Malaysia opens new post-study visa option for degree graduates

Kenyans seeking higher education opportunities in Malaysia now stand a chance of profiting from a newly introduced initiative by the Asian country through an arranged visa plan designed to make it easier for visitors and students to enter the country.

The Visa Liberalisation Plan, eases visa requirements in a range of areas, including, a 30-day visa exemption for visitors from China and India, a “multiple entry visa” mechanism that allows travellers to enter and exit the country for a stay of up to 30 days, and an extension the validity period for visitor visas from three months to six months.

Speaking in Nairobi during a higher education fair organized by students’ recruitment agency, Educare International, the Malaysian High Commissioner to Kenya RUZAIMI MOHAMAD reinforced a focus on the Kenyan market, adding that he will collaborate with relevant local higher learning institutions to make it easier for international students to integrate across Malaysia through education and work.

There are many reasons why Malaysia is attractive to many foreign students. Malaysian culture and lifestyle are unique due to its multi-cultural and multi-racial society. One of its advantages is that English is widely spoken, making it easier for international students to assimilate.

According to Omar Mohamed, the managing director of Educare International, Higher education is also quite affordable in terms of academic fees and the cost of living as compared to Western countries, thus giving students more choices in terms of fields of study to pursue.

“We have a very active Embassy in Malaysia, so this is the country Kenyan students should be looking at now with the issue of the US Dollar right now sliding. It is a very seamless process (visa), all you need is just your academic examination transcript and a passport. Application can be done online and you track the process digitally,” said Mohamed.

In addition, studying in Malaysia allows international students to obtain a high quality of education while establishing international networks which may be beneficial in shaping their future professional careers.

Malaysia has one of Asia’s best higher education systems, according to the latest “QS University Rankings: Asia 2023”. That ranking showed that the country has the highest concentration of top-50 and top-100 universities in Asia.

Most relevant to foreign students, the liberalization plan features a new Graduate Pass (also known as the Social Visit Pass) that allows graduates of Malaysian degree programmes (bachelor or higher) to remain in the country for up to a year after graduation.

Students are permitted to continue their studies, travel, or work part-time during that year.

Moeen Ud Din Ahmad Khan, Regional Director of EMGS, in an interview shared his organisation’s pledge to advancing Malaysia’s educational landscape across the African market, saying that over the years, Malaysia has become one of the leading education hubs in Southeast Asia with the country’s popularity growing by the day.

Students from Southeast Asia and as far as Africa and from here in Kenya, are seeking Malaysian edification to complete their tertiary studies, “as they know that Malaysia’s universities offer top-notch quality education.”

Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) is the Malaysian government body in charge of processing student visas.

It is also the wing responsible for promoting Malaysia as the international education hub of choice and to position Malaysia as the Top 10 education destination, and the principal body that manages the movement of international students in Malaysia, including facilitating visa processing.

In an ideal situation, the whole process from application to receiving your visa usually takes between four and six weeks. The Visa Approval Letter (VAL) processing time is 14 days, and the entry visa processing time is between one and three weeks.

Some of the most common courses in most Malaysian Universities include, Accounting, Actuarial Science, Animation, Business, Computer Science, Culinary & Hospitality, Engineering, Fashion Design among others.

Several Malaysian universities took part during the fair including UKM Malaysia, University of CyberJaya, Monash University and Multimedia University among others.