Malaysia Visa Information for Indian Citizens

Malaysia has re-introduced visa on arrival (VoA) facility for Indians traveling to Malaysia from a third destination country. This facility is mainly available for the tourist arriving directly from Singapore or Thailand for a maximum stay of 7 days. It is available at Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Penang International Airports only, provided that they hold a valid visa issued by Singapore or Thailand, return flight tickets and at least USD 1000 per person. The visa cost is whopping USD 100 or MYR 330 for 7 days. The visa will be preferably issued to the tourists who are on their return journey to India from the third country. This ease in visa norms came in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 and the Year of Festivals 2015.

Note: Visa is a document that you required to enter in a country. It is not an authorization and solely depends on the discretion of the Immigration Officer at Immigration Desk. So, Malaysia does not issue a Visa-on-Arrival to the Indian Citizens to enter in that country. But, if you are transiting through the Kuala Lumpur Airport and you are arriving and departing from the same terminal at KL, technically you don’t enter in Malaysia. So, you don’t require any type of visa in this case, provided:

1. Your next connecting flight is within 24 hours after your arrival, (Both tickets should be on Malaysian Airlines or on a code-sharing partner only). If you fly using the Fly-Thru programme of Air Asia, then your onward tickets should be within 6 hours. Air Asia operates from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal of KL.

2. The departure terminal of the connecting flight is same as the arrival terminal.

3. You are not allowed to leave the transit area of the airport.

4. You cannot transit between Main Terminal and Low Cost Carrier Terminal at KL Airport.

Please do not confuse above note with the below description of visas, those entitled you to enter in Malaysia subject to the discretion of Immigration Officer.

Different types of Malaysia Visa: There are mainly three broad categories of visa available to visit Malaysia. First one is, Visa without reference, in which visa is approved by the Consulate General of Malaysia for social, tourist or business visits.

Second category is, Visa with reference, in which visa is approved by the Department of Immigration Malaysia or the Ministry of Home Affairs for the purpose of working, study or social visits for a stay more than the allowed period under visa without reference.

Third category is, Transit without Visa (TWOV), which is available only to the citizens of certain Indian sub-continent countries and allow a short 5 days stay in Malaysia.

From a backpacker’s point of view, only first and third categories of Visa are required. So, in this post, I will provide complete information on the visa requirements of first and third categories for an Indian Citizen.

[Source: http://www.solobackpacker.com/2013/05/12/malaysia-visa-information-for-indian-citizens/]