Passport Stamp - Overview of Passport Stamps of Countries - Asia - Malaysia

Malaysia

Malaysian immigration authorities apply stamps for both entry and exit in all foreign passports and non-biometric Malaysian passports without in-built microchips. Biometric Malaysian passports are usually not stamped as all movements in and out of the country are recorded electronically in the microchip.

Malaysian entry stamps for non-citizens and non-residents are rectangular and stamped in blue. They bear the date of entry, point of entry and terms of entry. Entry stamps for residents are also stamped in blue ink but have an oval shape and bear the date and point of entry. Exit stamps are triangular and stamped in red. They bear the date and point of departure. Immigration officers have a tendency to scribble flight numbers or stamp or write the name of vessels next to the entry/exit stamps.

A peculiarity is the autonomy of the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak in immigration affairs. Foreigners who travel to the two states from Peninsular Malaysia are required to fill in immigration forms and get new stamps on their passports. There is also immigration control for travel between Sabah and Sarawak. Previously, Malaysian citizens from the Peninsular were required to present their passports and have them stamped as well; while they are currently still subjected to immigration control, passports are no longer required for social visits not more than three months.

Between 1998 and 2011, foreigners who entered Malaysia via train from Singapore were cleared electronically without their passports being stamped. This is due to the dispute between Malaysia and Singapore regarding Malaysian-owned railway land in Singapore. The Malaysian railway operator, Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) had its intercity rail southern terminus at Tanjong Pagar railway station in downtown Singapore, which also housed the border controls of both Malaysia and Singapore for rail passengers before 1998. In 1998, Singapore moved its immigration checkpoint northward to Woodlands Train Checkpoint near the actual Malaysia-Singapore border but Malaysia refused to move its checkpoint, citing the move as a ploy to force Malaysia to hand over the railway land and the station, resulting in the anomaly that passengers travelling towards Malaysia being granted entry to Malaysia before passing through Singapore exit controls. Passengers travelling to Singapore were not affected as Malaysian exit controls were carried out on board trains at the Johor Bahru railway station, where immigration officers endorsed passports by stamping or handwriting. The anomaly was resolved on 1 July 2011, when Malaysia moved its immigration control to Woodlands, and handed over the railway land and the station to Singapore.

• Standard entry stamp, this one at Tawau Port, Sabah, allowing one month's stay.

• Entry stamp into Sarawak at Merapok checkpoint on the Sabah-Sarawak border, with written date for limit of stay.

• Entry stamp for citizens before biometric passports were introduced. This is at former Subang International Airport.

• Standard exit stamp, at Johor Bahru exit to Singapore.