Visas for Penang Malaysia
It is relatively easy to get a visa for Penang
Those people who want to come to Penang for holidays generally do not need to arrange a visa beforehand. For stays of less than 90 days, citizens of nearly all Western countries including Australia, USA, Canada, the UK and most EU nations can get an automatic visa upon arrival at borders and airports. Nationals of Lativa, Greece, Bulgaria, Portugal can only stay for one month without a pre-arranged entry stamp.
Visitors from the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, San Marino or Liechtenstein, citizens of nations which are members of the Commonwealth (apart from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan) or British protected persons may also enter Malaysia with a visa-on-arrival.
Travellers and holidaymakers should ensure they have credit cards or sufficient funds to support their stay and a booked onward air ticket before attempting to enter Penang, although in reality these stipulations are not enforced strictly. Visitors should ensure that their passport has a minimum of two clean pages without previous stamps and is valid for at least minimum of six months after the intended date of entry.
Upon arrival all visitors are issued with arrival cards which must be completed before reaching immigration control and then handed to the awaiting official. A section of this card is should be retained with the traveller’s passport and then surrendered upon leaving the country. It is perhaps wise to staple this sheet to the passport as losing it can throw up difficulties.
Single Entry Visas in Penang
All visitors who wish to enter Malaysia for normal purposes such as vacations or brief business trips can usually make do with this type of Malaysian visa. These normally last for three months.
Multiple Entry Visa in Penang
Foreigner coming to Penang for extended business trips or to who are liaising with the government in some capacity are eligible for a multiple entry Malaysian visa. Normally these can range in length from three months to a year. However, a periodic hop over a neighbouring border may be necessary to keep them valid.
Work Permits in Penang
Nine times out of ten expats who come to Penang for business commitments have their visa and work permit arranged by their host company. Occasionally it is necessary to perform the function yourself and the best plan is to contact the Malaysian Department of Immigration and explain the nature of your visit. English teachers that want to work in Penang must have a bachelor’s level degree qualification to be eligible for a work permit and sometimes a TEFL diploma is required as well. Legitimate language schools will take care of the paperwork in most cases.
Pre-arranged visas are required from citizens of these countries for entry into Malaysia:
Angola, Afghanistan, Burundi, Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, China, Colombia, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo Democratic Republic, Central African Republic, Congo Republic, Cote D’ivoire, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, India, Equatorial Guinea, Hong Kong (C/I or D/I), Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Liberia, Niger, Rwanda, Serbia & Montenegro, Taiwan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Western Sahara.
Passport holders of the following nations need a visa for stays in excess of two weeks:
Palestine, Iraq, Libya, Macao (Travel Permit/Portugal CI), South Yemen, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Syria.
Passport holders of the following nations need a visa for stays in excess of one month:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belarus, Benin, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Chad, Cape Verde, Equador, El Savador, Estonia, Georgia, Gabon, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea Republic, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR, Kazakhstan, Haiti, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Maldova, Monaco, Mauritania, Macao SAR, Mexico, North Korea, Nicaragua, North Yemen, Paraguay, Mongalia, Panama, Russia, Portugal, Senegal, Sao Tome and Principe, Slovenia, Sudan, Surinam, Togo, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Upper Volta, Zaire, Vatican City, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
