Malaysia announces 30-day visa-free entry for Indians

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will grant a 30-day visa-free entry for Indian and Chinese citizens from December 1, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has announced, joining Thailand and Sri Lanka in

recent weeks to offer such a facility to foreigners to promote tourism.

Ibrahim said the waiver was an additional facility to the existing visa exemptions currently enjoyed by Gulf nations and other West Asian countries, including Turkiye and Jordan.

However, Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister of the country, said the visa

exemption was subject to top security screening, the official Bernama news agency reported.

“Initial screenings will be conducted for all tourists and visitors to Malaysia. Security is a different matter. If there are criminal records or the risk of terrorism, they will not be allowed to enter,” the prime minister said.

“That comes under the authority of the security forces and immigration,” the premier said. The 30-day visa-free entry is also currently enjoyed by eight ASEAN countries for the purpose of social visits, tourism and business.

Malaysia is currently targeting 16.1 million international tourist arrivals with RM 49.3 billion in tourism receipts.

India remains to be among the top countries to contribute tourist arrivals to Malaysia.

In 2022, Malaysia welcomed a total of 324,548 Indian tourists, while in the first quarter of 2023, Malaysia received as many as 164,566 Indian tourists compared to 13,370 in the same period last year, according to data from the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, also known as Tourism Malaysia.