Jobs in Malaysia for Indians (2026): the Employment Pass, the RM5,000 floor, where the work is and the scams

The search "jobs in Malaysia for Indians" hides a plainer question: can I get one from India, and on which pass? In October 2026 the answer is yes if a Malaysian employer wants you enough to file for an Employment Pass at a basic salary of at least RM5,000 a month; sometimes, through an employer’s quota, for factory, plantation, construction and a short list of service jobs; and never on a tourist entry, however an agent describes it. The High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur said as much on 22 September 2026: a noticeable number of Indian nationals are arriving on the 30-day visa-free facility to look for work, and false promises from agents are ending in overstay, exploitation, detention and legal action.

The numbers behind the phrase

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) gives the community count: about 2.01 million people of Indian ethnicity live in Malaysia, 2,006,500 among Malaysian citizens in 2026. That is a count of citizens: DOSM puts every non-citizen in one block, so no official table says how many Indian nationals live here. India’s Ministry of External Affairs counted 152,370 Indian nationals and 2,750,000 people of Indian origin in January 2026, and the High Commission’s community page (last updated 18 October 2024) estimates about 225,000 Indian expatriates, skilled and unskilled, the skilled ones being mostly IT professionals, engineers and doctors. The Human Resources Ministry’s figures, reported in August 2025, listed 106,929 Indians among more than 2.14 million foreign workers from 15 source countries — fifth, after Bangladesh (803,322), Indonesia (543,514), Nepal (332,712) and Myanmar (173,630). As reported, that list counts foreign workers from 15 source countries; it does not tell you how many Indians hold Employment Passes.

A tight market, and a policy that points both ways

Malaysia is close to full employment: DOSM’s release of 9 October 2026 put unemployment at 2.9% in August, with 16.87 million people in work, and employers say they cannot find enough engineers (the market section below has the figures). The rules point the other way. The Employment Pass floors for Categories I and II doubled on 1 June 2026, a succession plan to train a local replacement becomes mandatory for Categories II and III on 1 January 2027, and the government wants foreign workers at 10% of the workforce by 2030, down from about 15%, according to The Edge on 12 October 2026. Malaysia is asking for fewer foreigners and higher-paid ones.

What that means in practice:

• If you have three or more years in software, data, cloud, cybersecurity, embedded, semiconductor test or process work, or mechanical and electrical engineering, and a Malaysian employer offers at least RM5,000 a month in basic salary, an Employment Pass in Category III or II is the door. The employer files, not you.
• If the offer is below RM5,000 basic, no Employment Pass can carry it. Allowances and bonuses do not count towards the floor.
• If you are a fresh graduate in India, direct hiring is rare. A degree from a Malaysian institution leads to the 12-month Graduate Pass, which for Indian nationals is stated to run until 31 December 2026 only.
• If you work remotely for an employer outside Malaysia, the DE Rantau Nomad Pass lets you live here, but it is not a job: a Malaysian company cannot hire you on it.
• If you work in a factory, on a plantation or on a building site, or cook, clean or handle cargo, the route is an employer’s quota and a Visit Pass (Temporary Employment), and India is approved only for listed sectors.
• If anyone asks you for money for a job, a pass or an “approval”, stop. The employer files for the pass through its own account, and MDEC’s DE Rantau FAQ says neither MDEC nor any third party can guarantee approval.

The dates to re-check in January are 31 December 2026 (the end of the 30-day visa-free entry as announced, and of the Graduate Pass arrangement for Indians), 1 January 2027 (succession plans) and June 2027 (the minimum wage rises to RM2,000 under Budget 2027). The rest of this page takes each door in turn. The Indians in Malaysia page shows the events, local groups and Indian businesses on the platform, and the Kuala Lumpur guide covers housing, schools and the High Commission; this page is about the work.

Malaysia has no points test and no job-seeker visa. Every route below starts with someone other than you — an employer, MDEC or TalentCorp — and each carries a salary or sponsorship condition. This is the map; the sections after it give the detail and the fees.

How to read the table

Start with the salary. A basic salary of RM5,000 to RM9,999 puts a job in Category III, RM10,000 to RM19,999 in Category II and RM20,000 or more in Category I; below RM5,000 there is no Employment Pass at all. A software engineer on a typical advertised salary in Kuala Lumpur sits at the bottom of that scale, a point the salary section returns to. If you earn your salary from a company outside Malaysia, the Employment Pass cannot be used, because only salary paid in Malaysia counts; the nomad pass or a PVP is the pass for that case. If you want to start a company, the founder programme is the legal entry. Every other idea — a tourist entry followed by a job, a “business visa” bought through an agent, a student pass used as a work permit — is a way to lose money or be detained.

Where the Employment Pass is valid

ESD’s own Employment Pass page says the pass is valid only in Peninsular Malaysia and lets the holder work only for the company named on it; changing company means a fresh application. The foreign-worker page says applications to work in Sabah and Sarawak fall under those states’ jurisdiction. If your offer is in Kuching or Kota Kinabalu, ask the employer which authority approves it.

The Employment Pass (EP) is the work permit for an expatriate who takes a job with a Malaysian organisation, and it is the pass most of this page is about. The Immigration Department of Malaysia issues it, and the Expatriate Services Division (ESD) and MYXpats — a subsidiary of Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp), formed with the Immigration Department and the Ministry of Home Affairs — process it. The pass is a multiple-entry visa, valid for the length of the employment contract and up to 60 months for one approval, subject to the Expatriate Committee’s decision.

The revised salary policy of 1 June 2026

The revised policy applies to every new and renewal application submitted on or after 1 June 2026. The changes were announced early in 2026 — a law-firm alert on them is dated 26 January 2026 — and ESD’s FAQ is dated 12 February 2026.

Three details decide whether an offer works.

