ChrisC1955

No. Never heard of that. My wife searched through the application firm and supporting guides and found no trace of it. I actually explained the purpose of travel on the form itself online. But as we know, JIM have a habit of making up requirements to suit themselves.

eCdD

OK, let me update a little bit after my experience.

1. With no HQ better not consider going back to Malaysia if you have to pay by yourself. The fees are crazy and yes, the additional RM 2600 "operational fee" really exists.
2. Without approval for HQ or pre-booked and paid hotel quarantine the airline probably will not let you board the airplane. This is only applicable for foreigners, Malaysians can handle everything on arrival in KLIA, even the HQ. Unfortunately the approval for HQ comes very last minute, usually not much earlier than 24 hours before your flight.
3. When you pre-book your Hotel Quarantine on mysafeq.com.my you have almost no options. Just 3 or 4 super expensive hotels in KL.
4. If you have MyTravelPass and HQ approval and vaccination then the process at KLIA is quite OK. Well organized. The only fees are the PCR test fee (RM 250 per foreigner, also kids and babies need to be tested) and the transport fee (by car, not by person). Make sure your mobile is fully charged, many things to scan and forms to fill out digitally, certainly without MySejahtera you not even can pass from the airplane to station 1 of many.
5. You cannot ask somebody to pick you up at the airport or use Grab. Have to book approved transport at the transport desk when arriving. Or in advance if you know accredited transport. What you can do is park you car at the airport (if it is a shorter trip), don´t forget your car plate number.
6. If you drive home by yourself the petrol stations at the expressway are open 24hours. You are only allowed to stop for "emergency" but I guess a empty tank is considered as emergency.

Finally there is a new HQ Approval online system for arrivals from 29/09/21 onwards. Hopefully this will work better than the old "Send e-mail to [email protected]" where you get no answer and in the best case the approval a few hours before your flight: https://ecovid19.moh.gov.my/outbreak-portal-hqa/index

Hedge

Thanks for the update.

I (OP) decided last minute not to travel back to UK for a family funeral. But I had a ticket and even applied to leave and return via the portal. However it stated quite clearly that permission to leave was not required, just to re-enter. I have a Long Term spouse visa visa and don't work in Malaysia.

The portal asks for the documents it needs, however one of them (if I remember) is the date you left Malaysia, which is confusing if you obviously haven't yet left.
All submitted with covering letter, death certificate etc. nearly 4 weeks later I got a rejection due insufficient documents. This was exactly why I reluctantly didn't travel . Last year a similar 1 month visit stretched to 3 months despite my wife being very pro active. The return procedure seems less chaotic than last year especially with the carrot of HQ. However it would be very useful to know how many foreign applicants with suitable quarantine housing successfully get HQ. 14 days in a hotel was enough; I still sometimes find myself counting out the 13 steps it took from the window to the room door.

eCdD

Congratulations to this decision.

Actually I don´t think it is a question of approval or refusal. The ones who get a decision probably will be close to 100% approval. But it looks like in the best case you will get the answer a few hours before your flight or only after logging in MySejahtera after landing. Locals can handle everything at the airport after arriving, so the MOH is not forced to clear the backlog. But we foreigners will be refused from boarding the plane without the HQ approval.

In our case finally all worked out (with problems on the way that have nothing to do with Malaysian rules), but under almost no circumstances I would do this trip again. Also I told all my relatives in Europe already that if they want me to attend their funeral they should avoid to die these months. My dad agreed.

Hedge

Thanks for that eCdD, the key point being that even if you're lucky, you wont know until last minute, which of course forces you to pre arrange hotel quarantine to board the aircraft.
Where as the unlucky ones who may well be the majority, receive no decision and have to go into hotel quarantine.

eCdD

Maybe it gets better with the new system now.

In our case because of the missing approval we already made the decision not to go back to Malaysia 48 hours before our flight (hotel quarantine was not an option for us) and then the approval arrived 20 hours before take off.

Do not try to board without, especially if you have a transfer. They will check again and again. All the documents. Even at the gate.