Following the announcement, some of these groups met with immigration director-general Mustafar Ali to discuss the implementation of the E-Card and the procedures employers need to follow.
Speaking to FMT after the meeting, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Association president Michael Kang said his main concern was over any need to pay a fee to agents to process the workers’ applications after obtaining the E-Card.
“I spoke to the immigration DG about our concerns on the rehiring process.
“I told him that as employers and businesses, we hoped that there won’t be any fee imposed by agents or middlemen after the rehiring stage,” he said.
According to Kang, he and representatives of five other business groups made their wishes clear to Mustafar.
“He was very receptive to our input, and took down notes during the meeting.
“After the meeting, he told us that he will bring all of it up to Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi,” Kang said.
It was also reported that Mustafar had announced that the government will issue E-Cards to allow employers to apply for the rehiring of illegal migrant workers, legally.
The card would serve as a temporary verification to replace valid travel documents and it is free of charge, Bernama reported.
“Registration for illegal workers to obtain E-Cards will start on Feb 15 and is expected to end on June 30,” Mustafar told the national news agency, adding that there will be no middlemen and agents involved and that the E-Card will be issued for free.
He added this programme was only open to illegal immigrants in Peninsular Malaysia and that he expects up to 600,000 illegal migrant workers to be registered under the new programme, subject to certain conditions.
Meanwhile, Kang said the business groups and Mustafar will meet again on the third day of Chinese New Year, that is next Monday, to go through more details on the rehiring procedure for employers.