A senior foreign national who takes a job in Malaysia needs an Employment Pass, and the employer has to be registered with the immigration authorities before it can apply. Family members come on linked passes. The rules differ by pass category and sector and change often, so what follows describes the usual routes and the order of steps rather than anything final.
Before the offer is made
Companies tend to begin with their own registration. The Expatriate Services Division (ESD) of the Immigration Department states that all companies need to register with it as a first step, and an expatriate cannot apply for their own pass. The application has to come from the company that intends to hire.
Candidates are usually asked early for a passport, degree certificates and, if the family will come, marriage and birth certificates. The ESD guidebook asks for a passport valid for more than twelve months, and it sets rules on how certificates are certified, so the documents are generally gathered while the offer is still being agreed.
Offer letters commonly say that the start date depends on the pass being approved.
Company registration with the ESD and the MYXpats Centre
Registration is done online at the ESD portal and is a one-time step. The ESD lists two conditions for eligibility. The company must be registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia or another recognised registry, and, unless it is an incorporated or limited company, it must meet a paid-up capital figure that depends on ownership. The figures are on the ESD company registration FAQ.
The ESD lists the documents for registration, which include the directors' identity documents, a company profile, a tenancy or purchase agreement, SSM forms, the latest financial report and any business licences. Once the documents are in order, the ESD states that registration takes fourteen working days.
A company director has to attend in person to sign a Letter of Undertaking, and the people named in it are the ones who manage the company's account. After activation, the company applies for passes through ESD Online. The passes are processed by the Malaysia Expatriate Services Centre (MYXpats Centre), a joint initiative of TalentCorp and the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The MYXpats FAQ states that applications are processed within five working days once all documents are submitted.
Employment Pass categories and thresholds
The Revised Expatriate Salary Policy took effect on 1 June 2026 and applies to new and renewal applications submitted on or after that date. It sets three Employment Pass categories by minimum basic monthly salary. The ESD booklet states Category I at RM20,000 and above, Category II at RM10,000 to RM19,999 and Category III at RM5,000 to RM9,999.
The ESD FAQ adds that Category III in the manufacturing sector and manufacturing-related services is set at RM7,000 to RM9,999 for companies with the documents listed there. The salary test is on basic salary only. Allowances, incentives, bonuses and salary paid outside Malaysia are not counted, and the salary has to be taxable in Malaysia.
On duration, the booklet states that Category I can run up to 10 years, Category II up to 10 years and Category III up to 5 years, and the FAQ says companies may apply for employment periods of up to 60 months at a time. For Categories II and III the booklet states that a succession plan becomes mandatory from 1 January 2027, meaning a plan to prepare local employees to take over the role. The ESD also states that the employment period is counted against the employing company.
The ESD describes the Employment Pass as tied to the company named on it, and as valid in Peninsular Malaysia. If the person changes company, a new application is needed. Salary thresholds and durations are the part most likely to change, so the ESD portal is the place to check the current figures.
Is there a job advertising requirement?
Sometimes. The ESD booklet shows a pre-requisite step before the expatriate application, with approval under Section 60K of the Employment Act 1955 from the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia and a job advertisement on the MYFutureJobs portal "if applicable". It lists ten working days for this step on the normal track and says it runs concurrently with other steps.
The ESD guidebook adds that employers need prior approval from the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia and MYFutureJobs PERKESO before applying for a support letter from a sector agency. Support letters are needed where the company falls under a regulated sector, and the application is made through Xpats Gateway, which is accessed from ESD Online.
The ESD documents do not say which roles or companies the advertisement applies to, so companies tend to ask the labour department or MYXpats Centre whether it applies to a given role. The current ESD documents name the job portal MYFutureJobs.
Bringing the family to Malaysia
An Employment Pass holder can apply for a Dependant Pass for a spouse, children under 18 and legally adopted children under 18. A Long-Term Social Visit Pass covers parents and parents-in-law and children over 18. The booklet lists children aged 18 to 25 and a common law spouse for this pass. The booklet states that dependants can be applied for under all three Employment Pass categories for applications from 1 June 2026, and that holders whose Category III pass was issued before that date remain under the earlier policy, which did not allow dependants.
