Policy on foreign spouses employment needs review, says Saifuddin

PETALING JAYA: The government may consider allowing foreigners married to Malaysians to work in the country in a bid to boost the economy and reduce reliance on foreign workers.

Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said currently foreign spouses who have a long-term social visit pass are permitted to work or operate businesses without an employment visa.

However, he noted that this approval is not granted automatically as applicants must meet specific requirements.

A total of 161,531 such passes were issued to foreign spouses last year.

“The ministry is always attentive to policies concerning the eligibility of foreign spouses to work in the country,” he said in a written parliamentary reply.

“Revisiting these policies could help meet economic demands and reduce reliance on foreign workers.”

Saifuddin was responding to a question by Dr Taufiq Johari (PH-Sungai Petani) on whether the government would review its policy on foreign spouses in the country.

Family Frontiers, an NGO, previously said that long-term social visit passes contain restrictions such as the types of jobs foreign spouses can take up.

Its short-term visa length, typically three years, also confuses prospective employers and prevents highly qualified spouses from contributing to the workforce, they said.

Separately, Saifuddin said the ministry’s SOPs on deportations were as per immigration guidelines, with help from foreign embassies to prepare travel documents for detainees.

He said deportations followed international principles, including non-refoulement, which prevents sending people back to countries where they would face persecution, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or punishment and other irreparable harm.

“The immigration department continues efforts to expedite repatriation through collaboration with relevant foreign representatives and by following the directives of the immigration director-general,” he said.

He was responding to a question from Syerleena Rashid (PH-Bukit Bendera) who wanted the government to disclose information on the number of deportations carried out from Jan 1 to Oct 14.

She also wanted to know what measures were being carried out to ensure the country does not go against the principle of non-refoulement.