MACS pass for Iskander investors

[KJSzymczyk]

The problem with the MM2H I-Card is, pretty as it is, you still have to get your passport stamped every time you step out of the country. For those living in Johor (obviously the most progressive state, judging by what I'm about to tell you), there's a nifty way around this. It's called MACS ... Malaysia Automated Clearance System.

This is an initiative of Johor's Iskander Regional Development Authority (IRDA) and the requirements aren't too onerous. The only bit of legwork required is to find a company in the Iskander Region that's willing to sponsor you. In our case, it was our estate (UEM Land), as we live in Nusajaya. Here are the steps:

1) Go to http://macs.imi.gov.my

2) Click "New Application".

3) Fill out the application and print out the form. (Very important!)

4) Prime your sponsor by getting them to write a letter talking about how important you are to the region. I wrote ours myself and Jacek went to the office, spoke to the UEM rep and presented the letter. Honcho got one of the company's secretaries to type it out on letterhead before he signed it.

5) While you're there, get the sponsor to put their chop and sign at the two designated places on your printed application.

6) Call the IRDA office first, to make sure someone's going to be at MACS One Stop Center. (Ph (07) 233-3000)

7) Hop along in person (the pass is also valid for partners and children, so you'll have to get them to come along as well) with application, sponsor letter, photos, passports and RM30/person to #G-01, Block 8, Danga Bay, Jalan Skudai, 80200 Johor Bahru.

8) Spend interminable time while the passes are printed, your thumprints taken (thankfully electronically so there's no ink to wipe off), and the pretty, full-passport-page visas are placed in your passport.

9) Hand over dosh.

10) Escape, marvelling that this thing might actually work and save you renewing your passport every year!

Now, the thing to remember about MACS is that it's only valid at the Johor immigration points. And you have to renew it every year for RM30/person. If you're flying out of KLIA, you'll still get a stamp in your passport. However, if you live in Iskander -- or have business interests there -- and travel to Singapore often and go through the Johor immigration counters, then this might just be the ticket for you while we wait for the MM2H wheels to grind onwards slowly, at a rate that would make a doped-up snail feel ashamed.

So, Selangor and Penang, when are you guys going to catch up?

Kaz

[scott]

hi, KJSzymczyk,

That's a very interesting post, and something that I may take up. Thanks.

[Duriancake]

Sorry to put a dampener on this but is it such a big deal having the passport stamped each time one leaves or enter the country?

[KJSzymczyk]

You obviously don't travel very much, Duriancake! Or you're rich and have quite a bit of spare time to go trudging off to your local embassy/consulate every year to get a new passport. In those cases, you're right -- it's not a problem.

However, MACS is a big deal for those of us on MM2H who still work in Singapore. It's also a very big deal when trying to entice Singaporeans to give up thinking of how much HDB flat they can buy and take a punt on buying bigger and nicer property across the border. (Those hardy souls who don't think they'll get stabbed the minute they breathe Malaysian air, that is.) That's who they're really targetting here ... Singaporeans who also consider the fact that they will need to get their passport stamped by Malaysian Immigration every day they travel to work. It's not a trivial matter. As MM2Hers, we're just riding the coat-tails!

Kaz @ Johor

[KJSzymczyk]

I did the calculations, Duriancake.

Assume a standard passport has 34 pages. Also assume that 2 pages of this are taken up by that RFID thingy that's all the rage around the world at the moment that nobody is supposed to stamp over. Take away 1 page for the MM2H visa and 1 page for your Singapore employment pass stamp. That gives a nice round capacity of 30 pages left, which is the very best situation you can hope for.

Each exit/entry from/into Malaysia is a set of 2 stamps. If you're careful, and coach the Immi official on duty (and they listen to you!), you'll fit 3 sets of stamps on each page. That means you can travel in and out of MY on 90 trips before you need to change your passport. That's 90 trips over the average passport lifetime of ten years. If you manage to avoid going to Singapore every day and wrangle only 3 times a week, say, that means you run out of a TEN-YEAR passport in 30 weeks. And that's best case scenario.

(If you're a Singaporean living in MY, who travels to work every day, then you run out of a 10-year passport in 18 weeks (or a little over 4 months). So, you're essentially paying for two-and-a-half ten-year passports EVERY YEAR! *)

Under the circumstances, hooray for MACS!

