Ire over middlemen for foreign worker visa

KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry has appointed middlemen in foreign countries to "process" visa applications of workers coming to Malaysia.
This has resulted in higher costs of recruiting foreign workers and has drawn protests from worker groups in source countries, especially Indonesia and Nepal.
Previously, foreign workers or their agents could submit their applications directly to the foreign missions and pay RM15 for processing.
However, a new ruling, which came into force last November, requires applicants of the foreign landing visa (VLN) to submit their forms to a one stop centre (OSC). On top of that, another company has been appointed to carry out "immigration security clearance" (ISC) checks.
According to documents sighted by theSun, the ISC company is allowed to charge RM105 or its equivalent.
The company is supposed to identify applicants who have been blacklisted from entering the country.
Payment to OSC has been fixed at RM100 and charge for "VLN services" has been set at RM105.
These additional expenses would have to be borne by the employer. It is not known how these companies were appointed.
The companies have set up offices in various Asian countries where workers are sourced from.
The ministry's letter, signed by its secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalid Shariff, was addressed to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Immigration Department.
Employers had been kept in the dark about this development until protests were held at two of the foreign missions.
He justified the new system and service charge by claiming it would enable a smooth flow in processing visa application.
"The implementation of these new procedures does not incur any costs to the government as the employers will bear all expenses.
"The fees imposed are justified as it covers the operational costs incurred by the companies," said Mohamed Khalid.
However, local industry players are questioning the need for such centres and high costs when foreign missions have been doing this without any hassle in the past.
The Master Builders' Association of Malaysia has described the arrangement as "unnecessary and costly".
Previously, said its spokesman, the embassy in Jakarta issues the landing visa within a week and workers are immediately flown to Malaysia.
"Now, with three other costly layers, the time taken to issue visas is extended. For many contractors, who undertake pre-construction work like land-clearing, time is the essence of its business as deadlines have to be met," he said.
Previously, employers had to pay a levy of RM1,250 and a processing fee of RM200 and RM15 at the time the application is submitted at the foreign mission.
With the introduction of three more "centres", the cost has gone up from RM1,465 to RM1,775.
With Indonesia sending about 150,000 workers annually, it will cost a whopping RM457 million, which has to be borne either by the employer or in some cases, the workers, which is deducted from their salaries.
"What are their roles?" asks the spokesman.
"In some towns in Indonesia, they have a one-man office and just receive the applications and forward them to the embassy. In the case of visa applications, the company just keys in particulars of the applicants into a computer and forwards it to the embassy. So, yet again, employers are burdened with additional costs and red-tape."
This, he argued is a "clerical" job which entails no special skills or technology.
Meanwhile, Indonesian employment agency operators have threatened to stop sending workers to Malaysia.
The umbrella body of over 500 employment agencies – Asosiasi Perusahaan Jasa Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (Apjati) – has written to the Indonesian Parliament and its human resources and foreign ministries, urging an immediate halt on sending workers to Malaysia.
Apjati president Ayub Basalamah was quoted as saying that it was an exploitation of Indonesian citizens.
"What is worse is that, in addition to paying the processing fees, we have to provide details of our workers to a private company instead of to the Malaysian embassy," he said.