• Only basic salary counts. The test is the basic monthly salary, taxable in Malaysia. Allowances, incentives, bonuses and salary paid outside Malaysia are all excluded, so a package of RM6,500 made up of RM4,200 basic and RM2,300 of allowances does not reach Category III. Check the contract’s basic line, not the headline.
• Manufacturing has a higher Category III band. ESD’s FAQ puts companies that hold a manufacturing licence or an exemption letter, and manufacturing-related services that have MIDA-approved incentives, status or grants, in a RM7,000–9,999 band for Category III. A factory offering RM5,500 basic is outside it.
• The clock follows the employer. From 1 June 2026 the maximum duration is counted against the same employer, position and category. A move to a new company starts the count again from the date of employment there, and a change of category starts it from the date the new pass is issued.

Existing passes and renewals

Passes still valid stay valid until they expire and need no new application. A renewal submitted on or after 1 June follows the new floors; renewals can be filed up to three months before expiry, and the three-month window cannot be started earlier to beat the date. The Category III minimum-salary exemption and the cooling-off period no longer apply. If a salary change moves someone to another category at renewal, MDEC’s 2026 FAQ says it is treated as a new application under that category, and the old pass must first be cancelled or shortened.

The succession plan

From 1 January 2027 an employer applying for Category II or III must submit a succession plan. ESD defines it as a structured plan to prepare local employees to take over the expatriate’s role within the approved period: the roles to be handed over, training and mentoring, a timeline, and how operations stay stable. MDEC’s FAQ adds that no tracking format has been published but that employers should keep records of identified successors, training, knowledge transfer and milestones, because failure may affect later applications. For you this means the offer letter may mention a local counterpart you are expected to train; it is a condition of the pass, not a sign of a bad employer.

How an application runs

The employer registers once with ESD, then runs these steps, which ESD’s process chart times as follows:

1. Labour Department approval under Section 60K of the Employment Act 1955 from the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia (JTKSM), with a job advertisement on MyFutureJobs where it applies — 10 working days on the normal track.
2. A support letter from the regulating agency for regulated sectors, through the Xpats Gateway — 3 working days on the fast track and 10 on the normal one.
3. The expatriate application on ESD Online — 2 working days on the fast track and 5 on the normal one.
4. Endorsement and the i-KAD card at the Expatriate Services Centre at KLIA Terminal 1 or 2 on arrival for a new entrant, or an ePASS and i-KAD within one working day for others.

Those are ESD’s targets, not a promise; add your own time for the contract, the visa and the move. The High Commission’s advisory says to travel for work only with a work permit or a visa with reference (VDR). Healthcare, education, tourism, aviation and construction roles also need a recommendation from the relevant ministry or agency, according to the checklist of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), which lists the documents asked for when an application goes through that agency: a passport valid for 12 months with six blank pages, your degree certificate endorsed by a Malaysian mission abroad, a CV endorsed by an HR manager, a job description and a stamped employment contract.

What it costs, and who pays

The fees are the employer’s. MYXpats revised its charges from 1 September 2024: RM2,000 for an Employment Pass application plus 8% tax (RM2,160), RM500 for a Dependant Pass application, as reported by Human Resources Online on 2 August 2024. MYXpats’ own FAQ says that 75% of the processing fee is refunded when an application is rejected at the approval stage, and none is refunded once an appeal has begun. Immigration’s pass and visa charges come on top; we could not find an official table for them, so ask the employer. The fees are billed to the employer’s ESD account, so if anyone asks you for them, ask HR to confirm in writing.

One inconsistency to know

ESD’s Employment Pass page still carries older wording that only holders above RM5,000 can bring family. The booklet effective 1 June 2026 and the FAQ are the current rule, and they allow Category III applications from that date to bring dependants.

Two other passes sit beside the Employment Pass. One is for people who come on assignment from a company elsewhere; the other is the long-stay pass that Employment Pass holders can apply for after three years.

The Professional Visit Pass (PVP)

The PVP is for a foreign professional who comes to Malaysia on behalf of an overseas company for a defined job: training, consultancy, or project work such as installing and stabilising machinery. The holder stays employed by the overseas company, and a Malaysian company sponsors the visit. For an Indian employee of an Indian firm sent on a defined project for a Malaysian client, this is the pass designed for the case.

MIDA’s guidelines, in force for applications received from 16 March 2026, are the clearest statement of the terms for the manufacturing and selected services sectors that MIDA regulates:

• The pass lasts a maximum of 12 months and is not extendable. ESD’s own PVP page says no longer than 12 months per issuance.
• The holder must be currently employed by an overseas company, hold a passport valid for at least 12 months, and have a recognised professional qualification or specialised skills plus experience: seven years with a certificate, five with a diploma, three with a degree or above.
• The holder must not intend to settle, may work only for the sponsoring company, and cannot bring a Dependant Pass.
• The sponsor needs Labour Department approval under Section 60K and a personal or security bond, applies before you arrive, and receives a decision in a stated 15 working days including Immigration.
• MIDA’s fee is RM1,200 per application plus 8% tax, and Immigration charges RM180 or RM360 for the pass plus a visa fee of RM6 to RM50.

If your employer is an Indian firm and a Malaysian client needs you on site for ten months, this is the pass designed for it. If the work will run past 12 months, the pass cannot be extended, so the assignment needs a different pass — in practice an Employment Pass with a Malaysian employer and the salary floors above.

The Residence Pass-Talent (RP-T)

TalentCorp’s RP-T is a 10-year renewable pass for highly skilled expatriates who already work in Malaysia. Its eligibility page, read on 23 October 2026, sets out the minimum criteria, with approval at the discretion of an RP-T panel:

• three consecutive years in Malaysia on an Employment Pass at the time of application, and a valid Employment Pass with more than three months left;
• a basic monthly salary of RM15,000, excluding allowances and bonuses, and an annual basic of at least RM180,000;
• a Malaysian income-tax file number and tax paid for the last two years at least;
• a PhD, master’s, bachelor’s or diploma from a recognised university, or a recognised professional certificate, and at least five years of work experience.

The benefits page lists the right to live and work in West Malaysia for up to 10 years, the freedom to change employer without renewing the pass, a Dependant Pass for a spouse and children under 18, a one-year renewable Social Visit Pass for parents and older dependants, and — unlike the Employment Pass — work rights for a spouse without an Employment Pass. TalentCorp accepts applications only from the applicant: it states that submissions from agents will not be entertained. An industry chamber’s unofficial update on the 1 September 2024 fee changes put the RP-T processing fee at RM5,000, up from RM2,388, plus 8% tax; confirm the current figure on TalentCorp’s fee page.

