Visa-on-arrival at Malaysia not issued to south Indian visitors to curb overstaying

Chennai: Malaysia’s decision to withdraw the visa-on-arrival to travellers from southern India was mainly to stop them from overstaying in the country, Chennai-based Malaysian Consul-General Rosli Ismail said.
Rosli said the Malaysian government took the decision after the authorities discovered that a large number of visitors had abused the visa-on-arrival issued at the KL International Airport (KLIA).
“We have been issuing visa-on-arrival since last September but stopped in December (the same year) after we discovered that many are abusing this facility. Mostly they are job-seekers entering Malaysia,” he told Bernama here.
However, he said, Malaysia might review the decision as it was affecting other genuine travellers from southern India, largely businessmen and holiday-makers who travel frequently to Malaysia.
“The visa-on-arrival is good for businessmen and travellers who don’t have time to come to our office to apply for visa and there are a lot of direct flights from Chennai to Malaysia.
“We hope there will be some changes soon," he said, adding that Chennai had become a busy gateway, both for Malaysian and Indian businessmen and travelers, in recent years.
19/04/07 P. Vijian, BERNAMA/nst online

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Categories: Foreign Apr 2007