FSSG Blog

FSSG is participating in a Research on Foreign Spouses of Malaysian Citizens, that is being done by University of Malaya, we do hope that Foreign Spouses will be help us to respond to the Questionnaire.

The survey will take a few minutes to complete, please give us your time and efforts, it will give us advanced understanding on the issue backed by solid statistics. Just follow these few easy steps.

1) Down load the form or Copy Paste or use this online link to fill & then download the completed form https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yb2ZqKpRArPgB7QKoWhVZogTE1hFmCpq_GOM5U0wt0g/edit

2) Respond to the Questions - no right or wrong answer, it is not an exam.
3) Please return to FSSG by email : foreignspouses@gmail.com

4) Alternatively you can answer the questions on line at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdR0xwNUhvcCTDhiUSOfsvN_YSAE4C5lIhvvfKYtxWfSB7tow/viewform

& we will receive your responses automatically.

Difficulties in Making Malaysia our First Home

As in other parts of the developed world, trans-national marriages are increasing in Malaysia as more Malaysians go over-seas for education and business.  Non-Malaysian or non-citizen spouses of Malaysians face many challenges in Malaysia, despite living for years here, raising children and establishing permanent homes, their immigration status remains uncertain with restrictions on their right to work. They are required to apply repeatedly for visas in order to stay in Malaysia. Applications for permanent residence and citizenship take years to be approved, without clarification provided. Daily life is made difficult as they are discriminated against as foreigners by providers of private and public services, such as banks and hospitals, schools, universities etc. The challenges of daily living contribute to marital strife. A significant number of couples leave Malaysia permanently, unable to gain security and stability.

Long Term Social Visit Pass

Non-Malaysian spouses reside in Malaysia on the Long Term Social Visit Pass (LTSVP), the duration of this visa can vary from three months to five years, depending on the Immigration Department officer concerned.  There is a mandatory requirement for foreign spouses to have their Malaysian spouses physically present each time they have to renew their LTSVP until they receive permanent resident status, which can take decades, creating a situation of dependency, vulnerability, instability and women prone to domestic violence.  

Malaysian women who do not earn more than RM2000 per month cannot sponsor their non-Malaysian husbands and are required to find a sponsor who earns above RM2000. This poses difficulty for returning graduates who are newly married to non-citizens. This discriminatory policy on Malaysian women should be removed in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which Malaysia has ratified.

In some cases, male non-Malaysian spouses who are either on Social Visit Pass or on a work permit, are given a cooling off period of six months and sometimes they are asked to return and wait in the home country, this creates severe difficulties for the Malaysian women, some of whom are expectant mothers. 

Furthermore until spouses are on the One Year LTSVP they are unable to get the endorsement to work from Immigration.

Also in existence is the discriminatory practice whereby African and Chinese nationals are required to apply and renew their visas in the Federal Capital of Putrajaya and not in more conveniently located state offices, causing unnecessary expenses for young couples and severely inconveniencing spouses with infants.

There is also no provision in the law or policy to enable couples with non-Malaysian partners who are in a long term partnership, but who do not wish to enter into a marriage, to live in the country together.  There is no provision when one spouse is working overseas, as is quite common these days for IT and other Professionals who often work  in overseas projects, due consideration should be accorded to them or else their application for permanent residency will be further delayed.

These restrictions impinge on the rights of non-Malaysian spouses, keeping them in a state of dependency on their Malaysian spouses for years resulting in tension and stress for the family unit.   In actual fact, non-Malaysian spouses remain in the country at the mercy of their Malaysian spouses, including for their right to be employed, this is despite having and supporting their Malaysian children.  The Malaysian spouse at any time can cancel the visa of the non-Malaysian spouse.

Right to Employment

The visa for the LTSVP of Spouses has this statement “any form of employment is strictly prohibited – SPOUSE OF A MALAYSIAN CITIZEN”.   Many spouses however are unaware that they may work once they receive the work approval from the Immigration Department and this statement is then manually struck off the visa. 