RP-T is a second step, not a way in. For an Indian professional the sequence is an offer at RM5,000 or more, three years of Employment Pass tax records, and then — at RM15,000 a month — a pass that frees the spouse to work.

Four more routes let someone live in Malaysia without a Malaysian employer. None is a way to be hired, and each has a condition that excludes most people who search for “jobs in Malaysia”.

DE Rantau Nomad Pass

MDEC’s FAQ, version 10.0 dated 28 August 2026, describes the pass as a type of Professional Visit Pass for foreign digital nomads. You must be a remote worker employed by a company not registered in Malaysia, or a digital freelancer or independent contractor, and earn at least USD24,000 a year in a technology or digital role, or USD60,000 a year in a listed non-technology role such as a founder, finance manager, legal counsel, consultant or technical writer. The pass is open to all nationalities except Israeli citizens; the main holder must be over 18 and the passport valid for more than 14 months. A remote employee needs a contract that began at least three months before the application, three months of payslips and matching bank statements; a freelancer needs contracts, invoices and proof of payment.

The terms to know:

• Length: three to 12 months, with one renewal of up to 12 months, so 24 months at most.
• Where: Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan; a tourist pass cannot be converted into a DE Rantau pass.
• Cost: a non-refundable processing fee of RM1,080 per applicant and RM540 per dependant, including 8% tax, payable on submission whatever the outcome, then Immigration’s RM90 per three months or RM360 a year at endorsement. Where MDEC acts as sponsor, a refundable bond applies; its table lists India at RM750.
• Time: six to eight weeks for a decision once the file is complete, and no appeals against rejections from 1 August 2026.
• Family: a spouse or common-law partner, children under 18 and the holder’s parents may apply; a spouse cannot work on the pass.
• Limits: most Malaysian banks do not accept a Professional Visit Pass to open an account, and a child at school needs a Student Pass obtained through the school.

MDEC’s FAQ adds a warning that matters for Indian applicants: no agent or consultant can guarantee approval. Tax follows the length of stay: its table says a remote worker’s income is not taxed in Malaysia for a stay of up to 60 days but becomes taxable from 61 days, at a rate that follows residence status, so the 182-day test in the tax section matters.

The Malaysia Tech Entrepreneur Programme (MTEP)

MTEP is MDEC’s route for non-Malaysian founders and co-founders of tech businesses. The newest FAQ we could open is version 3.0 of 27 January 2025, and the programme page itself, read on 23 October 2026, shows only a title, so treat the figures as dated. A new entrepreneur signs up with a Malaysia Digital Hub or MRANTI, which sponsors them under a personal bond, and receives a Professional Visit Pass (PVP-MTE) for one year, renewable for one more. An established entrepreneur — more than three years in business with the latest two years of financial records — can apply for a Residence Pass (RP-MTE) for up to five years, renewable for five more, with a spouse who may work. New entrepreneurs cannot bring family. The FAQ lists fees of RM540 on application and, for the new-entrant pass, RM2,160 processing plus RM360 for Immigration, with tax at 6% in that edition. Once the company exists, the founder can apply for Employment Passes for a team, subject to the salary floors.

The Graduate Pass, for those who study in Malaysia

Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) describes the Graduate Pass as a 12-month stay after a bachelor’s degree or higher, with permission to work part-time in permitted job sectors without an employer sponsor. It asks for a valid Student Pass, a passport valid for at least 18 months, health insurance, a Malaysian sponsor earning at least RM1,500 a month and a bond stamped by the tax authority. For Chinese and Indian nationals its page says the arrangement is valid until 31 December 2026 and approvals are case by case, with a good-conduct letter. If you graduate in 2027, ask your university whether the date has been extended; we found no announcement of one.

MM2H, briefly

Malaysia My Second Home, revamped in 2024, is a residence programme and not a job route. The ministry’s overview page (stamped “Last Update: 10/02/2026”) lists a fixed deposit of USD150,000 for Silver, USD500,000 for Gold and USD1,000,000 for Platinum, with a home purchase of RM600,000, RM1 million or RM2 million respectively and a minimum age of 25. Business, investment and career activities are not allowed on Silver and permissible only on Platinum. Nobody should buy a Silver or Gold pass expecting to take a job.

Alongside Employment Pass holders, a large group of Indians works in Malaysia as foreign workers — 106,929 in the Human Resources Ministry’s figures reported in August 2025 — on a Visit Pass (Temporary Employment) for factories, plantations, farms, building sites and a defined list of service jobs. The route is run by the employer, and the worker’s part is to check the agent and refuse any fee.

The rules, from Immigration’s own page

The Immigration Department’s foreign-worker page (in Malay; read 23 October 2026) sets the conditions:

• The job must be in an allowed sector: manufacturing, construction, agriculture, plantation or services.
• The employer needs a quota approval from the One-Stop Centre; the worker must be aged 18 to 45 at application, pass a health check in the source country and not be on the list of persons barred from entry.
• Workers must come from an approved source country. The page lists Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Nepal for all sectors except frozen ones, the Philippines with restrictions for women, and India for services (limited to the sub-sectors of businesses of the Indian community, cleaning and cargo), plantation, agriculture, manufacturing and construction.
• The employer applies online for a Visa With Reference (VDR) through the foreign-worker management system; the worker waits in the home country, enters through a gazetted entry point with the VDR and an entry visa, and the pass is issued after a health screening by a registered FOMEMA clinic within 30 days. The pass lasts 12 months and can be renewed, with the application made three months before expiry.
• For India the page’s fee table lists a visa fee of RM50 and a bond (bank guarantee) of RM750.

MIDA’s English-language page on employing workers lists India differently: services (cooks, wholesale and retail, barber, metal scrap and recycling, textile), construction for fixing high-voltage cable only, and agriculture and plantation. The two official pages do not match, and quota approval is decided case by case, so the sub-sector and the occupation named in the employer’s approval are what count. MIDA’s page also lists annual levies of RM1,850 in manufacturing, construction and services and RM640 in plantation and agriculture in Peninsular Malaysia.

