Welcome back! I hope you all had a great week.
Today, we continue from last week's blog regarding the obtaining of a spouse visa in the beautiful nation of Malaysia. To recap from last week, we had started the process of registering for marriage. We went to our local National Registration Department office. Remember, whichever address is on your Malaysian spouse's identification card ("IC") determines which registration branch office you go to for the required forms and the actual solemnization of marriage ceremony. That last part is where your marriage will be legal. Later, we will talk about the steps to follow after that, including the spouse visa.
Once all of our required forms were filled out, we returned to the JPN office, headed upstairs to the marriage counter and submitted our paperwork about the middle of March. The official, then, asked us to choose a date for the actual solemnisation ceremony. As was stated last week, we had to wait a minimum of three weeks from the date of application submission. When that day came, we had to:
1) Be well-dressed.
2) Have two witnesses with valid MyKads (if Malaysian) over the age of 25 present with original identification cards (IC's).
The ceremony, itself, is not an elaborate affair. It was in a small room just off from the waiting area. We recited some oaths performed by the Registrar of Marriage, signed our marriage certificate and exchanged our rings. Once it was complete, we were legally married. However, my wife and I wanted to have another ceremony where our family and friends could witness our new union. This was because, to us, we wanted to be married in the Eye of God, as opposed to solely, the eye of the law. To us, that is our actual ceremony.
At this point, we could now focus on planning for our ceremony. This would include finding the venue, wedding-day photographer, cake, dress, invitations, etc. This, also, included a pre-wedding photo shoot that was done in July. We had found a bridal house called MyWedding that would take care of that aspect. This would also serve to fulfill one of the requirements for the spouse visa, as will be indicated in a the list below:
This, also, means that we had to start planning to get my spouse visa (I know..about time I got to that, right?). We had a whole new department to deal with, as in the Immigration Department of Malaysia. When it comes to dealing with all of this paperwork, it is a great thing that my wife is very organized and took the time to research and prepare for this process. It made this process much easier for us than it normally would be. Our first trip to the Immigration Department in Butterworth (mainland Penang) was to obtain the necessary forms and other requirements for this visa.
Here is the Butterworth Immigration Department Office address:
Jalan Kelasah, 13700 Seberang Jaya, Malaysia.
Just take North/South Expressway north from Penang Bridge exit. Take exit 163-Seberang Jaya from Lebuhraya Utara - Selatan/AH2/E1. Take roundabout, get off third exit. Go straight. First turn on left, then left again and follow Jalan Kelasah until you see Immigration building. Can park on small lane, or just outside Immigration main gate in front of some shops.
A list of those requirements are:
1) Form Imm 12 (2 copies)
2) Form Imm 55 (2 copies)
3) Form Imm 38 (2 copies)
4) Confirmation of employment letter from Malaysian spouse's employer
5) Marriage certificates (Malaysian & Foreign if you married abroad) - originals and copy
6) Statutory Declaration the marriage is still valid - certified by commissioner of oath
7) Security Bond - RM10 to get from income tax
8) Original and copy of passport of Malaysian spouse (all pages)
9) Original and copy of Mykad of Malaysian spouse (all pages)
10) Original and copy of passport of expatriate spouse (all pages)
11) 2 passport photo of Malaysian spouse
12) 2 passport photo of expatriate spouse
13) A wedding photo with both spouse on (preferably from the Malaysian wedding ceremony)*
*This can be either a pre-wedding photo or a wedding-day photo
14) Original ID and passports for both spouses
15) Original and copy of Wedding and Divorce certs if either party were previously married
Two items I would like to point out are #7 and #13. The first, the security bond, is dependent upon the foreign spouse's country of origin. In my case, we had to pony up (an American colloquialism) RM2000. This could be done via bank draft before you collect your passport. You just go to another counter and pay it. Just provide the receipt to the Immigration counter with your application.
The second, the wedding photo, could be, either, the pre-wedding photo or a wedding-day photo as noted above. Of course, we had to wait before the actual photos were developed before we could apply. We used the former, as we had the pre-wedding photos done first. In November, we had to go to a Commissioner of Oaths office in town. She charged RM4 per stamp.
In early December, everything was ready and we headed back to the mainland. When we arrived, we submitted our application. We were worried that something would be not right and we would have to come back another day. Sure enough, there was something wrong.
The two letters of confirmation of employment from both of my wife's employers were addressed: "To Whom It May Concern:" They have to be addressed to the Immigration Department. We, then, had to mad-dash to the island to obtain two new letters. Of course, they were in opposite sides of town. We did that, then rushed back to the Immigration office.
Luckily, as I stated in Part 1 of this series, my wife was very prepared and everything, including the new employment letters, were OK. However, something needed to be photostat (photocopy for Americans). Since they didn't do that on-site, we had to go downstairs and out to a small shop just outside the main gate. Once we had that taken care of, we were able to submit our application.
Bear in mind that you may be in that waiting area for a good portion of the day (as we were) so plan
accordingly. I should point out that they were having a technical problem with their system that day, thus everything took longer. They took my passport to the back during that time. You pay a RM90 fee for the visa stamp. They informed us that it would take us a month. However, in only two weeks, my wife called the Immigration office and my visa was done!
As stated above, we paid the security bond and they passed my passport back to us. It had a shiny new Malaysian visa stamp!! Hooray..we got it! My visa is valid for a year. Next December, I have to go and renew it. I won't have to repay the security bond, but there will be a small fee.
Oh, on the visa, it states, "Any form of employment is strictly prohibited." The Immigration official informed us that we could apply for a work endorsement six months from the issue date. I will let you know how THAT goes in an upcoming blog. Hope you enjoyed this two-parter blog series. As always, leave any comments below, in case any clarification is needed or I have failed to state something.
Thank you and good luck in your quest to get betrothed in this beautiful tropical nation.
In case you missed out on Part One..
If you have reached this far, then you can go on the next step: Part Three and the work endorsement for your LTVSP.
Oh, and for those in the planning stages of your wedding ceremony (not the JPN ceremony), here are the wedding-day photographer, band and bakery we hired for our wedding; as well as the venue.
Sheraton Four Points Penang, a beautiful modern hotel next to the sea. Ask for Ee Ling Low, Catering Manager.
We only had Kevin, as the bride's makeup was taken care of by the bridal house that took our pre-wedding photos.
Yin's Sourdough Bakery, the maker of our all-natural wedding tier cake and cupakes. Ask for Yin. You can also check them out on their Facebook page, as well.
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