LETTER | The Foreign Spouses Support Group (FSSG) urges the Madani government to prioritise equal access to employment for foreign spouses of Malaysians in the upcoming Budget 2025 to be tabled in Parliament on Oct 18.
While the budget has comprehensive sets of measures under its “Raise the Floor” and “Raise the Ceiling” thrusts to improve the quality of life and opportunities for Malaysians, it is regrettable that the foreign spouses of Malaysians, people who are part of Malaysian families, are being overlooked.
In 2023, 161,531 Long-Term Social Visit Passes (LTVSP) were given to non-citizen spouses residing in the country.
This group forms a large pool of unrecognised “latent human resources” that is unfortunately not tapped into despite the country facing a serious case of brain drain.
Foreign spouses holding LTSVP face severe limitations on their right to work due to the employment prohibition stated on their visas.
This not only confuses potential employers but also restricts these spouses' access to job opportunities, despite their professional qualifications and assurances from authorities that they can work if offered employment.
As it is, LTSVPs are usually issued for one to three years on a renewable basis, depending on the discretion of the immigration authorities, and this already creates uncertainties for potential employers.
It is important to note that the beneficiaries of foreign spouses' earnings are their Malaysian families.
PR status hard to obtain
Many licensed professions such as engineering, law and medicine also require Permanent Resident (PR) status in the country which is extremely difficult to obtain. This completely shuts them out from being able to work in these fields.
In a 2021 Family Frontiers survey that had more than 70 percent of respondents holding bachelor's degrees or higher qualifications, it was revealed that 77.2 percent of respondents acknowledged having difficulty finding employment and 34.2 percent of respondents indicated that companies were very unwilling to hire them after seeing the statement of prohibition from employment.
One foreign spouse only know as Basset, a pharmacy graduate, has been unable to obtain PR status despite being married for nine years and fathering three Malaysian children.
This has prevented him from pursuing a career as a pharmacist in Malaysia, forcing him to change career fields. His struggle is compounded by the lack of clarity in the immigration process, delays in obtaining work endorsements, and frequent rejection by companies due to visa-related restrictions, despite his qualifications and strong candidacy.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, delays in renewing his work permission by the Immigration Department left him without work or pay for four months. Although his employer chose not to fire him, if he had a PR, he would not have had to go through four months without a salary.
Breaking up families
The experience of Suraya (not her real name for privacy reasons) is another case in point.
Her foreign husband, a skilled engineering professional and top student from a Malaysian university, has faced significant challenges in securing a job in Malaysia due to his foreign status and lack of PR.
Despite his long stay in the country, adherence to local rules, and efforts to integrate, they faced difficulties in their application for PR in 2020.
With limited career prospects in Malaysia, he eventually secured a scholarship in Indonesia, highlighting a missed opportunity for Malaysia to utilise his expertise and leaving Suraya to manage the emotional strain of living apart from her spouse.
"We've been together for 15 years. Our bond is real, and we just want a fair chance to build our future in Malaysia," said Suraya.
By establishing more progressive, binational family-friendly employment policies, Malaysia can enhance its global competitiveness, attract more foreign investments and drive its overall growth.
Impact on women
The country can also attract and retain global talent, helping to reverse the brain drain of talented professionals. There have been reports of Malaysian women making up 1.86 million out of the estimated 3.15 million Malaysian diaspora overseas.
Restrictive immigration policies disproportionately impact foreign women spouses, often trapping them in abusive marriages due to the fear of being separated from their Malaysian children.
Visas that may be issued for divorced or widowed women do not include work permissions, limiting their ability to support themselves.
As a result, Malaysia misses the opportunity to utilise the skills and contributions of these women who want to stay in the country for the sake of their children.
This situation could lead to the forced separation of these women from their Malaysian children or compel ageing foreign wives to leave Malaysia, a country they have considered home for many years.
In accordance with Madani’s two core values, prosperity (kesejahteraan) and compassion (ihsan), the government must ensure that no one is left behind regardless of background and status.
As people who are within Malaysian families, with Malaysian children, non-citizen spouses have the huge potential to contribute not just towards their own family, but to society and to this nation.
A level playing field for foreign spouses of Malaysians must be in place. This includes offering social protection for all segments of society and ensuring employment with fair access, and most of all keeping families together in wellbeing.
FAMILY FRONTIERS is a registered entity established with the aim of strengthening the family unit so that no family is left behind.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