Quotas: closed, then reopened case by case

The government’s ceiling on foreign workers is about 15% of the workforce, with a 10% target; The Edge reported on 12 October 2026 that the goal is 10% by 2030. On 19 August 2025 the Home Minister announced that quota applications were reopened case by case through each sector’s ministry, covering agriculture, plantation and mining; services such as wholesale and retail, warehousing, security, scrap metal, restaurants, laundries, cargo handling and cleaning; construction limited to government projects; and manufacturing limited to new MIDA-approved investments. The multi-tier levy meant to discourage reliance on foreign labour was due in 2026 under the 13th Malaysia Plan and had not, on The Edge’s account, been rolled out by 12 October 2026. We found no 2026 notice that settles whether a given sector’s intake is open, so an agent who promises a visa date for a worker is guessing.

The minimum wage and what a worker is owed

The Minimum Wages Order 2024 set RM1,700 a month, effective 1 February 2025 for employers with five or more employees and 1 August 2025 for all employers, and the government has said it applies to foreign workers. It does not cover domestic workers. Budget 2027, tabled on 9 October 2026, raises it to RM2,000 from June 2027, and The Edge reports that smaller firms with revenue below RM50 million are exempt. A foreign worker also falls under the EPF and PERKESO rules in the tax section.

India’s side: ECR, eMigrate and registered agents

Malaysia is on India’s Emigration Check Required (ECR) list. The High Commission’s page for employers says people with ECR passports going to an ECR country for employment need emigration clearance, while ECR passport holders travelling for other purposes do not. Malaysian employers hiring in India register on the eMigrate portal with the High Commission after approval from the Malaysian authorities, and the High Commission advises workers to approach only registered, active Indian recruiting agents. MEA’s overseas-employment page links a list of active recruiting agents dated 8 April 2026 and an advisory on overcharging and fake overseas jobs. An agent whose name is not on that list is not a registered recruiter, and the High Commission’s advice is to use registered ones only.

Before the cities and the employers, the market they sit in. The 2026 picture has three parts: a lot of approved investment, a stated shortage of specialists, and rules designed to make foreign hiring costlier.

Investment, with the caveat that approved is not built

MIDA’s release of 6 March 2026 puts approved investment in 2025 at RM426.7 billion, up 11.0% on 2024, across 8,390 projects expected to create 244,902 jobs. Services took RM281.3 billion (65.9%) and manufacturing RM131.3 billion (30.8%); manufacturing is projected to create 109,950 jobs and services 134,926. By state, the largest approvals were Johor (RM110.0 billion), Selangor (RM83.9 billion), Kuala Lumpur (RM63.3 billion) and Penang (RM32.9 billion). Information and communication led the sub-sectors with RM152.9 billion, driven by artificial intelligence, big data, data centres and cloud computing, and the electrical and electronics sector recorded RM28.5 billion. MIDA counts approvals; the jobs arrive later, if the projects do.

The talent gap

Reports around SEMICON Southeast Asia in May 2026 repeated the government’s estimate that the industry needs 50,000 skilled engineers against about 5,000 engineering graduates a year, and the National Semiconductor Strategy targets training 60,000 highly skilled engineers by 2030. The Chief Minister of Penang said much the same on 14 August 2026. The figures speak of engineers, not operators, and an engineer with three to ten years in chip design, test or process work is the profile for whom an employer can justify a salary above the Employment Pass floors.

Pay

Hays’ 2026 Asia Salary Guide, which drew 4,012 of its 13,372 respondents from Malaysia and surveyed in October and November 2025, found Malaysia had the highest share of respondents reporting salary rises of 6% or more, at 30%, and reported that top IT professionals in Malaysia earned more than their counterparts in Japan. The salary tables are behind a sign-up form, so we cannot print role figures from it. The next sections use DOSM’s and JobStreet’s published numbers instead.

The squeeze on foreign hiring

Three rules pull the other way: the doubled Employment Pass floors for Categories I and II, the succession plan from 1 January 2027, and a foreign-worker target that is being tightened, with a levy change still pending. For a candidate this means employers will ask harder questions — why this person, who will be trained to replace them, and whether the basic salary clears the line. A candidate who can answer those with a specific skill, a salary above the floor and a local team to train is easier to hire than one who cannot. ESD’s own targets for the pass are short (two to five working days for the application itself, after a Labour Department approval of up to ten), but the job search runs on the employer’s hiring calendar, so keep your current job until the pass is approved and the contract signed.

Malaysian work is concentrated in four places, and an offer is worth more if you know which one it belongs to. Employers named below are ones we could confirm from a dated source; the list is not a register of who is hiring this week.

Kuala Lumpur, the Klang Valley and Cyberjaya

Kuala Lumpur and Selangor together took RM147.2 billion of approved investment in 2025, most of it in services. The Avasant research firm’s chapter on Malaysia in its GCC Economics 2026 report, dated August 2026 and based on a small sample of ten respondents, places global capability centres — IT and digital delivery hubs, shared services and multifunctional centres — in Kuala Lumpur, Cyberjaya and Penang. Cyberjaya, beside Putrajaya, is the planned technology city, and the home of MDEC’s and HASiL’s headquarters; KL Sentral and Mid Valley City are where TCS and Wipro list their offices. The High Commission describes the skilled Indians who come as mostly IT professionals, engineers and doctors. See the Kuala Lumpur guide for neighbourhoods and rents.

Penang, the “Silicon Valley of the East”

Penang approved RM22.4 billion in manufacturing investment in 2025 across 232 projects expected to create 24,633 jobs, according to the Chief Minister’s statement of 10 March 2026, as published by DAP Malaysia; MIDA records its electrical and electronics cluster at 83 projects and RM11.3 billion, 78% of it foreign. Intel’s advanced-packaging complex in Penang is due to begin assembly and testing later in 2026, the Prime Minister said after a briefing with Intel’s chief executive on 16 March 2026. HCLTech says it has a 600-strong team in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. For the pass, remember that a manufacturing company’s Category III band starts at RM7,000. The Penang guide covers George Town and the island.

