The Immigration Department service counters that were temporarily reopened for the renewal of Foreign Worker Work Permits (PLKS) now require the personal presence of the company director concerned.

This move, says a group of local chambers of commerce and industry, is intended to create difficulties and force the employers to switch to the MyEG online service for the permit renewals.

Following strong objections to the MyEG online service from business groups, the Immigration Department earlier reopened its counters for the PLKS from Jan 23 until Feb 28.

The department made it clear then that these counters would remain open only until Feb 28, after which employers of foreign workers would mandatorily be required to use the MyEG online renewal system.

However, Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM), together with the other local chambers of industry and trade organisations, said today the Immigration Department then imposed a new requirement at the renewal counters.

This was the requirement for the company director to be present at the counter, which the business and industry groups see as a move to embarrass the employers.

“During the period the counters were re-opened, the immigration officers insisted that a company director must be present personally, instead of the human resource personnel assigned, who holds the ‘yellow card’, as practised previously.

“All renewal applications submitted without the presence of a company director have been rejected outright.

“The requirement for a company director to be present at the counter and to wait for hours just for the purpose of enabling an officer to verify his MyKad is totally unreasonable,” ACCCIM deputy secretary-general Teo Chiang Kok told a press conference today.

'Intended to create undue difficulties'

Teo said the new requirement was obviously intended to create undue difficulties for employers to renew their PLKS and to indirectly pressure employers to switch to the MyEG online renewal service.

He said only after the strong objections were consistently made did the Immigration Department change the rule and required a company “manager” to be present at the counter.

Teo also called on the Immigration Department to allow company human resource personnel to continue to act as company representative for the permit renewal purpose at the counter service.

'Counters should stay open after 28 Feb'

Nevertheless, with the counter re-opening period ending very soon, ACCCIM and the other business organisations went on to demand that these counters remain open after Feb 28 and for employers to be given the option of using the counter service or the MyEG online service to renew the permits of their foreign workers.

Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association president Lim Kok Boon (right) said: “We also demand that the RM38 service fee per foreign worker imposed by MyEG should be apportioned out of the RM125 currently being paid to the Immigration Department.”

Lim said the government should have held engagement sessions with all stakeholders before directives, such as the MyEG system for the work permit renewal, are implemented.

Lamented Teo: “The government never engaged with us before announcing the implementation of the MyEG system for the PLKS. Our knowledge of this MyEG was totally 'zero' before the announcement.

“We had sent out many memoranda and letters of appeal to Home Ministry and even to the Prime Minister's Department but there was absolutely no reply from them.”

The announcement of MyEG online renewal for PLKS by Immigration Department on Jan 5 led to huge objections from the local chambers of commerce because of the extra RM38 fee imposed as because the service is monopolised by a MyEG company.