Employment pass cancellation

Hi Folks,

I am working in Malaysia for past 3.5 months on Employment pass, due to some personal reasons I am moving back to India on short notice. Kindly help me with below questions.

1) Do I need to cancel my EP before I leave to india.
2) Do I need to settle my tax with my company and tax department in Malaysia before I leave or can I do it later also?
3) will the immigration catch hold of me , if I don't get a tax clearance statement while departing to india ( because I have to leave india soon on personal grounds and cannot afford to stay till I get tax clearance statement)
4) what else should I collect from my employer before go back?
5) any possibilities to cancel EP from india?

Please reply me as I am in very urgent situation.

1) Do I need to cancel my EP before I leave to india.

It's your employers liability.

2) Do I need to settle my tax with my company and tax department in Malaysia before I leave or can I do it later also?

Your tax should be PAYE so deduction at source. Get and keep your final salary slip.

3) will the immigration catch hold of me , if I don't get a tax clearance statement while departing to india ( because I have to leave india soon on personal grounds and cannot afford to stay till I get tax clearance

Why does immigration need to know?

4) what else should I collect from my employer before go back?

Salary slip, your tax number etc

5) any possibilities to cancel EP from india?

See 1 above

Sorry but I disagree with what is written above.

1. Your company should cancel your EP because you have a tax liability until it is done so and that could affect any earnings you have in India. You will be reported by the company if you just leave. This will result in a blacklisting.

2. You should have had 25% deduction from your salary as you are non tax resident so there should be no additional tax to pay or no refund. If this is not the case you owe HASIL money.

3. It depends. If they see your EP cancelled but no letter regarding tax clearance they could stop you are the airport and make you stay to settle your tax. Immigration and Tax databases were linked from February this year.

4. Just keep all your documents.

5.As the pass is actually physically cancelled in your passport you cant easily do it from India. Theoretically there may be a possibility to courier your passport back to Malaysia for the cancellation. Don't know how cooperative your employer will be as they need to do that. They must be annoyed at the cost you have incurred for them as well.

Suggest you try and do as much as possible by the book and not to break rules, because it would not be good to be blacklisted here. At the end of the day your employer can advise on how quickly they could cancel the EP - it should only take 1-2 days if they use an agent or attend immigration themselves with your passport.

Check your employment contract to see if there are any penalties for resigning. e.g. they may say you have to give 3 months notice so you will also be liable for tax during that period. Tax clearance will include you paying that amount of money to HASIL via your company or direct to get clearance.

If you are breaking a lease, you are also responsible for the sum total of the rent you agreed e.g. if you took on a place for 1 year at RM2k per month you owe the landlord RM18k i.e. 9 months promised rental. The landlord could sue you if you don't pay this.

Any contract you may have entered (e.g. phone, internet) which you do not fulfil will potentially result in a court summons. You could end up with a Police record which will affect your for many years, if not always.

okay i understood.

How much time will take to clear tax things?

Your HR can tell you how long to cancel EP and you can see from your payslip if you have correctly been paying 25% tax for not - hopefully you have as that makes it easier.

Thanks for your valuable information.

One additional point is that if you are blacklisted you wont to able to get another employment pass in Malaysia in the near future. Also, if you do try to return to work here, in any event the current pass if uncancelled now will have to be cancelled anyway. You are also beholden to your current employer to issue you a NOC letter i.e. no objection to cancellation and new application if this is attempted within the current validity. So do think carefully about your future, if you see it in Malaysia.

okay i will do it. if i have any issues or help i will update you.

Thanks for valuable informations.

If we leave a week prior to employment pass expiry date will it affect our any further visa applications to Malaysia?  Pls advise

No - but you do need to do your income tax clearance, otherwise you will probably be stopped at the airport as you wont have exit clearance from HASIL

There my be a cooling off period of three months if on a EP Category III and any future recruitment would need Stage I to be completed while outside Malaysia.

dear friend how can i check our visa permit status i mean i m working in compNy and i m sick some days before and i m not  attend our work so my HR told me we are cancel your permit and now i m working in our company but i want to check our visa/permit so any one help me....

My situation is more or less the same. My EP is valid till the end of this year. and I will resign and go back to my home country by the end of this March however my kids need to finish their school so they will stay here till June. I will do a tax clearance prior to my resignation but would like to keep my EP to at least remain valid till June. would that be possible to have EP remain valid but do the tax clearance? or it should be done at the same time?

Not really possible, because the EP is directly linked to your Job. So if you resign then the company must cancel the EP so they can recruit again your job position again (or continue to use their quota in another way).

There is an issue if your kids are on DPs and not Student Visas - as DPs are also linked to your EP.

Thanks Gravitas for the response. I am surely need to ask and beg for company`s mercy hoping they`re willing to cancel my EP by June only (although I resign at the end of this March) to allow my kids continue their study here for another 4 months, otherwise my kids will need to off from here as well and comeback under the tourist visa, bit more efforts on this.

I am just worried that they will make a problem or possibly blacklisted me if they find out my tax clearance is done before my EP is cancelled. That`s why i wanted to ask whether it is possible to have the EP remains valid after the tax clearance has been done? or it should be done at the same time?

The kids can't study under a tourist visa anyway. You probably need to change their DP for a Student Visa for the rest of the time they are studying.

