Holiday closures, filing deadlines announced

IMPACT – MEDIUM

What is the change? The e-Xpats Service Centre has announced that it will close July 5-8 for the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri (Eid al-Fitr) holiday, which will affect filing deadlines for applicants.

What does the change mean? Companies should observe the filing schedule to avoid delays in processing.

• Implementation timeframe: July 5-8.
• Visas/permits affected:All immigration services.
• Who is affected:Foreign nationals in Malaysia.
• Impact on processing times: Holiday closures will impact processing.
• Next steps:Employers and employees should lodge applications earlier if they need results prior to the holidays.

Background: In celebration of Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, the Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the e-Xpats Service Centre will be closed July 5-8, and will resume work July 11. Accordingly, the center has assigned filing dates for Stage 1 (companies with MSC and ICT status) and Stage 2 (MSC status only) applications.

Stage 2 applications received June 10 and later will be processed without original passports for security reasons. Applications filed without the original passport must include copies of the applicant’s passport, including the identity page, latest entry stamp, any pages containing current passes and visas, three empty pages and, for Indian nationals, the last page of the passport.

Applicants must submit their original passports if applying for reissuance of an Employment Pass due to a change of positions within the same company.

BAL Analysis: Employers and employees should plan to submit any time-sensitive applications well ahead of the upcoming holiday closure.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group and our network provider located in Malaysia. For additional information, please contact your BAL attorney.

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