Yours in a tedious calculationary miasma,
Kaz @ Johor

(*) Another note of contention is the SG govt itself. How will it take to multiple passport renewals for its citizens every year? The govt has proven itself to be childishly petty in its actions (holding back Customs clearances until the GST rose, active discrimination against local gays but not foreign gays, preferential treatment for foreign companies over its own citizens, a criminal overpopulation policy just to cook GDP figures, etc.) and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that, if more SGers move to live in Malaysia, there may end up being a "limit" to the number of times an SG citizen can renew her/his passport in a ten-year period. That would severely disadvantage those SGers who are looking for a better quality of life, so MACS is a very canny move on the part of Johor and helps save SGers from some pointy questions at home as well.

[papaya]

I have to say I can see where Duriancake is coming from on this subject.  From what I've seen on my short time on this website, most MM2Hers are retired and probably wouldn't be travelling daily or even weekly out of the country.

I wonder how many MM2Hers work in Singapore.  Are there any statistics out there, Scott?

[fizzychickensoup]

Sorry to put a dampener on this but is it such a big deal having the passport stamped each time one leaves or enter the country?

Hmmmmmmm I wouldn't describe myself as a big traveller. Most of our holiday trips are across the border to Thailand, although with the new 14 day visa at land borders we will be spending less time there in the future .

However I have a 48 page, 10 year passport, and there is no way it will see the end of it 10 year life.
It currently has nine pages taken up with the following Visas.

3 MM2H
4 Indonesian (2 trips to Bali + 1 to Medan + 1 to Surabaya)
1 Vietnam
1 Republic of China

I could go on golfing trips to Indonesia every month or so but I don't
Most pages have an average of 6 stamps, as Kaz says, but four have 8 stamps and a handful have 5 with space to squeeze perhaps another one in!

I have 5 remaining blank pages.

Even with going abroad three times a year there is not a cat in Hells chance of my passport lasting until June 2013.

Passports are not cheap anymore, and I am sure most of us like to get value for money. If I have a 10 year passport I would like it to last 10 years. This will not be the case .

I like the American system where you can have pages added.....but I don't think it is free!

[jr6020]

Fizzy, I had the US embassy in KL add a packet of new pages to my 10 year PP the last time I was in Malaysia (Dec '08).  They attached in another 22 pages and it was a FREE service  ...Jim

[jr6020]

I might add US citizens can also ask for extra pages when you apply for your first PP and when you renew your PP.  You might try this when you get yours renewed at your embassy...Just a thought...Jim

[fizzychickensoup]

Fizzy, I had the US embassy in KL add a packet of new pages to my 10 year PP the last time I was in Malaysia (Dec '08).  They attached in another 22 pages and it was a FREE service  ...Jim

Jim  -  excellent news.
Sadly it is not a service provided by the British High Com here in KL (unless I have missed something)

[Duriancake]

I did the calculations, Duriancake.

Point taken KAZ While on the same subject, why do immigration officers (all over the world) not stamp in a sequential and organised way but just look for an empty space or page, thus clogging up the whole passport with half filled pages?

[KJSzymczyk]

You should see my latest passport page. One empty page, and one small rectangular stamp, placed smack bang in the centre ... and rotated slightly! Aaarghhhh!

[scott]

hi,

A while back, when I entered Singapore the immigration officer decided to put the stamp on the last page of the passport.

Only God know why. 

Maybe he only reads Chinese books (which flip right to left).

When I left the exit stamp needed to be placed alongside the entry stamp so that went on the last page ... it started a trend.

Immigration officers now flip the passport one way, then the other, then back, then forward.

It's a challenging decision. 

Currently the front end is the most popular with the back end slowly catching up. When they meet somewhere in the middle I'll have to renew.

[jr6020]

Fizzy, You should call the UK embassy there, explain your situation and maybe they will agree to add pages.  What have you got to lose?  If enough of you chaps  complain, they may provide this service.  Another option- become a US citizen- you already know the language ...Jim

[fizzychickensoup]

Thanks Jim .

Good one, I will check with the British High Com, and if the say no I will pop around the corner and to the American Embassy & get the US Citizen application forms