Malaysia - work visa without degree

Question by Ibraheem



Is it possible to get a work residence visa (not sure what it is called, or how long it is good for) for let's say teaching English, but, without having a bachelors or any type of degree?

How long is a normal tourist visa good for? For someone from the USA, UK, etc.
How many times can you leave the country and come back? Does this raise eyebrows?





Answer:


As a foreigner, I would suspect it may be a bit difficult trying to get a job teaching english without some kind of teaching qualification or degree. There are a lot of english learning centers in Malaysia that may take people with less qualifications. Cambridge is a large chain franchise that runs classes for all ages (http://cambridgeforlife.org). Another one is http://www.els.edu.my. I don't know if they hire many foreigners though. Trying to get a job at a normal school as a teacher would probably require a degree. Private tuition or low end tuition centers are very common in Malaysia to help supplement the not so great education system. If you were here on some other type of visa, you may be able to find some income on your own in this capacity.

Tourist visa for US citizen is 3 months. You can leave and come back, but they are starting to get more strict on this as many people were living in Malaysia for years doing this. So they might give warnings or eventual bar you from entry.


Followup:


I thought I was sure whenever I came into Malaysia the stamp or whatever in my passport always said one month (u.s.passport)


Answer:

It should still be 3 months for US citizens. East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak) might be different as they have some of their own immigration requirements that are different. Though every time I went there after coming in through the main Pennisular Malaysia, they just let me continue traveling on the 3 month visa I got on entry. This page has a good list per length of stay and country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Malaysia


Additional Question:


Assalamu Alaykum
I am from Albania.
I would like to know does Malaysia have the asylum application?
I mean for Albanian people.
Barek Allahu Feekum




Answer:


Malaysia is notoriously anti-refugee and asylum. There may be a few exceptions where they take a certain number from high visibility war zones as a PR move. Otherwise, all such people are treated as illegal immigrants. They are not allowed to work, not allowed to go to school, and are always at risk of getting arrested. Refugee and related detention centers are in terrible conditions.




Follow up:


Assalamu Alaykum
Thanks brother for advice
But it be possible to find any job there
One Albanian brother went to Malaysia 2 years before and told me it has job but not to much payed
It is truth?
I have some skills and some professional qualifations like a wood maker as carpenter, aluminiu doors and windows, electrician, appliance repair.
I dont know maybe is not good idea to move in this situation in Malaysia with family, because I need to send to school my childrens.
Anyway
Barek Allahu Feekum




Answer:


Wa alaikum as salaam,

A lot of people that come over here find that the pay can be quite low. From what I have heard from others, and what I experienced, its difficult for the first few years here. Finding people that can or will hire foreigners is difficult, and most jobs have pretty low salary. Also, over the last few years, prices of everything are going up quite a lot.

Jobs in most of the areas that you mentioned would be taken by low wage labours that are either local or from nearby countries like Indonesia. I think it would be difficult to try to get a job doing that which would be able to get a work permit for you. I have heard that getting an electrician here is not very easy, so that area and appliance repair might have some possibilities. If you could start a business, that might help more in dealing with visas.

Since you have kids and need to worry about education, that's going to be another problem. Local public schools are pretty much restricted to local citizens. Even children of mixed citizen parents (one Malaysian, one foreign) are lower priority in getting in. So you would need to look at private schools or international schools. That can get pretty expensive. For Private school, you might be able to get something around 8k per kid per year, and international are more like 15k+ per year/kid. Not many people can afford these when salaries may be well below 5000/month. Homeschooling may be a good alternative.