Malaysian Government To Provide New ID Cards For Foreign Students
28 Jun 2014
Malaysian government is set to provide international students with identification cards to enhance the governing of overseas students in the nation and at the same time enhancing security. The cards could also be used by international students as official travel documents in Peninsular Malaysia.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education in Malaysia, has initiated the new system of I-card, which would be provided by the Malaysian Immigration department beginning 01 July 2014.
The card will clearly show the photograph in addition to biographical information of the student with passport number and details pertaining to the enrolled educational institution.
The validity period of the card, which shows the signature of the Immigration Director-General and Inspector-General of the police, will be conditioned by academic program of the student and can be prolonged if the student resolves to seek high studies.
It is expected that very soon the program will be extended to the neighboring regions of Sabah and Sarawak. This card is not valid for these regions as the immigration rules of these regions vary from that of Malaysia. However, with the new I-card foreign students are qualified to travel between these regions without a passport.
The Minister for Education expects the procedure to be dealt by the educational institutions including the student’s acquirement of their credentials in less than a day to go with the process of application for foreign passport.