Johor, the data-centre state

Johor drew the largest state approvals in 2025, RM110.0 billion. In May 2024 its investment exco chairman said eight data centres were operating and ten more in development, and that of RM144 billion of data-centre investment approved nationally, RM90 billion was in Johor; MIDA’s item gave no job count. Data-centre approvals are not the same as engineering vacancies, so ask an employer how many roles it has in Malaysia and where.

The Indian IT firms

All four large Indian IT services companies have a Malaysian presence we could verify, though none publishes a headcount we could check:

• TCS: a Malaysian university careers portal describes Tata Consultancy Services (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd as an MSC-status company serving banking, telecoms, oil and gas, airlines and healthcare clients from Axiata Tower at KL Sentral, established in 2003. A July 2021 trade report said it had listed almost 400 technology roles through the HRD Corp placement centre and hired 100 freshers into its training programme.
• Infosys: Infosys Consulting announced on 15 December 2021 that it would buy Singtel’s Malaysian delivery centre for SGD6 million, as a delivery and sales hub for South East Asia; we found no later headcount.
• Wipro: its locations page lists a Kuala Lumpur office at The Gardens North Tower, Mid Valley City, and in September 2021 it announced a managed-services contract with Maxis.
• HCLTech: its Malaysia page cites 27 years of experience and a 600-strong team in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, with its Kuala Lumpur office at MRANTI Innovation Park in Bukit Jalil.

The wider picture came from Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo at a business forum in Kuala Lumpur reported on 7 February 2026: 80 Indian companies set up under Malaysia Digital status between 2021 and 2026, with RM3.1 billion of approved investment and more than 4,200 high-value jobs, and the Digital Apprenticeship Talent Academy aims to train 5,000 Malaysians inside Indian technology companies by 2026, with 4,608 trained and hired. Read the second figure as a sign that these firms are training and hiring Malaysians in volume; an Indian hire inside one of them will normally need an Employment Pass, or a PVP while still employed in India.

Health and education

Healthcare and education roles need a support letter from the Health or Higher Education ministry before ESD will accept the application, and ESD’s FAQ treats teaching permits and registered practitioner certificates as sector-approved. A foreign doctor needs the Malaysian Medical Council’s registration as well; the degree section below covers it.

Most Indian applicants who succeed are hired for a skill a Malaysian team lacks, through a board, a recruiter or a referral, and with an employer that already knows how to file the pass.

Where to look

• JobStreet (part of SEEK) carries salary ranges that employers disclose on their adverts, which is useful when you are testing an offer against the Employment Pass floors. LinkedIn, Hiredly and Indeed Malaysia are the other large boards, and the company career pages of the firms in the previous section are worth checking directly.
• Recruiters: Michael Page, Robert Walters, Hays and Randstad all run Malaysian offices and handle much mid-to-senior hiring. A recruiter should be paid by the employer, so treat a request for your money as a warning, and note that their 2026 salary guides sit behind sign-up forms.
• Referrals and groups: ask people already in the sector or the team. The events and groups page and the Indian events in Malaysia show where the community meets.
• Xpats Gateway and ESD are employer tools, not job boards. A candidate cannot file for a pass; if a site offers you a login to apply for your own Employment Pass, it is not ESD.

The CV

Keep it to two pages, most recent role first, with results in numbers. Put three facts at the top of the first page because they decide whether anyone can hire you: your nationality and that you will need an Employment Pass, your notice period (Indian notice periods of 60 or 90 days are common; say yours up front and ask whether the team can wait), and your current location. List your degree, university and year in full, because the pass checklist asks for the degree certificate endorsed by a Malaysian mission. Read each advert for language requirements: Malay is the national language, and some roles, particularly customer-facing ones, ask for it.

The expected-salary question

Answer in Malaysian ringgit as a monthly basic salary, since that is the line the pass tests, and know the three thresholds before you answer: RM5,000, RM10,000 and RM20,000. Ask what the employer will treat as allowances. A package of RM7,000 with RM1,800 of allowances is a RM5,200 basic and clears Category III only narrowly; the same package with RM4,800 of allowances does not. Compare offers on basic salary first, then the allowances and bonus, then whether the employer pays for your dependants’ passes at the same time.

What to check in an offer

• The employer is registered with ESD and will file the application itself. Ask which pass category it expects and whether the basic salary clears it.
• The offer letter or contract states the basic monthly salary, the duration, and the position, and the contract will be stamped; the checklist asks for a stamped employment contract.
• There is a named contact in HR or immigration who will handle the application, and a statement that you pay no fee.
• Ask whether the succession plan will name someone you train, since from 1 January 2027 it is required for Categories II and III.
• The employer will tell you the approval timeline and when you should travel. Do not resign, sell a flat or book a one-way ticket before the approval is in your hands; MDEC’s DE Rantau FAQ gives its own applicants the same warning about costs before approval.
• A recruiter’s fee, if any, is the employer’s to pay. Under the Private Employment Agencies Act 1981 an agency that places people in jobs must hold a licence from the Labour Department; the department’s licensing page did not open for us, so ask an agency for its licence number and confirm it with the department.

Interviews and timing

Expect a recruiter screen, one or two rounds with the hiring manager and, for technology roles, a technical test or system-design round, mostly by video. Malaysia is two hours and thirty minutes ahead of India. When you accept, ask the employer’s HR how long the pass will take from signature; a company that cannot answer may not have filed one before.

Malaysia has no single recognition step that every Indian graduate must pass before taking a private-sector job. The Employment Pass checklist asks for something narrower: a certificate that the Malaysian side can trust.

What the Employment Pass application asks for

The checklist for expatriate applications published by the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), the Johor approving agency, says the original degree certificate must be endorsed by the Malaysian embassy, high commission or consulate in the country that issued it, with the endorser’s name, position and stamp; a certificate not in Malay or English can be translated by the Malaysian Institute of Translation and Books, a Malaysian court translator or the Malaysian mission. The application also takes a detailed CV endorsed by an HR manager or above and the job description. Ask your employer’s HR to tell you exactly which copy is needed before you travel to a mission; the checklist is undated, and ESD’s own system may differ.

