VOA Abolished As Existing Rules Adequate

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- The government abolished the Visa Arrival (VOA) effective Aug 16 as existing regulations are sufficient to manage the entry of foreigners, said Immigration director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman. He said tourists from countries that were required to apply for visas must do so while for those exempted from visas, existing rules applied. "The situation is still the same, it is not something new as before we introduced the VOA, the rules were the same," he told a news conference on the VOA here Monday.

In related development, he said the i-Visa system was introduced in India five or six months ago to facilitate the entry of Indian travellers to Malaysia. Intended travellers need to apply for visas online to the Immigration Department before their applications are processed by the Malaysian High Commission in New Delhi within 24 hours, he added. As for China, he said the i-Visa arrangement was still awaiting approval from the Chinese government. He said India and China were chosen for the implementation of i-Visa as they were the top tourist markets for Malaysia.