VisaMalaysia’s Indian visa exemption still lists a 31 December 2026 deadline
Current immigration guidance separates the Indian visa-exemption deadline, Malaysia Digital Arrival Card submission and the visit pass that determines lawful activities and stay.
Official source date: 2026-10-29
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Treat the published exemption end date as a planning deadline
Malaysia’s Immigration Department continues to list Indian citizens as visa-exempt until 31 December 2026 on its country-requirements page. Travellers planning year-end or early-2027 journeys should check that page again before departure. This is a deadline follow-up on the existing arrangement, not an announcement of a new extension or a guarantee that the facility will continue next year.
The published end date concerns the exemption itself. It should not be treated as a promise about a particular traveller’s allowed stay, or as permission for employment or study. A journey involving arrival after 31 December needs confirmation under whatever rules apply then. The reviewed page does not confirm a further extension. Check the actual arrival date as well as the date a ticket or hotel was purchased.
Check nationality, document and purpose separately
The same Immigration Department resource lists visa-required nationalities including Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepalese and Sri Lankan citizens. Some listed countries are restricted to entry by air. It also identifies separate requirements for travel documents such as certificates of identity. A rule for an ordinary Indian passport should not be assumed to cover a different nationality or a non-standard travel document.
Use the country page for the visa question, then the department’s Short Term Social Visit Pass page for the intended activity. The pass guidance includes tourism, visiting relatives, meetings, conferences, business discussions and certain specified professional visits. Those listed purposes do not create a general employment permission. Confirm the proper work, study or other category before travel where the planned activity goes beyond the stated visitor purposes.
Complete the arrival card and retain the entry record
The Malaysia Digital Arrival Card, MDAC, is a separate pre-arrival step. The official MDAC portal provides registration instructions and eligibility infographics. The UK government’s current Malaysia entry resource tells British travellers to submit the card before travel, because airlines may request it at check-in. It says travellers who do not pass through immigration do not need an arrival card and directs readers to Malaysia’s portal for other exemptions.
An MDAC submission should not be treated as a visa or an immigration pass. For British citizen passport holders, the UK resource describes ordinary tourist admission without a visa, normally for ninety days; that statement should not be transferred to Indian or other passports. Keep the passport’s actual entry endorsement and authorised stay accessible. A digital arrival record and a hotel booking do not independently determine when the visitor must leave.
Understand when a visit-pass extension may be considered
The Short Term Social Visit Pass guidance describes extensions on special consideration, with illness, an accident or war in the home country among its examples. Applicants must provide evidence and a confirmed return ticket to their home country or a third country. A wish to continue an ordinary holiday is not identified as an automatic basis for additional time.
The department requires an in-person application with the passport, Form IMM.55, relevant supporting documents and the stated onward-travel evidence. Where the onward destination requires a visa, the document list calls for that visa as well as the ticket. Assemble the evidence while the current pass remains valid and seek instructions promptly if circumstances change; do not assume submitting a request guarantees approval.
Use the official form to establish the dates and requested period
Form IMM.55 asks for the present entry date, current pass expiry, requested extension period and reasons. It also requests the Malaysian address, travel-document details and any visa granted before arrival. Complete those fields from the passport and existing permission, rather than substituting the visa-exemption programme’s end date for the individual pass expiry. The form instructs applicants to complete it in duplicate.
The reviewed visitor-extension instructions do not publish a fixed charge or assured decision time, so confirm those points with Immigration for the actual case. For British passport holders, the UK entry guidance also specifies six months’ passport validity after arrival. When visiting Sabah or Sarawak from Peninsular Malaysia, carry the passport for the separate immigration checks and obtain the required stamps. The practical sequence is to check the nationality rule, complete any required arrival card, and track the specific pass expiry.