The roles that need a regulator

The checklist asks for a recommendation letter from the relevant agency for education (the Ministry of Higher Education or Ministry of Education), healthcare (the Ministry of Health), tourism, aviation and construction roles. ESD’s FAQ adds that where a position needs a temporary practising certificate or a permit — its examples are an English-language teacher and an Ayurvedic practitioner — the approval period follows the sector regulator’s endorsement.

Doctors. The Malaysian Medical Council says practitioners must hold a qualification from a recognised institution listed in the Second Schedule of the Medical Act; if a degree is not on the list, the council will not register the doctor even if the documents are verified. Foreign graduates registering for the first time must also have their credentials verified at their own expense through ECFMG’s EPIC or the DataFlow Group. The High Commission’s advisory of July 2026 concerns Indian students seeking admission to medical schools in Malaysia: it says Malaysian regulations do not permit the internship and registration of foreign medical students that India’s National Medical Commission requires before a foreign graduate can be licensed at home, so read the Commission’s rules before paying a fee.

Engineers, accountants, nurses, lawyers and architects. Each has its own register and rules, which we did not research for this guide. Ask the regulator before an offer that depends on a professional title becomes final.

The Malaysian Qualifications Agency

The Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) keeps a register of accredited programmes and runs an individual recognition service, MyRQ, for a RM100 fee. Its form PPK01 is for Malaysian citizens who studied abroad (bachelor’s and diploma programmes) and PPK02 for qualifications obtained in Malaysia, with non-citizens listed under PPK02; both link to the public-service equivalency system. We found nothing that makes MQA a step for an Employment Pass. If a recruiter says you need “MQA equivalence” before you can be hired, ask the employer’s HR to confirm it in writing.

Degrees and experience

ESD’s salary booklet sets no degree level for the three Employment Pass categories — the salary decides — although the application asks for a qualification certificate, and the checklist lists diploma, bachelor’s, master’s and PhD. The Professional Visit Pass guidelines tie seniority to years of experience: three years with a degree, five with a diploma, seven with a certificate. The Residence Pass-Talent asks for a degree, diploma or recognised professional certificate. Keep scanned copies of your degree, transcripts and experience letters; employers ask for them early.

What Malaysians earn

DOSM’s Salaries and Wages Survey 2025, published on 21 September 2026, puts the median monthly salary of Malaysian citizens at RM2,940 and the mean at RM3,803. For skilled workers the median is RM5,057 and the mean RM5,799. By place, the median was RM3,938 in Kuala Lumpur (mean RM4,955), RM3,547 in Selangor and RM4,828 in Putrajaya. Counting citizens and non-citizens together the median was RM2,663. These describe Malaysian citizens (and, in the last figure, non-citizens too), not what an Indian professional is offered. The pass thresholds are a better guide to what an employer must pay a foreign hire: RM5,000 basic at the bottom, RM10,000 for Category II and RM20,000 for Category I.

JobStreet’s October 2026 salary page for a software engineer, built from salary ranges employers disclose on adverts, gives location averages of RM6,250 at Kuala Lumpur Sentral, RM6,000 in Bangsar and RM5,770 at Kuala Lumpur City Centre, with RM5,500 in Johor Bahru district. The page lists its similar roles at a typical RM5,100 for a systems analyst or systems engineer and RM9,750 for a development manager. Those are advertised ranges with thin samples, but the pattern is plain: many software roles in Kuala Lumpur advertise between RM5,000 and RM6,500, which is Category III territory with little room above the floor. The page’s typical figure for a development manager, RM9,750, is just under the Category II line.

The minimum wage

The statutory minimum is RM1,700 a month under the 2024 order and applies to foreign workers; Budget 2027 raises it to RM2,000 from June 2027. It does not bind an Employment Pass employer, whose floor is RM5,000.

Income tax: residents and non-residents

Malaysia taxes on residence. Under Section 7 of the Income Tax Act, you are a tax resident for a year if you are in Malaysia for 182 days or more in the calendar year; a stay shorter than 182 days still counts if it is linked to a 182-day or longer consecutive stay in the year before or after, so a September arrival that runs into the next year can make the arrival year resident. The Inland Revenue Board (HASiL) lists two more tests that turn on a person’s record in the years before or after the year in question. A non-resident pays a flat 30% on taxable income and gets no personal reliefs. HASiL’s 2025 slides also say employment exercised in Malaysia for less than 60 days is not taxable.

Residents pay on a progressive scale. The scale HASiL publishes for the years of assessment 2023, 2024 and 2025 (page updated 26 June 2026) runs from 0% on the first RM5,000 of chargeable income through 1%, 3%, 6%, 11%, 19% and 25% to 26% above RM400,000, 28% above RM600,000 and 30% above RM2,000,000. We found no change published for 2026. On chargeable income — salary after reliefs, which a resident gets and a non-resident does not — the tax is:

The first six months matter. If you arrive early in the year you qualify as resident on day 182; if you arrive late, ask HR or a tax adviser whether the “linked” rule applies. India and Malaysia have a double-taxation agreement, which we did not read for this guide. Check your Indian residential status each year; leaving India for a job in Malaysia usually makes you a non-resident there, but Indian interest, rent and gains stay taxable, so keep your NRE and NRO accounts straight.

EPF, the retirement fund

Since wages for October 2025, EPF contributions are mandatory for non-Malaysian employees with a valid passport and work pass: 2% from the employer and 2% from the employee, excluding domestic servants, according to Bernama’s report of 25 June 2025. Payroll explainers add that permanent residents stay on the Malaysian rates and that employees can choose to contribute at the standard 11% rate through the employer. We could not open the EPF’s own pages, which returned an error, so check the rate and the rules for taking your savings back when you leave Malaysia — payroll explainers say a foreign member can withdraw after employment ends and they leave — with the EPF before you rely on them.

PERKESO (SOCSO)

PERKESO’s foreign-worker page lists three schemes for workers with a valid passport and a work pass, and an employment pass is named as a valid pass. The employment-injury scheme (from 1 January 2019) is paid by the employer at 1.25%. The invalidity scheme (from 1 July 2024) takes 0.5% from the employer and 0.5% from the worker. The non-employment injury scheme, Lindung 24 Jam (from 1 June 2026), takes 0.75% from the worker in its first phase, rising to 1.00% in years three to five and 1.25% from year six. That makes 1.75% for the employer and 1.25% for the worker in total. The government said on 9 July 2026 that Lindung 24 Jam is voluntary for Malaysian employees but remains mandatory for foreign workers.

