MY Entry Approval - A Large Scale Immigration Scam

This is very sad and unfortunate. Sincerest prayers for you, brother. I'm sure you'll build a great career wherever you are, and that your geographical location will not be a roadblock.

So sad to hear about this..

Even my entry approvals got rejected..

Sad to hear about it. Unfortunately this is the story with many of our fellow expats. But at the same time i hv seen many ppl getting the entry approvals and they are now in the country. One big difference is that they all had a valid visa.  So my opinion is that if you dont have a valid visa stamped in ur passport, u wont get entry permission even if u hv MDEC/ESD approval letter. So whosoever hv their renewals due in six months, dont leave the country now. Renew and then leave.

All the best!

Im sorry about your problems but no its not a scam.

If I have understood you correctly, your visa ended. Acceptance in a new job is not a visa and thats where your problems started. As I read your post, Malaysia is simply following its existing rules.

There are more things going on at the same time. Govts are abusing Covid to re-align the world into new social orders that I personally think should be fought against. You are in the middle of that transition. Second, Malaysia resists foreigners in general and thats been the trend for years. The higher the position, the greater the resistance.

So add it up---no visa, Covid in which they would rather have people leave than arrive, and distain of foreigners in general. These are your problems, not that there is a scam. The fact you want something they are reluctant to give you doesnt make them dishonest. The bottom line is that you are caught the bad space of ugly transition and bad timing.

As you said in your post, "It all started with Covid...." Well, it all started with Covid for a lot of us. The govts response to Covid caused the destruction of my business, the damage of which I believe now is permanent. Thats 10 years of very hard work down the drain. I may be wrong but I doubt there is an expat around here who doesnt have an UN-positive story to share, too. For many people this means re-thinking life, occupation and future because I seriously doubt everything will ever just magically return to normal. For expats in a position like yours, maybe being back at home and in a new occupation might be the best choice. These are the kinds of situations we are in now, the situations not of blame but hard and ugly choices.

well said!  it will take years to go back to normal if we do go back.

The Immigration scam is lot bigger than you can imagine. The expat tax contribution to Malaysia is 25 times more than locals in Malaysia, despite such huge tax contribution they enjoy 0 social benefits like locals.

These Tax paying expats are not insects, they should be taken care of equally. I have seen many people because of the immigration mismanagement/scam their children's and wife are stranded in different country while they are in Malaysia and because of this entry/immigration scam they scared to leave the country.

Malaysia is the only country in south east Asia who is doing this kind of immigration blunder, countries like Singapore, Thailand and Korea handled in a much better way.

This is the reason why many companies pulling out of Malaysia, because of bad government officials, and policies.

I hope this gets better.

I'll say it again, its not about scams but POLICIES.

Malaysia has its own policies and thats all there is to say. What ive found after years on forums is that people, including me too, wanted to be in Malaysia but wanted the country to follow what the expat believed to be fair and reasonable TO THE EXPAT. This is far from the case.

Research a country before liking it and go visit 2-3 times for extended periods for the purpose of digging into POLICIES that are important to you before deciding on a move. Dont simply hang out in 'hoods and bars as the measure of anything and think all is ok. If things dont check out the way you want, bail out and dont move here.

When I first came I didnt know anything or anyone. One by one I faced the policies. Some were ok and some werent. After years, I had gotten around to the regional countries and found that for MY purposes they werent better than Malaysia and so I stayed. Finally, the policies, though better, have worn me out and I want to leave.

Everyone is looking for something different. I cant say Malaysia is good or bad for any particular person because I dont know what they really want or what policies are important to them. What a person says is better in another local country may not be true except for that person.

Expats....the trouble is that they worry about finding a smiling face, good climate and low cost of living and dont dig into hard truth of policies until they are faced with a problem and then trash the country. Work on policies first, whether when still outside or on visits.

Ive checked out all the ASEAN countries. When I went to Vietnam a few years ago, I didnt spend any time sightseeing. I was there a month, with a notebook pre-filled with questions, and spent all that month with lawyers, people in real estate and govt offices doing nothing except asking questions and listening. In the end, I rejected Vietnam and considered it a victory for having not been sucked into some flowery speech about the country.

If another country has policies you like, thats the place to be, not here. I can adapt to anything if required policies are OK which is definitely hit and miss in Asia.

Kovu01 wrote:

well said!  it will take years to go back to normal if we do go back.

In my opinion, we arent going back. I dont say that to be negative but just looking around and seeing that forces out there want to change the world first and then let us into that result. The virus wont end until the world is changed, then it will magically evaporate as if it never existed at all. USA is among the countries resisting this hard but it may not work. In the various channels I follow on youtube, there is a common theme in comments, "there is something really dodgy going on in this world and I've never seen anything like it before." Thats right.

I foolishly believed the virus would end like past viruses have and we just continue. We got through SARS, H1N1, chicken flu, pig flu, anything and dont even remember them. This time, something changed and it wasnt the virus. Because of this foolish belief, I held off considering the hard choices we have to confront now.

If Malaysia is corrupted and running a scam, why trying to get in!
Simply try to get in another country.
Each country immigration have their own policies that I personally feel unfair to me not being from that country. However, if I take a minute and put myself in their shoes, I will see it from a different perspective and I may understand the reason behind their immigration policies much better and if I don't I just convince myself they just don't want me and I will look somewhere else.

Kovu01, I agree very much, well said. I think there is nothing to add to that.

There is one thing though. What you are saying is excellent and true in NORMAL circumstances. Covid has changed and overshadowed everything. This means that while a person might come and agree with Malaysia policies, at least accept them at the time, it doesnt mean that policies will never change or that scams grow out of previously peaceful policies. The govts response to Covid has become....I hesitate to use the word "scammy" but its something like that. The pressure of the vaccine, the intro of and high pressure to use the tracking and health history app which is now leading to Covid passports in which you cant travel without them, has led the govt to create all sorts of crazy policies that are disagreeable, even though it can be seen from their shoes. But what shoes are those? Malaysia blindly follows WHO and others and doesnt seem to question anything, while also enjoying (too much) the new controls it believes it has over others lives including expats.

Covid is erasing and eclipsing everything and thats bound to lead expats to think that while no country may have ever had the expats back very well, they really dont have their backs now and its going to get worse. There may be no country an expat finds agreeable going forward. That said, some expats love harsh govt policies because in some way if makes them feel safer but not me who questions everything now and doesnt take anything so lightly.