9 Types Of Malaysian Business Visas For Indian Citizens

For Indian nationals looking to move to Malaysia for a business or career opportunity, our work and business visas apply equally to most expats, including Indians.

This means trying to find a specific ‘visa for Indians’ gets you nowhere – there’s no such visa! Instead, you need to decide which of our expatriate passes best suits your needs.

To help, we’ve prepared a directory of nine visas catering to different work and business use cases:

• staying in Malaysia to run a company you own
• working full-time in a local Malaysian company
• completing a short-term assignment for a Malaysian client
• living in Malaysia while freelancing remotely for clients outside the country
• short-term business visits before flying off, and
• surveying Malaysia’s investment potential 

Each visa is accompanied by a short description and a link to a full guide for more details. Also, any fees listed don’t include third party charges, but we promise we’re reasonably priced 😀 

Let’s begin.

For work / business

These visas require the holder to maintain a job / work assignment with a Malaysian employer or run a company incorporated in Malaysia.

Employment Pass

Validity: 5 – 10 years (renewable)

This is the default long-term pass for expats coming to Malaysia for work. There are three categories with increasingly longer validity periods and higher requirements.

The highest is known as a Category 1 EP and is the go-to visa for foreign directors / owners of a Malaysian company.

Meanwhile, all three are used for local companies hiring skilled expats as full-time additions to the team:

• Category 1 is for top leadership positions
• Category 2 is for mid-level managers and supervisors
• Category 3 is for junior technicians and specialists

For a side-by-side comparison across categories, see our guide to Employment Passes in Malaysia.

Professional Visit Pass (PVP)

Validity: Up to 12 months (renewable)

Where an Employment Pass is strictly for long-term employment, a Professional Visit Pass is used to engage an expat employed by a foreign company for an assignment no longer than 12 months.

There are a broad set of use cases for PVPs, including:

• research
• artistic performances
• religious sermons
• formal exhibitions
• internships, and
• skill transfer programmes

Depending on the use case of the PVP issued, it can be valid for six to twelve months, but none of them allow bringing dependents.

For more, see our guide to Malaysian PVP applications.

Residence Pass–Talent

Validity: 10 years (renewable)

Yes, this is the visa we shared in our introduction.

This is granted only to some expats who have held a conventional EP for at least three years and is extremely special in that it’s tied to an individual expatriate instead of a hiring company.

As a result, RP-T visa holders not only enjoy a minimum validity period of ten years, but:

• are free to switch employers at any time, and 
• their spouse has full freedom to work

Neither are privileges given to conventional EP holders, making RP-T a highly-coveted visa that naturally comes with significant salary and education requirements.

If you’re interested, check out our guide to RP-T Malaysia.

MTEP and MD Status

Validity: 1–5 years depending on program

To qualify for an EP application in the first place, a company has to prove it has anywhere from RM250,000 – RM500,000 in paid up capital.

This makes it very foreign startup-unfriendly, which is where the Malaysian Tech Entrepreneur Programme (MTEP) and Malaysia Digital (MD) Status programmes come in.

Both cater to foreign tech startups and work as follows:

• MTEP: You can apply for a visa without incorporating a company yet.
• MD Status: You need to incorporate, but work visas for MD Status companies are known as MDEC Employment Passes and usually faster and easier to obtain

We suggest MTEP for tech startups and MD Status for established business owners.

MIDA Investor Visa

If you’ll be flying between Malaysia and India to oversee investments in both countries, an Investor Visa by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) is the ultimate multiple entry visa (MEV).

Unlike a usual MEV which lasts three months and requires exiting and re-entering for renewal, the Investor Pass grants up to 12 months of uninterrupted access into the country,

MIDA recognises three types of investors:

• new investors
• investors in the pipeline, and
• existing investors

Each has a specific definition and requirements, and details are in our guide to MIDA Investor Passes.

De Rantau Nomad Pass

Validity: 3–12 months, renewable up to 24 months

This is the visa you go for to live in Malaysia while working for an overseas employer.

We don’t have much to say since it’s so situational, so here’s our De Rantau application guide for those interested, and our shortlist of digital nomad specific visas comparing it to suitable alternatives.

We think MDEC (the agency overseeing it) has a fine guide, too🙂

Premium Visa Programme

Validity: 20 years (renewable)

Malaysia’s PVIP is for investors and entrepreneurs who want to operate in Malaysia long-term.

PVIP holders can work or incorporate a foreign-owned company in Malaysia without an Employment Pass, bring family members, and come and go as they please throughout the visa’s 20-year validity period.

As you can guess, it’s not cheap, and you can read more in our PVIP vs MM2H comparison. 

For semi-retirement

This is for those who want to retire AND keep the freedom to work / do business if they so choose.

Malaysia My Second Home Platinum

Validity: 20 years (renewable)

The Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme is a four-tiered visa with mandatory residential property purchase. This property can’t be sold for at least ten years, so MM2H is for those truly looking for a second home. 

For Indians, this means admitting what everybody already knows: That roti canai is better than roti pratha!

Three of its tiers (Silver, Gold, and SEZ) don’t allow work or business, making them pure retirement / investment visas, while the Platinum tier does.

Unsurprisingly, this means the Platinum MM2H Pass comes the highest requirements and offers the longest validity period of them all.

If you’re keen to know more, check out our guide to MM2H Platinum.

Let MISHU handle your expat visa application

Directly and through our partners, MISHU enjoys a 98% success rate in helping expatriates from India secure visas to work and do business in Malaysia, and we’d love to help you too!