M A C V A Y S I A

The other night a reporter from the Malay Mail called me to get my thoughts on the recent announcement that foreign husbands will get PR. Here’s the article that appeared the next day, entitled ‘Budget 2010: Visa cheer for expats’:

THE 2010 Budget announced by the Prime Minister last Friday has brought smiles to expatriates planning to spend more time here.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in his maiden budget announced that the government would be making it easier for talented and skilled expatriates to get permanent residence (PR) status in a bid to drive the economy forward.

He said visas would automatically be granted 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.

This was well received by expatriates residing in Malaysia who have been longing for PR status.

Canadian Jordan McVay, 35, who has been living here for the past seven years after marrying a Malaysian said he would be elated if the government kept to its announcement.

“Within seven years, I have had 17 visas and each trip to the Immigration Department has been frustrating. I have been told so many times that it would be difficult to obtain PR status here by Immigration officers,” McVay told Malay Mail.

“If I had brought my wife back to Canada, she would have been granted a PR within six months. It has been easier for foreign women that marry Malaysian men to obtain PR status.

“Previously the government announced different types of programmes for expats, but they didn’t work. I really hope that this does work. I will be very delighted,” he added.

Cyrus Daruwalla from India echoed McVay’s sentiments and said that the government was moving in the right direction.

“This will definitely encourage more expats to come to Malaysia but we shall have to wait and see how this is going to play out. I am still skeptical about the PR issue.”

Daruwalla has been living in Malaysia for 16 years after marrying a local woman.

“The government is making the right move and it shows more equality. This will help bring in expats,”
Daruwalla said.

Briton Bob Teasdale was equally thrilled with the announcement and said he would apply for PR status now that the rules have been eased.

“Asia is the way of the future and Malaysia is doing the right thing. The Malaysian government has had various programmes to encourage foreigners to move here and it has all been great, especially the Malaysia, My Second Home programme,” he said.

“I have family and friends who will be interested to move here if this programme is implemented. However, it is still easier to obtain PR status in Hong Kong and Singapore,” Teasdale said. Teasdale has been living in Malaysia for 16 years and is married with two children.

It wasn’t just my name the reporter got wrong. Not all of the quotes attributed to me in the article were my exact words, as far as I can remember anyway. To be fair, though, I sort of talked the guy’s ear off, which gave him a lot of quotes to work with but may have overwhelmed him a bit if he was jotting down notes instead of recording the conversation. When I realised afterwards that he had probably missed quite a bit of what I had said, I sent him an email with some quotes he could use. Here’s what I wrote:

My wife and I have been married since 2001, and we’ve lived in Malaysia since 2002. Since coming here I’ve had 17 visas, the longest being just short of two years. Getting those visas was frustrating enough, but what’s been even more frustrating is the fact that it’s incredibly difficult to get PR here. I have a number of friends who are married to Malaysians and they all face the same obstacles when it comes to dealing with the Immigration Dept. and trying to get PR. I know people who have been here for decades before finally getting PR. How many have given up and left, taking their Malaysian spouses away with them?

When the news about PR being extended to foreign husbands of Malaysian women came out in the last couple of days in relation to the 2010 budget, of course I was excited, but I haven’t really allowed myself to jump for joy yet, because I’ve been excited by promising announcements in the past only to be disappointed. For example, a couple of years ago the government announced that foreign spouses would be able to get five-year visas, but it turned out only those with five-year work contracts would be eligible. I don’t know anyone who has ever had a five-year employment contract, let alone a five-year visa.

If the government is serious about this latest initiative, then I will be very happy, and very grateful. Extension of PR to foreign spouses would be an acknowledgement that we are immigrants, not merely visitors as stated on our visas. We have strong ties to this country, with not only Malaysian spouses but in many cases Malaysian children as well. My wife and I have a three-year-old son, born and raised here, and another on the way. Getting PR here would certainly make it easier, not only for me but for my entire family, to enjoy life in Malaysia and to contribute in our own way to this country we all call home.

My written quotes didn’t quite make it into the article, but I suppose the reporter did get the gist of what I had told him, despite a few mistakes here and there. I wish he’d got my name right, though. I thought I had spelled it out pretty clearly. But hey, it’s not the first time: people get it wrong all the time in Canada too.

Meanwhile, the details of this new PR initiative are still scarce. I think the next step will be a call to the Immigration Department. Let’s see what they say.

Tagged: immigration, links, Malaysia, migration