British Expats - Long Term Social Visit Pass (LTSVP or LTVP)

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)

- Malaysia (https://britishexpats.com/forum/malaysia-148/)

- - Long Term Social Visit Pass (LTSVP or LTVP) (https://britishexpats.com/forum/malaysia-148/long-term-social-visit-pass-ltsvp-ltvp-811701/)

Long Term Social Visit Pass (LTSVP or LTVP)

Admin please note: Your initial thought may be that this should be a Blog, but I was requested by Baked Bean to open a new READ ME: Thread regarding the LTSVP. I hope I have done it justice!

The requirements for the LTSVP are a little confusing to say the least! According to the Immigration Department of Malaysia Official Portal:

A LTSVP may be issued to foreigners:

(a) "for a temporary stay in Malaysia for not less than 6 months; or
(b) Foreign husbands/wives to Malaysians can be given the Social Visit Pass for a period of 5 years on condition they comply with all of the requirements.
They are also allowed to engage in any form of paid employment or in any business or professional occupation without converting the Social Visit Pass to the Employment Pass or Visitor’s Pass (Temporary employment)."

The portal indicates that it was last updated on Tuesday, 31 January 2012. I have to be honest here and say that it seems to be rather difficult to get any more up-to-date information from the internet! Here is the portal link: http://www.imi.gov.my/index.php/en/m...ial-visit-pass (not that there is much info there!).

The reason I stated it is a little confusing is because:
(a) My initial application as a (male) spouse of a Malaysian female was for 5 years, but I was granted only 6 months; and
(b) When I applied for renewal (requesting a renewal again for 5 years) in October 2013 I was given a further 1 year visa.

In both instances, my visa states quite clearly Any form of employment is strictly prohibited. Having said that, I understand (but have yet to test this out) that a spouse can apply to have an addenda allowing him/her to take up some form of employment!

As for other visas, there are certain criteria which you must meet:

Unfortunately, I can only give the criteria for an application by a spouse as I do not know the criteria for any other type of application (see above re the difficulty in finding this out!):

1. You must be married to a Malaysian citizen (and I believe must still be living together);
2. You must fill in the appropriate application form (annoyingly, this is only in Bahasa Melayu!). Part of the application form requires that you attach recent passport-size photos (the rules for these changed in April 2013 - see below) and take this form to a Notary Public, sign the form in front of him/her and have the document stamped by the Notary Public in the correct place(s). The fee for this as of October 2013 is 10RM;
3. You must provide details of the address you last stayed at in your home country;
3. Your spouse must accompany you at the initial application;

We had to comply with steps 1-3 for both the initial application in April 2013 and my subsequent renewal application in October 2013

4. You must have a sponsor (other than your spouse) who has to confirm that you and your spouse have the means to support yourselves; NOTE: This can be another member of the spouse's family. The sponsor will have to prove that they have an acceptable level of income. In my case, my sister-in-law, who owns her own business, was my sponsor;
5. The sponsor should also accompany you at the initial application. My sister-in-law was not required for my renewal application;
6. You must submit your marriage certificate at initial application. If the marriage certificate is from another country, then I believe it may have to be translated into Bahasa Melayu;
7. You must provide several photographs from your wedding.

When you submit your initial application you have to pay:
(a) A (refundable) deposit. Currently this is RM1,500. As far as I understand, the refund is only made after you have applied for, and been granted, Permanent Residency (PR). Again, the rules for this have changed in the recent past. It used to be that you could apply for PR after you had lived in Malaysia for a period of 5 years. This has now changed to 6 years. As far as I know, the current rules regarding the refund of the deposit indicate that you can only do so 2 years after being granted PR. The good news is that the refund will include interest (but I do not know at what rate!) from the date of initial payment. I believe you do also have to provide the original receipt (!).
(b) a (non-refundable) fee (currently RM90) for the initial visa and each subsequent renewal.

TIMESCALES:
Bear in mind that I applied at the Melaka Immigration Office near Ayer Keroh, so I cannot speak for any other office.

We had to go to a reception desk where we were provided with a ticket (the ticketing system seems to be in widespread use throughout Malaysia!). The ticket has a number on it. When that number is called (and also indicated on a monitor) you are advised which counter to go to. You (or, as in my case, my wife) state why your are there and hand over your application form together with all supporting documents. You take a seat and, at some later point, are requested to go to the cashier's desk to hand over the required payment(s) for fee and/or deposit as appropriate. At that point you can leave and you should be told that you will be notified to return on some future date. NOTE: Your passport will be returned after you hand over your documents.

In my case, we were actually contacted by telephone the following day to provide a further document. This was my Conversion To Islam Certificate (I had to convert to Islam because I was marrying a Malaysian Muslim - the Conversion and Marriage both took place in 2009 in Melaka) which we had not taken with us to the initial application visit. The Immigration Department accepted this via fax meaning we did not have to pay another visit.

The initial application was made on Wednesday, 3 April 2013 and I received a letter from the Immigration Department on Thursday, 18 April confirming that I had been approved. My wife and I went to the Immigration Department that day (although I could have attended on my own as her presence was not required) and received my first LTSVP, which was a page stuck in my passport, valid for 6 months.

The renewal process was much more straightforward. Fill in another application form. Attach 2 passport-size photgraphs (self & spouse). Take form to a Notary Public. Both sign the document in front of him/her. Pay a RM10 fee to have the application stamped. Take the Application Form to the Immigration Department. Go to reception as above and receive a ticket. Wait for number to be called. Similar process as before, only this time, instead of returning home and waiting, my passport had a second visa attached there and then, valid for 12 months from the date of expiry of the original application.

REQUIREMENTS FOR MALAYSIAN PASSPORT (and foreign visa) APPLICATION

1. Size must be 50mm x 35mm
2. Photograph must be taken full face, with the eyes open. It must have a white, or near white background (this is a BIG change as previously the background had to be blue). There does seem to be confusion surrounding the background. Apparently this change is being brought in Immigration Office by Immigration Office and is something to do with a new style of Malaysian Passport (ok, I know you are not applying for a Malaysian Passport, but the requirements for the visa state the photographs must comply with the Malaysian Passport requirements!);
3. The top of the head must be at least 10mm below the top edge;
4. The tip of the chin must be at least 10 mm above the bottom edge
5. The face should fill between 55% and 60% of the photograph;
6. No glass must be worn (although there seems to be a bit of debate about this!); the head must not be covered unless headgear is a religious requirement and worn every day; hair must not cover the face or eyes.