In January 2025, Malaysia’s Home Ministry (KDN) announced that changes to the application process for foreign spouses would take effect in September 2025:
Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia has now released the Permit Masuk Guidelines (Garis Panduan Permit Masuk), providing a step-by-step guide to the updated application process. The guidelines are at this link, but it seems the document can only be viewed on a mobile device and cannot be downloaded:
Reading the entire guide will help applicants and their Malaysian spouses understand the process.
Key updates for foreign spouses include:
- Eligibility criteria have been relaxed for foreign wives, who now qualify with a minimum of 3 years of marriage and 1 year on LTSVP. Foreign husbands must still meet a minimum of 5 years for both marriage and LTSVP:
- The 'Points System' may have been discontinued, as it is not mentioned in the Permit Masuk Guidelines. Instead, Page 20 of the Guidelines states that the applicant and the Malaysian spouse must attend an Immigration interview to determine eligibility for submitting a Permit Masuk application. Rather than meeting a minimum score of 40 points, applicants may now be assessed against a standard determined by the Immigration officer. Appendix A2 shows some of the verification criteria, which are similar to those under the 'Points System'.
- According to Page 22 of the Permit Masuk Guidelines, application decisions for foreign spouses should be issued within 6 months from the date of submission. Applicants will receive their results either by post or online. This infographic shows the updated process and timeline:
Here are more screenshots from the Permit Masuk Guidelines. They show additional eligibility criteria for both female and male applicants, plus the checklist referred to in Appendix C1 which shows the documents required:
Where to find further information:
- Immigration KL posted about the new Guidelines on their Facebook Page here
- For specific guidance go to the 'Permit Masuk' counter at your nearest Immigration office.
- See information on the PR process on the FAQs page:
