LETTER | Open letter to Ismail Sabri on non-citizen spouses, children

LETTER | Malaysians married to foreign spouses gladly welcome the statement of senior minister (security cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob during a press conference on May 28.

He stated: “Foreigners staying with family members who are Malaysians can stay in the country as long as they wish, or return to their home countries. For those keen to stay longer, they need to renew their visa online under the department’s online appointment application.”

However, since May 29, Malaysians who had appointments visited various state Immigration departments with their spouses and were dismayed to hear there were no changes to the process. Those with a social visit pass were told they still have to leave the country 14 days from when the movement control order (MCO) is lifted. Non-citizen spouses and children of Malaysians were also not allowed to submit new applications for long-term social visit passes (LTSVP) during this time.

A foreign husband of a Malaysian says, “My wife is currently undergoing treatment for uterine cancer and I need to be here to care for her. I need to be able to apply for an LTSVP or at least have my visa renewed.”

Respectfully, we would like to inform the minister that these cases are not involving tourists but husbands, wives, and children of Malaysians who are being forced to separate from their families in Malaysia for no good reason.

During normal circumstances, most Malaysians with foreign spouses were used to doing what is termed a "visa run" to a neighbouring country due to a bureaucratic process that does not allow the renewal of tourist/social visit passes of non-citizen spouses and citizens.

Should this become an option once the MCO is lifted, it would bring with it a heightened risk of infection, not only for spouses but also to their family members upon their return. Additionally, there is also uncertainty as to when these spouses and children will be allowed to return to Malaysia once they leave the country.

Malaysians and their spouses are also very concerned that they are unable to secure booking for appointments until September 2020 for many immigration departments such as those in Johor Bahru and Shah Alam.

A foreign wife of a Malaysian whose visa is expiring soon and is unable to secure an appointment at Shah Alam immigration says, “I need to renew my visa as it is expiring soon and my pregnancy is due in August. The booking seems fully booked until September 2. It is going to be challenging for me to secure an appointment and do the renewal soon after my delivery. I feel hopeless now and I really do not know what to do.”

We appreciate the government recognises that the well-being of a healthy family is in their togetherness. In this, we welcome Ismail Sabri's statement that interstate travel will be allowed from June 1 for married couples. Similarly, we also look forward to foreign spouses and children stranded across national borders being allowed to return to Malaysia in the best interest of Malaysian families, while observing the mandatory 14-day quarantine on a self-paying basis.

Furthermore, foreign spouses of Chinese and Nigerian nationalities are only allowed to renew their visas at the immigration office in Putrajaya. We wish to know if Malaysians married to Chinese and Nigerian nationals will be allowed interstate travel.

The situation is stark in cases where pregnant women are unable to return to Malaysia, those undergoing pregnancy alone in Malaysia, children who are stranded overseas, as well as families who have to care for elderly adults and those with medical conditions. Many have reported suffering from trauma and heightened stress.

A Malaysian woman whose husband is stranded overseas says, “I am eight months pregnant, living with senior citizen parents who are 80 and 74 years old while caring for my son. I really need my husband to be here by my side as I’m delivering soon and I don’t even know who is going to drive me to the hospital in case of emergency. I feel depressed.”

Annually, there are 100,000 Malaysians marrying non-citizens and the challenges mentioned above may be impacting a large population of Malaysians and their families, hence calls for a critical need to review policies and laws, and the adoption of temporary special measures to address their immediate needs during this Covid-19 pandemic.

We would like to end on a positive note by extending our heartfelt gratitude to the ministries and frontliners for all the sacrifices and efforts taken in effectively flattening the curve of the Covid-19 outbreak. We especially applaud the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their efforts to repatriate Malaysian citizens and their families from overseas safely.

Bina Ramanand and Melinda Anne Sharlini are co-founder/lead coordinator and program officer of the Foreign Spouses Support Group (FSSG).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.