Saifuddin reminds employers to get their foreign worker affairs in order before March 31

Malay Mail

PUTRAJAYA, March 1 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail is urging all employers with foreign workers to get their affairs in order before March 31 as the migrant repatriation programme ends then.

He said those who haven’t paid their levy, fines or compounds for overstaying, have no documents or are here illegally will then be subjected to the full measure of the law and eventually repatriated to their home country.

“Migrant workers without papers and documents working in the formal sector who have paid their levy but haven’t received their Visa with Reference (VDR) will have their visas cancelled and the quota returned to the employer.

“The last day to apply for foreign help in the formal sector is May 31 this year, after that it’s closed. In order to facilitate the smooth transition and speed up the processes in this space, we have now reduced the time for processing a refund of levies from 53 to 28 days for approval from the Immigration Director General and from 77 to 38 days for approval from the state secretary,” he said.

In addition, he said the repatriation programme as of 12pm today was 848 illegal immigrants who came to the Immigration department to take this opportunity to return home. He thanked the Nepal and Indonesian embassies for aiding in the repatriation programme.

“One important thing I want to point out here is that this entire process of repatriation will be done without agents. We won’t entertain any agents or middlemen. You won’t need any,” he said.

The repatriation programme permits the return of illegal foreigners after they have resolved fines for diverse immigration offences, such as overstaying and entering Malaysia without valid documents.