What is the Spouse Program

The Spouse Program was introduced on 13th February 1996 to provide an Employment Pass for Foreign Spouses of Malaysian Nationals:

• You have a valid legal marriage recognized in Malaysia
• One Spouse is Malaysian
• Other Spouse is a Foreigner

Guidelines about the Spouse Program

• Letter of offer from a Malaysian company with a minimum paid-up capital of 150,000 RM.
• When submitting your application, you and your spouse must together be present at the Department of Immigration.
• The immigration does not judge your skills, position to be taken in the company or salary to be drawn.
• If you change company you just need to inform the immigration about the new company. A release letter will facilitate your new application.
• You will not get any gold card as under a normal Employment Pass
• The duration of the employment pass under the spouse program is up to the Immigration department but is normally granted for a duration of one year renewable.
• Your Pass is automatically revoked if a divorce occurs

Benefits of Employment Pass versus Spouse Pass

	Employment Pass	Spouse Pass
Pros	Process takes between 4 to 8 weeks Company need to justify the need for an expatriate position and applicant must justify capability to occupy the approved position	Fast Process (one month) Company doesn't need to justify the need for expatriate position and applicant doesn't need to justify capability to occupy the approved position

Timing / application procedures

Your Spouse Pass application is submitted to the Malaysian Immigration Department and consists of information and documentation that you provide, together with corporate documentation that are provided by your sponsoring company in Malaysia . There is only one stage to the application as the Immigration Department does not judge your skills, position to be taken in the company or salary to be drawn :

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