hi,
This is a post from Chum on the alloexpat website. I PM'd Chum and received permission to use the post here, and that's great :
I have a few small tips for the application if you intend to submit it yourself. There are a few submission requirements that, whilst they are reasonably obvious, are not stated-
(1) They place a lot of importance on your reason for wanting to stay in Malaysia. That should be a big part of the cover letter
(2) Whilst the application asks for 4 photos and seperately it lists 4 forms that require a photo (1 application and 3 IM12 forms), it doesn't state that you should paste a photo on each form. You should. I know it sounds obvious however you never really know with these government offices.
(3) Whilst they don't ask for a table containing a summary of your financial status, you should do one. You should list your various income sources, your liquid assets- cash, FD's, shares etc. and your real assets- property etc.
(4) Whilst they don't state it, the checklist of requirements (which is pages 8-9 of the application form) should be the first pages of your application submission.
(5) You need to get certified copies of a lot of documents. The cheapest way to do this is via a local commissioner of oaths (unless you require translation, which leaves you little choice but to use expensive (consular) staff of your own country). I found a very cheap and fast commissioner of oaths in town, once she realised that i had copies and originals for everything she didn't waste time checking every page. PM me for her details, she charges RM$4/ page. My total bill was around RM$150 which i considered a bargain.
(6) They don't like people submitting themselves- presumably because they have issues with incomplete forms- so be prepared for some attitude. I was lucky enough to be prepared for all of the above issues and hence the lady settled down a little after reviewing my application contents, however the first 5 mins were quite stressful.
Hope that helps
Chum
If we can collect such recent experiences it will help to give an overall picture. I imagine the MoTour officers themselves are somewhat apprehensive of submissions.
regards, Scott
