PETALING JAYA: The immigration department has recorded an increase in the number of foreigners misusing social visit passes to work or conduct business activities in Malaysia in recent years.
Immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban said 1,279 people were arrested for the offence in 2023, with the figure rising to 2,644 in 2024 and 2,630 last year.
A further 451 arrests were recorded as of July 15 this year, Utusan Malaysia reported.
“These individuals entered the country on social visit or tourist passes but took up jobs or carried out economic activities in breach of their pass conditions,” he said at a press conference in conjunction with the 104th Immigration Day celebration.
Zakaria said the department would continue tracking down those who abused social visit passes and would not compromise on immigration offences.
He said 7,105 enforcement operations had been carried out nationwide as of July 15, resulting in the arrest of 41,596 foreigners for various offences.
The department also took action against 1,127 employers found to have harboured or employed foreigners without valid permits or passes.
Meanwhile, he said 275,755 foreigners from 114 countries had registered for the migrant repatriation programme 2.0 as of July 15, generating RM137.76 million in government revenue.
He said the programme allowed undocumented migrants to return to their home countries voluntarily while helping to ease congestion at immigration detention centres.
Regarding new passports, Zakaria said 63,475 Malaysian passports had been issued between July 1 and July 17.
He said the rollout had entered its third phase, with several passport offices nationwide now issuing the new travel documents.
