Scalpers thrive on long queues to process migrant applications

Long queues at immigration centres are nothing new but in recent times, scalpers and small-time syndicates have sprung up to take advantage of those desperate to avoid a long wait.

Checks by Malaysiakini at the PKNS Complex Shah Alam on two days last week revealed that many hopeful applicants start queuing at several entrances as early as 6.30am. 

When the entrances opened at 7.30am, there was a considerable melee as the crowd numbering in the hundreds rushes towards the Immigration Department.

Because the demand is so substantial, many of those waiting do not even manage to get a number to have their application attended to.

Many people who were waiting in line shared that they had been there for several days because each of the processes required different numbers and they had to come back on other days if there was a full house.

“On Monday, I already came here for the application for my company. On Wednesday, I needed to settle the special pass stamp and today I needed to settle the payment,” said Nora, a female representative of a Klang Valley-based company.

Network of scalpers 

While some just accept the situation and resolve to return another day, an illegal network of scalpers has sprung up to meet this unexpected demand.

A Malaysiakini reporter who posed as an applicant wanting to renew a work permit for migrant workers was told that an “additional payment” of RM100 to scalpers on the premises would facilitate the application.

“You need to pay some money (to get the number). He (the scalper) said RM100 but needed to ask him personally,” an employer waiting in line told our reporter.

When our reporter was introduced to the scalper, they confirmed in hushed tones that they would be able to speed up the process for a fee.

However, they started asking probing questions about the application and quickly became suspicious of the reporter.

Those who come to the foreign workers’ unit are either local employers of foreign workers or company representatives. 

Quotas contribute to the delay

It is understood that there are daily quotas for each process at the foreign workers’ unit.

“The application quota is probably 200, payment quota is 200, maid quota is 200, and so on. If you are still queuing at 9am, you can just go home,” Nora told us.

“Two days ago, I didn’t get the number so I went back home.

“Yesterday, I came here early but there was some documentation missing and when I went back home to get it, they did not want to attend to me anymore,” said another company representative.

One of those present claimed that the scalpers seemed to have an understanding with the immigration officers at the counter.

As an example, when an employer was asking for a form to report a domestic worker had run away, they were asked to take a number and go to the back of the line.

But at the same time, a scalper came to the counter bypassing the entire queue, and immediately got a number.

That was at 2pm, after those who were queueing had been told that the numbers had finished. 

Not all who wait in line are willing to pay the fees.

“If you do not want to wait, you need to run in the morning when they (PKNS staff) open the entrance,” said another employer.

Scalpers must have ‘connections’

Those at the complex complained that the scalper situation arose because the processing of applicants took too long.

They questioned why there was a lack of immigration officers and open counters despite the long queues.

They also speculated that the scalpers must have “connections” to bypass the system because the correct practice was that each queue number comes stapled with specific documents.

A restaurant owner complained the queue was very slow, with the officers sometimes leaving the payment counters unattended.

“I don’t understand why they ask me to come here just for the payment when I can just do online transactions,” he said. 

“After you take the number, you can grab a bite and lepak a bit because it’s going to take some time,” another employer told the Malaysiakini reporter.

We observed that some counters moved fast, processing around 40 applications in two hours, but another counter processed just 17 in that time.

Malaysiakini is reaching out to the Immigration Department for a response to this matter. - Mkini