Malaysia Starts New Post Study Visa Option for International Students

Malaysia has changed its visa policies drastically to make it easier for visitors and students in particular, effective from December 1, 2023. Under the Visa Liberalization Plan, there is an exemption of 30 days for visitors from India and China, for the time period they can also enter and exit the country multiple times through a ‘multiple entry mechanism’. The visitor visa is also now valid
up to 6 months, which was earlier 3 months.

Under the liberalization plan for international students, the Malaysian government has introduced a provision for Graduate Pass also known as the (Social Visit Pass) that allows graduates of both bachelor & master degrees to stay in Malaysia for up to a year to study further, travel or work part time after completion of studies. Dependants of the graduates can also stay with them.
Education Malaysia declared some criteria for Social Visit Pass. Students require a valid passport for at least the next 18 months, maintaining their health insurance in Malaysia and have a Malaysian Citizen acting as sponsor for themselves. Same applies for the dependants of the Social Visit Pass holders to gain a (Dependant Graduate Pass)

Social Visit Pass is only available to students from 23 countries which are Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Switzerland, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, United States, Oman, and Bahrain. Ministry of Home Affairs of Malaysia (MoHA) has extended the facility of Social Visit Pass (Graduate Pass) to students from China and India on 06-Feb-2024.

These initiatives from Malaysia are keeping in mind its target of reaching 250000 international students by 2025, where the total of international students in Malaysia till 2022 was about 150000. With the current rule changes in visa processing and enrollment caps in some English speaking study abroad destinations which have become stricter due to high inflow of internationl students, Malaysia as an educational hub is set to benefit in the near future with these visa reforms making the entry much more easier for outlanders.

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