Malaysia will temporarily ban all flights to and from India to prevent the spread of a new COVID-19 variant in the country. The Malaysia National Security Council (NSC) has announced the following measures that will become effective beginning Wednesday, 28 April 2021:
Categories of travellers who are temporarily barred from entering Malaysia
- Travellers coming from any destination in India
- Travellers transiting through India en route to Malaysia
- Travellers coming or transiting through India and seeking to transit through Malaysia to a third country
- Holders of the Temporary Employment Visit Pass (TEVP) / Pas Lawatan Kerja Sementara
- International students
- Business travellers
- The Sarawak State Government has additionally added that the entry ban to Sarawak also extends to all travellers who have been in India in the past thirty (30) days
The following travellers are exempt from the entry ban but must undergo 14-day quarantine after arrival in Malaysia:
- Malaysian citizens
- Spouses and children of Malaysian citizens
While the announcement by the NSC does not specifically mention that the entry ban applies to holders of work passes (e.g., EP, PVP, etc.) or dependent passes, it is very likely that the abovementioned pass categories are subject to the entry ban as well.
For additional questions regarding this alert, please contact the T&S APAC immigration team at apac@tandslaw.com.
