Sponsors to foot 50 pct of hotel quarantine costs for homebound graduating students

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said students abroad who are returning to Malaysia after completing their studies will have their sponsors foot 50 percent of their hotel quarantine costs.

The other 50 percent costs will be borne by the government, which is the case for all Malaysians returning from overseas.

“The meeting today has decided that students who have completed their studies, who are forced to return to Malaysia and are being sponsored by government agencies or by the Public Service Department (PSD), their hotel costs must be borne by their sponsors.

“So parents do not need to worry if their children have finished their studies and are returning home.

“Even though they still have to undergo the 14-day quarantine, now their costs will be settled half by their sponsors and the other half by the government,” Ismail said in his daily press briefing on the Covid-19 situation in the country.

Meanwhile, he also said the government will not take action against foreign workers in Malaysia whose visas have expired.

This is as immigration offices have been closed since the start of the movement control order (MCO) which made it impossible for them to renew their visas.

Under the conditional MCO now, Ismail said foreign workers with expired visas have two options.

The first option is for those who wish to return to their home countries to simply do so by showing their valid flight tickets home at the airport.

“When they arrive at the airport, they must show their flight ticket to return. We will let them go (home) even if their visa is expired,” Ismail said.

The second option is for foreign workers to apply online to make an appointment with the immigration office in order to renew their visas since he said immigration offices are now reopening under the conditional MCO.

“Make an application to set an appointment so the immigration can set a date for them to go.

“There is no need to wait, just straight away renew their visas and they can go back whenever they feel like returning to their home countries,” he said.

The same rules apply to foreigners who are here in Malaysia on social visitors’ passes which have since expired, he said. - Mkini