities have warned that visitors should be vigilant against fraudulent websites that impersonate the official MDAC website, as such fraudulent websites may lead to scam and personal data breach.[6][7] The registration for MDAC is completely free of charge.[8]

Visa policy map

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Visa policy of Malaysia
  Malaysia
  Visa not required (90 days)
  Visa not required (30 days)
  Visa not required (14 days)
  eVisa
  Visa required
  Visa required (may enter by airport only)
  Admission refused

Visa exemption

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According to Timatic, citizens of the following countries and territories may enter Malaysia without a visa for the following period:[9]

90 days

30 days

14 days

1 - For Chinese citizens with People's Republic of China passports, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports or Macau Special Administrative Region passports only.
2 - Limited to a maximum cumulative stay of 90 days within any 180-day period.
3 - Temporary measure until 31 December 2026.
4 - For holders of Macau Special Administrative Region Travel Permit regardless of their nationality.

According to Timatic, citizens of Brunei and Singapore "may apply to extend their stay upon arrival" in Malaysia.[9] Whilst the Immigration Department of Malaysia states that these nationals may stay more than 1 month without a visa,[4] the legal procedure for these nationals to extend their stay has not been publicly disclosed, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore maintains that nationals of Singapore may only stay in Malaysia for a maximum stay of 30 days.[11]

Non-ordinary passports

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Holders of diplomatic or official / service passports of European Union member states, ASEAN member states, 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, Monaco, Moldova, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia (90 days), San Marino (90 days), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,[12] Taiwan, Timor-Leste, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, United Kingdom (90 days) and Vatican City may enter Malaysia without a visa for up to 30 days (unless otherwise noted).

APEC Business Travel Card

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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, may enter Malaysia without a visa for business purposes for up to 60 days.[9]

ABTCs are issued to citizens of:[13]

Eligible international organizations

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Individuals holding the following travel documents are not required to obtain a visa for visits of 90 days or less when entering Malaysia:

Electronic visa (e-Visa)

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Malaysia Electronic Visa Facilitation & Services
Sample of ENTRI
OwnerImmigration Department of Malaysia
URLmalaysiavisa.imi.gov.my

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 applications 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 website uses IP address detection. Applicants outside designated countries (see above) will be blocked from applying.
  • 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

Direct airside transit

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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.[9]

Mandatory yellow fever vaccination

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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]

Admission restrictions

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Visitor statistics

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Yearly tourist arrivals in millions[21][22]

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.

N/a Denotes that the country was not within the top 15 arrivals for that year
Foreign tourist arrivals in Malaysia
Country Visitors (2025)[23] Visitors (2024)[24] Visitors (2023)[25] Visitors (2022)[26] Visitors (2021)[27] Visitors (2020)[28] Visitors (2019)[29] Visitors (2018)[30] Visitors (2017)[31] Visitors (2016)[32] Visitors (2015)[33]
 Singapore 9,344,513 9,099,727 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
 China 3,965,140 3,287,362 1,474,114 211,363 7,701 405,149 3,114,257 2,944,133 2,281,666 2,124,942 1,677,163
 Indonesia 3,755,129 3,651,668 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 1,720,970 1,639,211 1,551,282 715,528 59,607 394,413 1,884,306 1,914,692 1,836,522 1,780,800 1,343,569
 India 1,244,969 1,133,331 671,846 324,548 3,916 155,883 735,309 600,311 552,739 638,578 722,141
Brunei 1,029,048 1,142,134 811,833 301,757 773 136,020 1,216,123 1,382,031 1,660,506 1,391,016 1,133,555
 South Korea 463,504 475,815 400,853 146,384 3,028 119,750 673,065 616,783 484,528 444,439 421,161
 Australia 420,684 382,628 343,438 152,265 1,321 72,680 368,271 351,500 351,232 377,727 486,948
 Philippines 416,595 400,912 339,282 159,442 2,317 66,051 421,908 396,062 370,559 417,446 554,917
Taiwan 400,067 385,415 283,380 48,132 563 60,090 382,916 383,922 332,927 300,861 283,224
 United Kingdom 376,800 345,438 272,297 134,667 2,676 63,868 346,485 361,335 358,818 400,269 401,019
 Japan 344,030 307,883 229,892 83,309 3,114 74,383 424,694 394,540 392,777 413,768 483,569
 United States 291,765 271,809 229,476 108,141 2,030 48,810 269,928 253,384 198,203 217,075 237,768
Vietnam 285,865 330,189 344,361 173,763 583 64,184 400,346 375,578 248,927 216,877 229,926
Bangladesh 252,301 143,919 142,748 59,033 1,509 17,634 179,000 150,053 111,836 114,607 147,152
France 199,416 160,637 115,145 55,087 843 28,237 141,661 139,408 131,668 134,257 151,474
Germany 172,852 155,848 125,987 57,780 824 27,458 130,221 128,895 109,816 130,276 144,910
Myanmar 170,238 114,551 86,298 36,765 377 9,745 46,257 38,513 42,314 49,175 66,553
Pakistan 129,493 102,570 107,657 60,535 2,043 17,777 105,757 74,458 53,453 58,388 69,112
Russia 121,734 112,806 109,689 33,003 399 28,694 79,984 72,785 67,564 50,893 55,263
Canada 97,885 86,882 71,981 30,656 471 16,631 87,568 84,705 67,056 72,337 79,557
Netherlands 88,439 82,964 68,448 31,070 466 14,486 82,110 81,651 75,885 72,200 84,584
Spain 79,675 60,527 40,762 20,474 147 6,367 43,616 42,267 35,149 28,018 36,692
Italy 78,830 69,781 48,440 18,866 300 8,971 54,710 52,055 44,638 42,747 51,946
Sri Lanka 70,084 58,015 55,050 24,906 385 8,142 26,058 28,376 43,738 33,340 51,337
Cambodia 65,539 63,964 72,627 39,823 250 16,548 97,097 90,113 42,004 61,844 75,059
Saudi Arabia 55,176 62,764 51,375 35,980 687 23,390 121,444 112,263 100,549 123,878 99,754
New Zealand 51,828 47,961 42,955 18,238 196 8,794 50,140 50,698 55,923 53,352 60,846
Poland 48,186 36,821 21,472 8,472 161 7,539 27,033 24,364 20,067 19,768 19,920
Kazakhstan 33,895 30,730 8,298 2,836 141 6,065 18,138 13,861 12,577 10,717 15,410
 Switzerland 32,499 28,035 23,312 10,486 197 5,263 25,659 25,680 20,775 26,628 28,141
Turkey 32,148 23,986 17,275 7,169 286 3,152 15,290 15,406 14,594 13,029 15,395
Belgium 27,124 25,234 17,726 7,543 122 3,734 22,082 20,624 17,327 14,283 18,789
Laos 24,967 18,886 16,781 7,010 425 5,424 26,955 23,782 39,460 31,061 24,448
Ireland 22,946 21,170 18,127 8,739 137 3,735 25,659 19,687 20,854 18,208 22,746
Egypt 22,843 22,859 20,783 11,117 652 6,204 29,831 27,909 23,760 30,231 25,637
Sweden 22,647 21,242 18,006 8,083 253 9,292 29,592 32,665 34,304 32,861 35,586
  Nepal 21,472 20,091 18,488 11,379 198 5,067 20,437 19,914 20,553 60,476 93,159
Denmark 19,837 19,242 16,053 7,717 214 6,061 22,314 23,566 23,219 21,612 24,113
Iran 19,137 24,710 19,908 7,570 314 7,078 46,559 67,094 59,023 47,102 65,066
Iraq 18,954 18,884 12,562 6,008 452 3,628 21,421 22,291 18,555 22,533 20,098
South Africa 18,114 16,979 15,155 7,937 168 3,876 22,674 21,977 21,560 20,053 20,625
Ukraine 14,097 13,511 11,129 4,381 298 6,326 16,019 14,529 13,068 12,971 10,672
Norway 13,146 13,250 9,981 4,960 136 3,552 14,585 15,202 14,121 14,709 18,622
United Arab Emirates 7,457 6,836 7,877 3,230 86 679 11,174 9,386 8,555 14,150 15,769
Total 26,613,597 25,016,698 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

