Immigration Department Escalates Nationwide Crackdown on Social Visit Pass Abuse

CYBERJAYA, July 21 — The Immigration Department (JIM) has significantly intensified nationwide enforcement operations following a concerning rise in the Social Visit Pass abuse by foreign nationals, Director-General Datuk Zakaria Shaaban revealed today.

According to official department records, arrests for Social Visit Pass (SVP) related violations stood at 1,279 in 2023, surging to 2,644 in 2024 before stabilizing slightly at 2,630 in 2025. As of July 15 this year, authorities have already recorded 451 arrests involving foreign nationals discovered illegally working while holding social visit documentation—an offense under Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963 and one of the most prevalent immigration breaches in Malaysia.

“We will not compromise. We will continue pursuing those who abuse their immigration passes, particularly individuals who commit offences involving the misuse of these passes,” Zakaria told reporters following the 2026 Immigration Day celebration.

The event, themed ‘Charting a New Face of Immigration’, was graced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. The gathering was also attended by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, and Public Service Department Director-General Tan Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.

The department’s heightened vigilance follows explicit directives from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who previously stressed that firm enforcement action must be taken against any foreign nationals misusing SVPs or visa-exemption privileges to secure unauthorized employment in the country.

Providing an update on the newly introduced version of the Malaysian International Passport, Zakaria shared that 63,475 passports have been successfully issued since the rollout commenced on July 1. He added that the implementation has officially entered its third phase, with multiple passport-issuing offices nationwide actively dispensing the upgraded document to applicants.

Concurrently, the federal government’s Migrant Repatriation Programme 2.0 continues to yield substantial results. As of July 15, a total of 275,755 foreign nationals representing 114 countries have participated in the voluntary amnesty initiative, generating RM137.76 million in revenue for the government, Zakaria noted.

-NMT