Malaysia joins Thailand, Sri Lanka to allow visa-free entry to Indians

Malaysia is set to scrap entry visa requirements for citizens of China and India starting December 1, announced the country’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, on Sunday. This decision follows a similar visa waiver implemented by Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Under this new policy, Chinese and Indian nationals will enjoy a visa-free stay of up to 30 days, subject to security screening, said the Malaysian Prime Minister in his speech during the People’s Justice Party’s annual congress, according to Bloomberg. 

This decision aligns with Malaysia's strategic move to boost economic growth by attracting additional tourists and their spending, said the report. 

Currently, Indian citizens are eligible for a visa-on-arrival in Malaysia, provided they are arriving from Thailand, Indonesia, or Singapore. The conditions for obtaining visa-on-arrival also include having a valid visa for any of these transit countries and confirmed return tickets to India. Malaysia offers various types of visas for Indians, including the eNTRI Visa, E-Visa, and Transit Pass, each serving different purposes and durations of stay.

As per the Bloomberg report, Anwar had earlier outlined plans to enhance visa facilities in the coming year, specifically targeting tourists and investors, with a particular focus on those from India and China.

Notably, China on November 30 announced that citizens from six countries, including Malaysia, will be permitted to enter China without a visa, effective from December 1 and lasting until November 30 of the following year. Travellers from these nations can stay in China for up to 15 days without a visa.

Thailand has also lifted visa requirements for visitors from India and Taiwan. Indians can travel to Thailand without a visa and stay for up to 30 days. This visa-free access for Indian passport holders is applicable from November 10, 2023, to May 10, 2024.

Similarly, Sri Lanka has introduced a visa-free entry initiative for visitors from India and six other countries, encompassing China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand.

According to the latest Passport Index by Henley and Partners 2023, Indian passport holders can travel to up to 57 countries without a visa. This includes countries providing facilities like visa-free travel, visa-on-arrival facilities and Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). 

Other countries that allow Indian passport holders visa-free travel include Bhutan, Hong Kong, Barbados Fiji, Micronesia, Niue, Vanuatu, Oman, Qatar, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Kazakhstan, Macao (SAR China), Nepal, Senegal and Tunisia.

The latest entries to the list, Sri Lanka and Thailand, earlier provided visa-on-arrival facilities to Indian citizens. 

Visa-on-arrival facilities for Indian visitors are offered by Maldives, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau Islands, Tuvalu, Iran, Jordan, St. Lucia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Timor-Leste, Bolivia, Burundi, Cape Verde Islands, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo and Zimbabwe. 

With inputs from Agencies