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Entry requirements into Malaysia". Immigration Department of Malaysia. Ministry of Home Affairs (Malaysia). Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "Malaysia Automated Clearance System (MACS 2.0)". Malaysia Digital Arrival Card. Immigration Department of Malaysia. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  3. ↑ Citizens of Singapore using the "Malaysia Automated Clearance System (MACS 2.0)" may enter Malaysia with a passport valid for at least 3 months.[2]
  4. 1 2 3 "Visa Requirement by Country". Immigration Department of Malaysia. Ministry of Home Affairs (Malaysia). Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  5. ↑ "Malaysia Digital Arrival Card For Foreign Visitors". Malaysia Digital Arrival Card. Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  6. ↑ "Immigration Dept warns tourists of fake MDAC website". Malay Mail. BERNAMA. 4 January 2025. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  7. ↑ Zack, Justin (4 January 2025). "QuickCheck: Are there fake Malaysia Digital Arrival Card websites?". The Star. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  8. ↑ Rao, Ch Sushil (11 February 2025). "Fraudulant sites charging $100 for free Malaysia digital arrival card". Times of India. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Visa and passport". Timatic. International Air Transport Association through Emirates. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  10. ↑ "Myanmar citizens granted 14-Day visa-free entry to Malaysia". The Star. 27 September 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  11. ↑ "Malaysia - Travel Page". www.mfa.gov.sg. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Singapore). 31 January 2025. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
  12. ↑ JOINT STATEMENT between Malaysia and Turkmenistan
  13. ↑ "ABTC Economy Entry Information" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "eVISA FAQ" (PDF).
  15. ↑ "Vaccination For Yellow Fever". iamat. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  16. ↑ "About MM2H Programme". Malaysia My Second Home. 9 January 2014. Archived from the original on 25 July 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  17. ↑ "Visa Requirement by Country". Immigration Department of Malaysia. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  18. ↑ "North Koreans Need Visa To Enter Malaysia From Monday". Bernama. 2 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  19. ↑ "Kim Jong-nam death: Malaysia scraps visa-free entry for North Koreans". The Guardian. Associated Press. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  20. ↑ "Visa requirement for foreigner". Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  21. ↑ "Malaysia: International tourist trips". Our World In Data. 17 August 2024.
  22. ↑ "Global and regional tourism performance". www.unwto.org. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  23. ↑ "Malaysia Tourism Statistics - Tourist Arrivals to Malaysia (2025)". Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  24. ↑ "Malaysia Tourism Statistics - Tourist Arrivals to Malaysia (2024)". Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  25. ↑ "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2023)" (PDF). Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  26. ↑ "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2022)" (PDF). Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  27. ↑ "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2021)" (PDF). Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  28. ↑ "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2020)" (PDF). Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  29. ↑ "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2019)" (PDF). Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  30. ↑ "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2018)" (PDF). Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  31. ↑ "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2017)" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  32. ↑ "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2016)" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  33. ↑ "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2015)" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2018.

Further reading

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