30 October 2023
Impact: Medium
Summary
Referring to the latest announcement made by the Expatriate Services Division (ESD) of the Immigration Department, effective 24 October 2023, the issuance of i-KAD has been reinstated for holders of the following passes:
● Employment Pass (EP) Category I, II and III
● Residence Pass-Talent (RP-T)
● Dependants of the RP-T
Although there is no official announcement from The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) regarding the issuance of i-KAD, MDEC has reinstated the issuance of i-KAD(s) for Employment Pass holders effective 16 October 2023.
While the Immigration authority had previously issued i-KAD(s) to eligible expatriates, the issuance of i-KAD was halted effective 17 July 2019 until the aforementioned recent announcement confirming its reinstatement.
The Detail
For companies under ESD, their expatriate employees will be automatically issued an i-KAD provided that payment of their pass endorsements are made on 24 October 2023 or later. Expatriate employees are not eligible to obtain an i-KAD if pass endorsement payments were made before 24 October 2023.
Separately, MDEC is currently automatically issuing i-KADs for pass endorsements paid from 16 October 2023 in respect of new and renewal of Employment Pass applications. Pass endorsement payments that were made before 16 October 2023 are not eligible for i-KADs.
For eligible expatriate employees, the issuance of i-KADs is through either of the following methods, where applicable:
● Delivery of i-KAD together with pass sticker to the company address by Pos Laju for expatriate employees who opt for endorsement through pass sticker delivery (ESD)
● Delivery of i-KAD to the company address by Pos Laju for expatriate employees who are issued with an electronic pass (ePASS) for renewal applications (ESD)
● Collection of i-KAD at the ESD Satellite Centre at KLIA1 for expatriate employees who opt for KLIA1 endorsement for new applications (ESD & MDEC)
● Collection of i-KAD at MDEC eXpats Centre, Cyberjaya for expatriate employees who opt for manual endorsement and also those who are issued with an ePASS (MDEC)
i-KADs are automatically issued by the Immigration authority under the aforementioned scenarios only and no separate application for an i-KAD can be made to the Immigration authority for the time being. Prior to the temporary cessation of i-KAD issuance on 17 July 2019, expatriate employees were required to submit a separate application to the Immigration authority for an i-KAD.
Expatriate employees who are not eligible to be issued with i-KADs at this juncture will need to wait until their upcoming Employment Pass renewal application or Transfer of Endorsement application if they obtain a new passport in order to be issued with an i-KAD.
What this means
The reinstatement of the i-KAD is a much-awaited effort by the Immigration authority given the practicality and convenience of carrying i-KADs while the expatriates are in Malaysia. Nevertheless, while the i-KAD serves as an alternative identification document in lieu of the passport, expatriates are still required to hand-carry their original passports for travel and identification purposes.
Additionally, the i-KAD holder is required to surrender the i-KAD to the Immigration authority upon cancellation of their passes and prior to exiting Malaysia or for other reasons requiring cancellation of pass e.g. change of employer within Malaysia.
How we can help
Our team is happy to assist you in understanding the i-KAD issuance process in greater detail and will provide you with relevant updates from time to time if there are any new developments in this regard.
Contact us
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Sasha Reddy
Partner
sasha.reddy@vialto.com
Hana Rabi
Senior Manager
hana.rabi@vialto.com
Further information on Vialto Partners can be found here: www.vialtopartners.com