Complete Visa Guide for Malaysia (2025)

Malaysia has various types of employment visas and residency permits to encourage investments and bring skilled talents to support the country’s robust economy. There are three broad categories - employment visas, residency long stay visas and family visas. 

Types of employment visas 

Employment visas are primarily managed by the Expatriate Services Division of the Immigration Department. Some visas are offered in conjunction with other government linked companies or agencies to offer specific incentives and attract special talents. Collaborations for employment visas exist between Talentcorp and MDEC and the Immigration Department. 

Immigration Pass	Duration	Condition	Purpose
Employment Pass I	Up to 5 years	Monthly salary above RM10,000	To live and work in a permanent job in Malaysia
Employment Pass II	Up to 2 years	Monthly salary above 5,000 and up to 9,999	To live and work in a permanent job in Malaysia
Employment Pass III	1 year	Monthly salary above 3,000 and up to 4,999	To live and work in a permanent job in Malaysia
Resident-Pass Talent	Up to 10 years	Monthly salary above RM15,000.  Worked in Malaysia on Employment Pass for more than 3 consecutive years. More info can be found here.	To live and work in a permanent job in Malaysia with flexibility to change employers or be self-employed
MDEC Tech Entrepreneurship visa	1 year for new tech founders;  5 years for experienced founders, investors, and senior management	The requirements are rather flexible as long as you meet the parameters of a start up founder. More info can be found here.	For tech start up founders and investors to consider Malaysia as their start up HQ or a place to set up
MDEC Digital Nomad Visa	1 year + 1 year	Secured minimum USD 36,000 income from abroad and working in the digital sector	For digital nomads to choose to work, live and spend in in Malaysia for 2 years
Sarawak Digital Nomad Visa (launched under the Sarawak Digital Residency Visa Scheme)	More details to come (new program launched in October 2024)	More details to come (new program launched in October 2024)	For digital nomads to choose to work, live and spend in Sarawak for 2 years
Professional Visit Pass - Work Purpose	1 year + 1 year	Skilled technician, consultant or any other eligible job titles with a monthly salary of more than RM3,000 monthly	For temporary placement or secondment  in Malaysia for project work or process implementation
Professional Visit Pass - Spiritual, charitable, volunteer purpose	1 to 3 years	Religious preacher or student, approved by the respective religious authorities or bodies; charitable organisation personnel carrying out works for Malaysia based charities, or volunteers	For religious, charitable or volunteer purposes without a commercial purpose

Types of residency long stay visas (non-family category) 

Immigration Pass	Duration	Condition	Purpose
MM2H	10 years	Must live and invest in Malaysia	To encourage retirees to spend their retirement in Malaysia
S-MM2H	10 years	Must live and invest in Sarawak	To encourage retirees to spend their retirement in Sarawak
Long Term Social Visit Pass (Medical)	Depends on medical need	Undergoing medical treatment in Malaysia	To support Malaysia’s medical tourism industry

Types of family visas

Immigration Pass	Duration	Condition	Purpose
Long Term Social Visit Pass	If sponsor is Malaysian, indefinite	Married to Malaysian, or child of Malaysian below 18 years old or elderly dependent above 60 years old	To allow non-Malaysian family members to live with Malaysian family members in Malaysia
Dependent Passes	Follows length of principal pass such as employment pass	Married to or is a child/ elderly dependent of an employment pass holder	To allow non-Malaysian dependents of employment pass holders to live in Malaysia with the employment pass holder
Permanent Residency	Indefinite	Married to Malaysian for more than 5 years and living in Malaysia	To provide permanent residency rights to foreign spouses of Malaysians including working rights equivalent to Malaysians
Citizenship	Indefinite	Spouse of Malaysian or child of Malaysian	To provide full citizenship rights to foreign spouses and child or children of Malaysians equivalent to Malaysians

Our website and its contents are provided for general information purposes only and nothing on this website or in its contents is intended to provide professional advice. Please contact us at info@migratesafe.org or +6082-295175 for more information.