The endorsement to work is given by the Immigration Department once the non-Malaysian spouse is able to secure an appointment letter from the employer, the company registration and the approval from the Malaysian spouse to work.   Increasingly spouses find it difficult to convince employers that they are permitted to work, due to this statement on their visa.  Securing the endorsement to work is cumbersome and restricted to the employer mentioned and for the period specified.

The endorsement to work for non-Malaysian spouses comes with the requirement of a letter written by the Malaysian spouse granting the non-citizen spouse the permission to work.  Such a letter of approval/permission is totally discriminatory, reinforces dependency on Malaysian Spouse and provides limited autonomy to non-citizen spouses. 

Until one secures permanent residency, certain sectors remain inaccessible to non-Malaysian spouses, such as insurance, banking and law.  Graduates who have these degrees find it close to impossible securing jobs in these areas until they secure permanent residency. This leads to greater economic constraint on their Malaysian family and Malaysian children, such as depriving children of good education or even a roof above them.

Even after securing permanent residency in Malaysia, doors of the government sector remains shut, with few exceptions such as positions of doctors and university lecturers.

Employer’s contribution to the social security fund (EPF) is optional for foreign spouses, although there is a mandatory contribution of 12 % for citizens and permanent residence holders.  In view of the EPF constitutes the only savings at retirement for many Malaysian employees and allows for withdrawal for property, medical and children's education, this facility should be extended to non-Malaysian spouses.  Currently, foreign spouses who have EPF are not permitted to make withdrawals from Account Two, for children’s education or purchase of their homes are informed to provide an air-ticket and withdraw the entire amount.

Until October 2008, there were severe restrictions imposed on employment, with non-Malaysian spouses only permitted to work in organisations with a paid up capital of RM200,000 – RM300,000. Although the restrictions on the right to work have been lifted, many spouses who came in the late 1980s and 1990s as youth and have not worked due to these restrictions, have lost their ‘prime time’, are now close to retirement, facing severe difficulties in finding gainful employment and with no savings for their retirement.

The Permanent Residency Process

The Immigration Department website states that non-Malaysian spouses must reside in Malaysia for a minimum period of five years on the LTSVP  before a permanent residency application can be made, the approval process can then take over 3-5 years, thus it may be over a decade before permanent residency can be obtained. 

There seems to be no clear set guidelines outlining the permanent residency application process. 

Anecdotal evidence has suggested that non-Malaysian husbands wait longer than non-Malaysian wives to hear the outcome of their permanent residency application. This is a huge challenge for Malaysian women married to foreign husbands and is a strain on the marriage and a source of stress for the family.

There have also been reports of a variation in the procedure for applications based on nationality.  This is ostensibly owing to a bias against so-called ‘sham’ marriages of convenience.  However this should not become the reason for delays, which severely restricts the rights of those in genuine marriages.

The permanent residency application is made by the Malaysian spouse and all correspondence is addressed to the Malaysian spouse, which creates difficulty if the marriage is estranged.  Mention should be made here to the copious documentation required from copies of all passports of the family, to wedding invitations, birth certificates and other documentation which would have already been submitted at the time of application for the LTSVP.  It sometimes takes years and in the past, even decades, for an application to be approved or rejected.

There is a dire need for transparency in the process of issuing permanent residency to non-Malaysian spouses of Malaysian citizens.  There is also a need to have explicit guidelines stipulating the time limits for the review of applications, reasons for rejection of the applications and judicial review procedures for permanent residency as well as citizenship applications. 

Citizenship

Non Malaysian wives can acquire Malaysian citizenship by registration if the marriage is still subsisting and she has resided (with permanent resident status) in Malaysia for 2 years and is of good character (Federal Constitution, Article 15(1)).  However, since obtaining permanent residence status is mired in delays, often this option is not taken up.

Marriage to Malaysian citizens does not provide any benefit to male non-Malaysian spouse. They are required to apply for citizenship by naturalisation as any other non-citizen which requires 10 years of residence (with permanent residence status).  

The language of Schedule II of the Federal Constitution must be amended to allow both Malaysian men and women to confer their citizenship on their children when the child is born outside of Malaysia to one Malaysian parent. At present only Malaysian fathers can automatically confer citizenship to their children born overseas.