The MYXpats FAQ states that the dependants' applications can be submitted together with the principal's or added after the principal is approved. The family passes are valid for the period of the principal's pass, or the dependant's passport validity if that is shorter. Marriage and birth certificates usually need to be translated into English where applicable and certified, and the guidebook asks for a current-year certification on new applications.
On work, the ESD pages for the Dependant Pass and the Long-Term Social Visit Pass say that applicants who want to work are required to apply for an Employment Pass in their own right. The Dependant Pass does not carry work rights by itself.
Residence Pass-Talent as a longer route
TalentCorp describes the Residence Pass-Talent (RP-T) as a 10-year renewable pass for highly skilled foreign talent. Its eligibility page lists a basic monthly salary of RM15,000 excluding allowances and bonuses, at least three consecutive years of work in Malaysia at the time of application, and a valid Employment Pass with more than three months of validity.
The spouse and children under 18 are eligible for the RP-T Dependant Pass, and TalentCorp states that a legally married spouse can seek employment in Malaysia without applying for an Employment Pass. The person applies for RP-T as an individual, and TalentCorp's criteria on its portal are the ones to rely on. Companies generally treat it as a step that comes after the first years on an Employment Pass, not as something available at the start.
Tax residence at a general level
The Inland Revenue Board states that residence for tax is decided by physical presence in Malaysia, not by nationality. Generally, a person present for less than 182 days in a basis year is a non-resident. The Board's materials also describe cases where a stay of fewer than 182 days is linked to a period of 182 consecutive days in the adjacent year, and cases that turn on 90 days in the current year and residence in earlier years.
Public Ruling 2/2026 states that resident individuals can claim personal reliefs and are taxed at scale rates, while non-resident individuals cannot claim personal reliefs and are taxed at a flat 30 per cent of chargeable income. Because the result depends on the days spent in the country, a person who arrives part-way through a year may be a non-resident for that year and a resident in the next. The Board's current rates and rulings are the source for any individual case.
Driving, schooling and housing
These sit outside the immigration passes. Companies tend to treat them as separate workstreams from the pass application, and the current requirements for driving licences, school admission and tenancies are held by the authorities and institutions concerned.
The usual order of steps
The order tends to run as follows. The company registers with the ESD and has its account activated. It then checks whether a labour department approval, a job advertisement or a sector support letter applies. The offer is made with a start date subject to the pass. The company submits the Employment Pass application in ESD Online, and the dependants' applications go in with it or after approval.
Once approved, the company starts the endorsement. The ESD describes an ePASS, which the person can collect at the ESD Satellite Centre at KLIA Terminal 1 or 2 on arrival or through the MYXpats Centre, and an i-KAD, which is issued to the Employment Pass holder only. The ESD policy FAQ notes that applications returned for incomplete documents have to be resubmitted within ninety days, so complete documents tend to matter.
Questions clients and candidates ask
Does the company or the employee apply for the Employment Pass?
The company. The MYXpats FAQ states that expatriates cannot apply for their own immigration passes, and the employer has to be registered with the ESD first. An RP-T application is made by the individual.
Can a spouse work in Malaysia?
On a Dependant Pass, the ESD pages say a person who wants to work applies for an Employment Pass in their own right. TalentCorp states that the spouse of an RP-T holder can seek employment without an Employment Pass.
Are there salary minimums for the Employment Pass?
Yes. Since 1 June 2026 the ESD booklet sets basic monthly minimums of RM20,000 for Category I, RM10,000 for Category II and RM5,000 for Category III, with RM7,000 for certain manufacturing sectors. Allowances and bonuses are not counted.
Where are the current rules published?
On the ESD portal (esd.imi.gov.my), the TalentCorp RP-T pages and the Inland Revenue Board's website. Thresholds, durations and sector requirements change often.
Sources
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