My Kiwi pal Jake called me this evening to tell me he’d just read a very interesting article over at The Malaysian Insider. The article, with the promising title Budget 2010: Easy PR status for skilled expats, has even more promising information inside:
The government said today it will simplify the granting of permanent residence (PR) status to talented and skilled expatriates in a bid to drive the economy forward.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak also announced that visas will be automatically given to working family members within 14 days for those coming to work here, in addition to the extension of PR status to foreigners married to Malaysian women.
Tabling the 2010 Budget in Parliament here, Najib said during said the move is intended to accelerate technology transfers through the import of superior foreign skills and expertise.
This will contribute to the transformation of the country into a high-income nation, one of the major goals in Najib’s first Budget as prime minister.
There’s more, of course, but what I find especially interesting is, obviously, the bit about PR. Let’s look at that again, shall we?
[...] the extension of PR status to foreigners married to Malaysian women.
Now, with the way things tend to go here in Malaysia, I can’t bring myself to jump up and down with delight, despite the ‘wow, great news’ feeling such words should provoke in me.
But if it is indeed true…wow, great news!
Tagged: immigration, Malaysia, migration
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5 Comments
Interesting that they don’t specify the gender of the foreigner marrying the Malaysian woman. And why don’t they extend this to foreigners who marry Malaysian men?
Well, since same-sex marriage is a no-no here, they’re taking it as a given that all foreigners who marry Malaysian women will be men.
As for why they don’t extend this to foreigners who marry Malaysian men: Well, it’s always been somewhat easier for foreign wives to get PR than foreign husbands (at least, it hasn’t been as close to impossible as it has for men). Still, plenty of foreign wives have had trouble getting PR as well, so hopefully the new initiative will help them too.
That’s great news. This should move from the PM to parliament to Federal Immigration to State Immigration in time for us to get PR by the time we retire! Or not quite that fast. No I’m kidding. This is good news. Hey, we should have a race to see who gets PR first. Whoever wins owes the other an ABC. Deal?
You’re on, bro. Hopefully by the time we retire, ABC is still cheap!
I am an Aussie & have lived in Malaysia for 24 years, been married to a Malaysian woman for 15 years & have an 11 year old Malaysian daughter.
Still no PR. In fact no current PR application even in because they keep changing the rules every 5 minutes. I hope they sort it all out before my 5 year Spouse Programme (now defunct!) visa runs out in 2012.
Personally I hold little hope that things will change for the better. I only know one expat personally who got PR & it took him 36 years!