Issuing of Foreign Student Visa to Pick Up Speed

There is something to look forward to this year for foreign students who wish to further their studies in Malaysia. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that students will only need to wait 14 days instead of one month in order to obtain their visas.

(picture taken from the star online)

He also mentioned that parents or guardians of foreign students may also be granted visas. This is due to requests that had been made by parents in certain countries where they prefer travelling with their child and taking care of them as it is their culture to do so.

This new target has been set for the Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) and Immigration Department to improve inefficiency of the current system. Currently, applicants are facing problems in obtaining their visa as there is a backlog of 4,000 applications.

He mentions that the simplifying of the visa application has been put as a priority so that the Government is able to achieve their vision of having 200,000 foreign students in Malaysian institutions by the year 2020. As for now, there are 157,000 students.

Ahmad Zahid also said, “I must stress that despite this decision, we will not compromise on national safety – we will also make use of the Advanced Passenger Screening System, or APSS.”

“Once they have been cleared, they can continue their studies here with ease,” he said.