Hiring foreign staff in Sarawak and Malaysia

Why does Sarawak need a separate application?

Sarawak kept control of its own immigration when it joined the Federation in 1963, and it has held on to it since. That means its own entry permits, its own employment pass process and its own labour department. Your expatriate can hold a perfectly valid federal Employment Pass, board a flight in Kuala Lumpur, land in Kuching, and be in a different immigration jurisdiction on arrival. To work there, they need Sarawak’s permission.

So “we already have approval in Malaysia” is not an answer in Sarawak. Sector eligibility, salary bands, quota rules and processing times all differ, and so do the platforms you file on. This is the single thing West Malaysian and Singaporean employers are most surprised by.

What does a company need before it can hire?

1. A registered Malaysian entityA locally incorporated company, with paid-up capital that matches its shareholding structure. The more foreign ownership you have, the higher the paid-up capital expected of you.
2. Platform registrationFor Peninsular Malaysia, registration with the Expatriate Services Division. For Sarawak, registration on ALIANCE, the state platform that expatriate applications now start from.
3. A labour quota, where one appliesForeign worker hiring always requires an approved labour quota. Since the 2026 Sarawak changes, expatriate hiring may require one too.
4. Advertising, where one appliesSarawak requires certain expatriate vacancies to be advertised on JobSarawak before an application proceeds. JobSarawak replaced MYFutureJobs for this purpose.
5. The pass application itselfOnly once the steps above are complete does the individual pass application begin.

Which pass does the role need?

Three things decide it: where the work happens, how long it lasts, and who pays the salary. Get it wrong and you do not amend the application. You withdraw it and start again.

• Employment Pass (Sarawak)
• Employment Pass (Malaysia)
• Professional Visit Pass (Sarawak)
• Labour quota application

What are you signed up to once someone is hired?

• Statutory contributions, including SOCSO/PERKESO where the worker is covered.
• Renewal before expiry. A lapsed pass is an overstay, and the overstay attaches to your employee’s record.
• Notification when employment ends, and cancellation of the pass.
• Retention of the documents that supported the application, for audit.

Enforcement here is document-led. If you cannot produce the file that justified an approval, you are in a much worse position than an employer who can, and it will not matter that the hire itself was sound. Keep the file after the case closes.