What an Employment Pass holder can bring

ESD’s booklet sets out the family passes. An Employment Pass holder can apply for a Dependant Pass for a spouse and for children under 18, and for a Long-Term Social Visit Pass for parents, parents-in-law, children aged 18 to 25 and a common-law spouse. The employer applies through its ESD account, the pass lasts as long as the principal pass, and if a family member’s passport expires sooner the shorter date applies. MYXpats’ fee for a Dependant Pass application is RM500 plus 8% tax from 1 September 2024.

Category III and the 1 June 2026 change

Until 1 June 2026 a Category III holder could not bring dependants. For applications from that date they can, and can apply for the Social Visit Pass for parents and parents-in-law, according to MDEC’s 2026 FAQ. A Category III pass issued before 1 June 2026 stays under the old rule, which allowed no dependants, until it is renewed under the new policy, ESD’s FAQ says. Existing dependant passes remain valid until they expire. If a holder’s category changes at renewal, a later dependant application follows the new category. Because the old Employment Pass page still carries the older RM5,000 wording, confirm in writing what the employer’s current ESD account allows.

Can my spouse work?

Not on a Dependant Pass. ESD’s Dependant Pass page says an applicant who wants to work must apply for an Employment Pass, and MDEC’s 2026 FAQ says dependant and spouse-related pass holders may not work under that pass; anyone who wants a job needs an appropriate employment pass. A spouse with a job offer needs an employer who will file for a pass of their own, with the same salary floors. The exceptions come from other passes:

• RP-T: TalentCorp lists work rights for a spouse without an Employment Pass.
• RP-MTE (the established founder’s residence pass): MDEC’s January 2025 FAQ says the spouse may work.
• DE Rantau: the spouse may not work.
• PVP: no Dependant Pass is available at all.

We found no official statement on whether a Dependant Pass holder may work remotely for an employer outside Malaysia. Do not assume it is allowed; ask the Immigration Department or MYXpats helpdesk (03-7839 7171) and keep the answer in writing.

Parents, children and schools

Parents come on the Long-Term Social Visit Pass, and it is a visit pass: ESD says anyone who wants to work must apply for an Employment Pass. For children, the RP-T benefits page says its dependants under 18 may study at primary and secondary level in Malaysia, and MDEC’s DE Rantau FAQ says a child at school needs a Student Pass obtained through the school; ask the school which pass it needs for the child of an Employment Pass holder. For housing and schools, see the Kuala Lumpur guide.

A budget check

RM5,000 a month is above the RM3,938 citizen median that DOSM reports for Kuala Lumpur, but a family on one income should price a tenancy, school fees and medical cover before accepting; the Kuala Lumpur guide has the rents. A second income, which means a pass of the spouse’s own, changes the sum. Ask how the employer’s medical cover treats dependants before you accept.

Changing jobs

An Employment Pass is tied to the employer named on it. ESD’s page says an expatriate who changes company must resubmit an application, and the new employer’s application is assessed under the policy of the day, including the new floors and, from 1 January 2027, a succession plan for Categories II and III. The maximum duration restarts with the new employer. Do not resign until the new approval is in your hands; MDEC’s FAQ says an expatriate does not have to leave Malaysia solely because the category changes, but the old pass must be cancelled or shortened first. Keep three months of expenses.

The Residence Pass-Talent after three years

The route to something longer than an Employment Pass is the RP-T described earlier: three consecutive years on an EP, a basic salary of RM15,000 a month and tax paid for two years. For a Category III holder at RM5,000 that gap is a three-fold rise in pay, so it is a goal for a career, not a promise.

Permanent residence

The Immigration Department’s page describes the Entry Permit as a facility for a foreign national to enter and live in Malaysia legally without a time limit, which can be revoked if its conditions are broken. It lists four application categories: the wife, the husband or the child under 18 of a Malaysian citizen, and “Fully Foreign National”. The eligibility rules and assessment criteria are in a guideline e-book that we could not open, so this page quotes none and cannot say what weight any factor carries. Treat any agent who quotes a probability or a processing time as guessing.

Citizenship

Naturalisation is under Article 19 of the Federal Constitution. The Federal Government may grant a certificate to an applicant aged 21 or over who has resided in the Federation for the required periods and intends to stay, is of good character and has an adequate knowledge of the Malay language. The National Registration Department’s page for the application sets the residence requirement at 10 years within the 12 years before applying, including the 12 months immediately before, and asks for two citizen referees aged 21 or over, a completed Form C and an appearance before the Registrar. The page lists a registration fee of RM10 and, if approved, a RM300 certificate fee for someone who was not in the Federation on Merdeka Day, and its list of applicant’s documents includes an entry permit. Approval is discretionary.

Dual citizenship, OCI and the High Commission

Neither country offers dual citizenship. Article 24 of the Malaysian Constitution lets the Federal Government deprive a citizen who acquires another country’s citizenship by a voluntary and formal act, and India does not let an adult keep Indian citizenship after taking another. MEA says OCI is a life-long, multiple-entry visa for India and parity with non-resident Indians in many financial and education matters, but is not dual citizenship and gives no political rights. It is open to people of Indian origin who were Indian citizens, or eligible to be, on or after 26 January 1950, with exclusions for current or former Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals. In Malaysia the High Commission of India handles OCI itself: its press release of 17 June 2025 says OCI services are not outsourced, while passports and most consular services moved to IVS Global Services’ Indian Consular Application Centres from 1 July 2025.

Moving on

If Malaysia does not work out, the same search with different thresholds is in the Singapore jobs guide (a salary floor that rises with age and a points test), the UAE guide, the UK guide, the Germany guide, the Canada guide, the US guide and the Japan guide.

