Malaysia allows e-visas for Indians

Indians will now be able to apply online for visas and temporary job visas for Malaysia from Mar 1, 2006.

Malaysia on Monday allowed Indian nationals to apply for visas and temporary employment visas online from March 1 next year.

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Indian and Chinese nationals will now be able to apply for visas and temporary employment visas for Malaysia online from March 1, 2006, Deputy Premier Najib Razak told reporters here.

Currently, Indian nationals can apply for tourist visas when they arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here.

Visa approvals will also be given online, Razak said without elaborating.

More than 115,000 Indian tourists visited Malaysia from January to June this year.

In another move to shore up tourist arrivals, Najib said foreign students in Malaysia would be allowed to work as tour guides.

Later Tourism Minister Leo Michael Toyad told reporters that students who spoke Arabic, Spanish, Korean, French, Russian and other languages were welcome to apply for temporary work permits.

Currently the country's main airport here has announcements in Malay, English and Arabic.

In a bid to meet the needs of the growing number of tourists coming here, authorities are preparing to introduce public announcements in Mandarin for visitors from HongKong, China and Taiwan.