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5.8.2 Governance of the approval process for employment of foreign spouses

160. Approval for the employment of foreign spouses will be vested in MOHR. The
approval process will be incorporated into a segment of the online application and approval
system. The online system will cater for both foreign spouses of Malaysians and foreign
spouses of expatriates.

161. The online system will include a statutory declaration attesting that the official
documentation of marriage has been registered with the relevant Malaysian authorities and
meet the conditions and requirements for employment application. The following conditions
and requirements will be provided in the online system.

a. The approval for employment will be provided by the online system within the
process duration period
b. Upon approval with a unique identifier the online system will notify the
Immigration Department.
c. The approval for employment will be open ended and will not be linked to the
validity of the LTSVP or Expatriate Spouse Employment Pass.
d. A foreign spouse must record any change in status through the online system. For
LTSVP this involves a change in status to widow or divorcee that meets the
conditions and requirements for continued employment. For a foreign spouse of
expatriates, a change in status to widow or divorcee will result in the employment
approval becoming invalid. In any case, the employment approval will become
invalid if the change in status involves the foreign spouse leaving Malaysia
permanently.
e. In the future, upon meeting all the conditions and requirements as established for
residing in Malaysia, the Immigration Department is to issue a LTSVP or the
Expatriate Spouse Employment Pass only with the following endorsements:
“Employment Permitted Upon Official Authorization” The duration and renewal
of these residential permits will follow the established guidelines. The LTSVP is
to be in digital form and issued online.
f. The online foreign spouse module will have the capability to issue standard
digitalized ID cards specific to a foreign spouse, including virtual Smart online
IDs sourced from biometric information and the registered foreign spouse unique
ID number stored in the online database. All enforcement officers must give
recognition to this foreign spouse Smart ID card. Enforcement authorities must no
longer demand sight of hardcopy IDs like passports which absence currently
constitutes an offence.

5.8.3. Details in the approval Process for employment of foreign spouses

162. Employment approval granted to a foreign spouse will not be restricted to any
employer or location or industry or economic sector or by age. Restrictions will apply for
employment in occupations that are designated as sensitive or for security reasons in
accordance with the determination of the national security authorities.

163. The established duration between online application and approval for employment for
foreign spouse should in principle not require more than 30 work days.

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