Three different frauds share one search term. One sells a Malaysian job that does not exist; one sells a tourist entry as a work route; one recruits Indians for “jobs” in Southeast Asia that turn out to be forced labour in scam compounds. The first two target people who want Malaysia; the third works through recruiters in India, Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore, according to the Indian Embassy in Cambodia.

The visa-free trap

Indian passport holders can enter for up to 30 days without a visa for tourism and social visits, an arrangement reported as running to 31 December 2026; we found no announcement extending it. The High Commission’s advisory of 22 September 2026 is unambiguous: there is a noticeable rise in Indians using the facility to seek work, many are misled by unscrupulous agents with false job promises, and the outcome is overstay, illegal status, exploitation, detention and legal action. Genuine visitors should carry a confirmed return ticket, a hotel booking, a passport valid for six months and proof of the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card submitted three days before arrival. Gulf News reported on 29 August 2025 that up to 10 Indians were refused entry at Kuala Lumpur airport in early June 2025, the officers citing insufficient funds, weak proof of accommodation and doubts about the return ticket.

Enforcement is real. The Immigration Department’s director-general said on 12 March 2026 that between 1 January and 9 March 2026 officers arrested 9,497 foreign nationals in 2,618 operations; 1,158 were held under Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963 for breaching the conditions of their passes, 482 of them for misusing social visit passes. The penalties are detention, prosecution and deportation. The nationalities with the most such arrests were Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, China and Pakistan, so India was not in the top five; the High Commission’s warning is about the trend.

False pass and “approval” offers

• “Employment Pass in two weeks, for a fee.” The employer files for the pass through its own ESD account; MDEC’s DE Rantau FAQ says no third party can guarantee approval; TalentCorp accepts RP-T applications only from the applicant. A real employer pays the fee and tells you its pass category.
• The offer with no company you can check. Ask for the company’s registered name, the ESD company registration, the expected pass category, the basic salary and a named HR contact. Never send a passport scan to a recruiter who has not given you a contract.
• The “job on a business or tourist visa.” There is no such door: the High Commission’s advice is to travel for work only with a work permit or a visa with reference.
• Foreign-worker agents. For quota jobs, the High Commission advises using only registered, active Indian recruiting agents; MEA publishes a list of them (the latest we found is dated 8 April 2026), and the High Commission’s labour pages carry a page headed “Beware of unscrupulous agents”.
• Fake officials. The High Commission warns that its emergency number, +60 12 602 0360, has been spoofed by scammers who call people about immigration problems; the mission says it makes no calls from it. Treat any such call as suspect and check with the general line, +60 3 4024 0990, in office hours.

Task scams

Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department reported 8,484 police reports of fraudulent part-time job offers in the period to 14 December 2025, 146% more than a year earlier, with losses of RM202.58 million against RM118.83 million. The pattern police described is online: social media and messaging apps, offers of high returns for a little work, and requests for advance payments or transfers to named accounts. A work pass covers one employer, so a paid “side task” can cost you the pass as well as the money.

The jobs that end in scam compounds

The Ministry of External Affairs told Parliament, in a written reply reported on 6 February 2026, that 6,998 Indians had been rescued from cybercrime centres in Cambodia (2,533), Laos (2,297) and Myanmar (2,168) between 2022 and 2025. An earlier reply, reported in December 2025, gave 6,720 and said more Indians may still be trapped, many of whom travelled through unauthorised agents and illegal channels. The Indian Embassy in Cambodia’s advisory, reported in May 2024, described fake posts for “digital sales and marketing executives” and “customer support” at firms tied to call-centre and crypto fraud, recruiters in Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore and India who use a simple interview and a typing test, promises of high salaries and visa help, and victims lured into Laos via Thailand and held in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone; a visa on arrival does not allow work there. The Embassy repeated in October 2024 that Indians should be extremely cautious about job offers in Cambodia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, especially ones from suspicious agents or social media. If any recruiter, in Malaysia or elsewhere, offers a job in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar or on the Thai border, treat it as the same scheme.

If you are caught up in one

Do not pay again to “release” a pass. Contact the High Commission (general line in office hours, emergency WhatsApp outside them), keep screenshots of messages, report a Malaysian scam to the police on 999 for emergencies or at a police station, and tell your bank at once if you transferred money.

Before you fly

Hold the approval in writing and travel on the entry document your employer names; for Indian nationals the High Commission’s advice is a work permit or a visa with reference. Submit the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card online three days before arrival. Keep a copy of the approval letter, your degree and your employment contract in the same folder where family can reach them.

On arrival

A new entrant’s pass is endorsed and the i-KAD card issued at the Expatriate Services Centre at KLIA Terminal 1 or 2 on arrival, according to ESD’s process chart; ESD issues the i-KAD to Employment Pass holders only. Ask your employer’s immigration contact to arrange the appointment and what to carry on the first day. For a bank account, ask your employer’s payroll bank which documents it needs before you queue. Get a local SIM for the first weeks and keep your Indian number alive for bank codes.

The High Commission and the passport centres

The High Commission of India is at Level 1, Wisma HRIH Lotus, 442 Jalan Pahang, Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, open on weekdays from 9:00 to 17:30. Passports, visas and most consular services are lodged at an Indian Consular Application Centre run by IVS Global Services since 1 July 2025, with centres in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh, Melaka, Johor Bahru and Kota Kinabalu; the Kuala Lumpur centre is at Level 12-2, Menara Sentral Vista, Brickfields, and appointments open on a 30-day rolling system. Tatkal passports need the High Commission’s approval first. OCI is handled at the High Commission itself. Renew your passport before you apply for a pass: the application checklist asks for 12 months’ validity.

Where the community helps

The Indians in Malaysia page shows the events, local groups and Indian businesses on the platform. The places of worship that newcomers use first are described in the Malaysia temples guide. The Indian events in Malaysia page lists what is on, from festivals to concerts and networking evenings. The city guides for Kuala Lumpur and Penang have housing, health and school detail.

What to do in the first month

Go to one festival, one temple, gurdwara or association event, and one professional meetup, even if you are not religious or social: that is where people trade the information no website has — which agents are real, which landlords rent to foreigners, which teams sponsor passes. Answer the next newcomer’s question the way someone answered yours, and report a scam to the group the day you spot it.