I am Planning to move to malaysia

arsalbaig wrote:

i am planning to move to KUL kindly let me know about the following, cost of living? job ratios for student and survival for expats.

Please read through the many informative posts in the forum category section for information.

Yes, you can get a lot of information from the Cost of Living section.

Ratio of jobs for students is about zero, as it is only permitted for a student to work for 20 hours per week in semester breaks of 7 days or more. There are a limited number of sectors in which they can work as well.The are in the service industry e.g. F&B, convenience stores, petrol stations.

But as all of these are in limited supply, the chances of getting work for those 20hrs when it is not continuous is only going to be possible by networking with people who may be leaving. It is not possible to convert to a foreign worker pass from a student pass without having a break of at least 3-6 months and returning home in that period.

So it is not even worth considering it as a possibility. You would also find that there are very few people from Pakistan who get jobs, as there is a much larger percentage of Bangladeshi, and of course they pass the jobs around amongst themselves.

The requirements to study in Malaysia are that you can show proof of funds amounting to USD 5,000, as well as paying the annual fees in advance.  Also to be noted is the immigration and police raid the colleges regularly to check up on the students and that they are attending their courses. They also stop people in the street and check out their status and what they are doing, if they should be at their College at that time of day. They also stop people at night, if they thing they are working illegally.

Dont know what you mean about "survival".

I meant that i will be travelling with 1 dependent, so will she be able to find job easily or is it tough for her as well.

If the ratio of job is zero so how students are surviving there without jobs, and can you tell me how much money would be enough for 2 persons/month including every basic necessities

Your rent would be at least RM1-1.5k per month for a one roomed apartment. Dependents of students cannot work. You need at least RM3k per month for 2 people.  You are supposed to be able to support yourself and show proof of USD5k per annum to get your visa renewed. Malaysia does not have a policy which supports student employment. That is because it clashes with the foreign worker category. You either come to study or come as a FW.

Can i ask where are you from? and where are you currently i mean in which country??

Why? Im a long term resident in Malaysia and have foreign worker and student friends. So I guess you think I dont know what I am talking about?

If you did some more research you would be able to find all this out for yourself.  If you dont like what you hear, then check it out for yourself.

Everyone has the same idea - come the Malasia on a student pass and work here for evermore. Sorry, it just does not happen that way and the immigration controls are getting tougher all the time. As soon as people start to misuse a system, there is a huge crackdown.

Immigration raid places where "students" typically work illegally and they put them into detention centres from where they get deported if they are breaking the rules.

By the way what is "KUL" apart from the designation for the airport in KL?

No No pal, i think you took it wrong, i asked it because i met few people who were telling me that there are jobs for students in Malaysia, that's why i asked that if you are a Malaysian resident so i can take some help from you.

Basically it is illegal to work while you are on a student visa apart from in the semester breaks. If you get caught you will be put in a detention centre and deported. That is the reality.

The other side of the coin is if you get stopped for any reason whatsosever, make sure you have several hundred RM on you at all times.....

so how can i use your help?? what now i am supposed to do??

The choice is yours. Study or Work. Consider your wife in this all, as well.

I also have to tell you that there are additional charges all the time which the colleges charge for all sorts of things, like permit renewals which cost as much as RM4k as they rip you off. So there are hidden costs to consider.

As you have no-one to complain to, if you are breaking the rule, some of the dodgy colleges take full advantage of that.

And for the job what i have to do, lets suppose if need a job so on what process i have go through.

Foreign Worker permit. Minimum age 18, maximum age 45. No minimum salary requirement. Typical salary will be about RM 900-1400 per month. First you need to find a job and get the employer to make an offer and process the permit at your cost (including medical - blood test and chest xray).

The first part of the permit  is done while you are in your home or current country and only after approval are you permitted to enter Malaysia. 

You can read about it here

http://www.imi.gov.my/index.php/en/main … ign-worker

The only problem is you cant bring a dependent on that permit.

so can't we both apply for a work permit? or if can apply a work permit on my student visa? do you have any contacts regarding this thing

You  need a university degree, two years relevant experience and a miinimum salary of RM5k per month to get a work permit (called an employment pass) and of course a job offer.

Foreign workers just work in a few areas in very low paid jobs. You need a job offer to apply for this.

The employer makes the application in both cases.

oh ok so that's a hard nut to crack, thanks a lot anyways for sharing your experience

hey hi again,
do you know anything regarding thailand or cambodia???

Not a lot. There are some jobs in the F&B industry, but getting fewer, especially in the resorts as all the beach bars have been removed and the Thai's need to find new working venues. Most of the workers I have seen have been from Cambodia and from the Philippines. With less holiday makers going to Thailand (apart from Bangkok) its not the ideal time there. You dont want to break any rules in Thailand as they lock you up and threw away the key, unless you have money for legal representation.

Why not go to the Thailand Expat-Blog Forum and see what is on there. Since the Army took over, there is a strong move to reduce the number of foreigners in Thailand.