Oriental Daily reported Federal Territory Immigration Department director Mohd Nasri Ishak as saying that bosses should apply for the cards by the deadline or face action.

“If they fail to register before the deadline, we will take action against them, under the Immigration Act, for hiring illegal workers,” he told reporters after inspecting the E-card application process at the Immigration Department in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Nasir said the Federal Territory Immigration Department had issued 4,382 E-cards to foreign workers as of yesterday.

“An average of 184 cards are issued every day. That is a very good response,” he was quoted as saying.

On January 24, Immigration Department director-general Mustafar Ali announced that the government would issue E-cards to enable employers to apply for the rehiring of illegal immigrants.

The card is a temporary identification document to replace valid travel documents and is free of charge.

The registration of illegal workers to obtain E-cards started on February 15. Mustafar had said the deadline for the registration was June 30.