You shouldn't use the EP to enter or remain if you have given up your job. Do remember the Tax and Immigration databases are linked these days.  That is why they stop people at the airport who have not done their tax clearance.

The company should not offer to keep your EP open after you resign. BUT you could ask when they shorten your EP, that they request immigration grant you an exception, because of the kids, so that your exit date is after schools ends.

In any event, when shortening an EP you would have to provide your flight ticket details.

Hi Gravitas,

Thanks for the updates, its helpful. I have a similar query as in the main subject.
I have been employed in Malaysia  on contract for 1 year EP for past 20 days (got my 1st  month salary also) and due to some medical emergency, need to travel back to my country and I cannot return to continue my employment here.

Can I simply inform my employer leave the country without serving notice and pursue a job at my home country?
What are the risks involved? considering I might not come back to Malaysia again ( so is it ok to be blacklisted?) or is there any risk?
Can I not able to travel to any other countries in future?
The landlord can forfeit the rental deposit or he has rights to sue me?

Am I in some big trouble?

Thanks in Advance.

Firstly regarding your rental agreement. If it does not have a break clause detailing the terms for breaking the agreement you would still be responsible for 11 more months of rent. So check the wording.

Best solution is to resign and get your employer to cancel your work permit so you leave cleanly.

Hi Folks,

I resigned from current company (02-April-2019), i am currently serving the Notice until 24-May-2019.

My current company gave the tax clearance until (31-May-2019).

But they are telling they don't want to cancel my Visa, which is valid until (02-June-2020)

i am going to India due to health issue , i may not able to come back to Malaysia until 31-jun-2020

my employer saying that, you let your employee visa expiry no need to cancel, as you don't enter Malaysian no issue.

My concern is it legal to keep visa even thought we are not working.

After visa expiry can i apply for dependent visa ?

in future if i want to work/ i get new job, will i be able to apply new employee visa.

even thought i am not working do i need pay any tax.

whom i need to seek the help to cancel my visa. as my current company has block my number, so i can't contact them

they don't reply for my email.

if possible any one help me with the above query's

The employer is legally bound to cancel the employment pass and can be fined for not doing this.

If it is not cancelled you are in a difficult position because you cannot enter Malaysia as once you leave employment the EP is no longer legally valid as it is linked to the particular job you now hold until 24th May.

Immigration and tax office have linked databases. You will have no earnings so no tax will be due

You will be blocked from applying for any other job while the current EP remains uncancelled.

This type of nonsense is a kind of punishment for breaking your contract. 

The company might also blacklist you by reporting to immigration (in lieu of cancellation of the EP) They will just say that you have abandoned your position. Then forget about working in Malaysia for several years

Only the company can cancel the EP.

Suggest you email them asking to cancel which will require proof of your flight back to India. Cancellation of EPs is done free of charge by immigration but if you are feeling generous offer to pay their expenses to do the cancellation ie if they will use an agent to do it. The freedom might be worth it

A DP application requires a valid EP so if you manage to get another job after June 2020 and the salary is high enough (currently 5k) your new company could apply for a DP

Thank you for valuable reply.

Any idea how to check you are in blacklisted


I tried to compline in the emigration of Malaysia they told you settle with your company we cannot help it


I tried all ways of negotiations they seems to be don't want to cancel my visa


I am very help less don't know what to do now

The only blacklist that is available online is for Malaysian citizens.

Unfortunately you will have to wait until next year and start applying for jobs if you want to return. By that stage your EP will have expired.

As you don't plan to return anyway until 2020 I suggest you will have to just sit it out and get on with your life.

Worst case scenario is when you are selected for another job immigration reject the application. But keep all correspondence safe about not being able to get the company to cancel your EP so you are in a position to appeal if problems arise.

If you don't have much in writing send a detailed email to the company outlining every step taken to comply with the immigration requirements. That way you will have a written record (cc yourself and anyone else relevant)

Just don't return to Malaysia until the current EP has expired. If you do use an invalid Pass all hell will let loose

Hi i just wants to ask what happens if the employer filed a police report against you? Will this affect your visa applications to other countries as well? And is police report a criminal offence?

Hi Gravitas,

I received my tax clearance last week, there are 2 amounts to be paid


  1. Amount to be remitted by the employer from the withheld last salary of employee.
  2. Amount to be paid by the taxpayer.


I have settled item #2 which my part as tax payer.

Now, my flight is on Oct 21, 2022 going to germany and my employer will remit the remaining tax balance by Nov2022.


Would there be any issue or would i be stopped by airport authorities to exit malaysia because of tye unsettled tax balance from my employer?


thanks! appreciate your fast response.

@kirannattu


  1. You ought to can cancel your Employment Pass before you leave. You need to send in your passport and a copy of the airticket showing the flight that you are leaving.
  2. You need to pay your tax before leaving so as to avoid complications in future
  3. Your rate of tax could be around 35% of the total sum that you have received.
  4. Cancellation cannot be done after you have left Malaysia.
  5. Cancellation is not encouraged to be done in India.

@Peter Chong

Hi Peter. You seem really knowledgeable on such EP issues and I was just hoping to get some advice from you regarding our situation.


My husband was recently laid off by Dell Tech Malaysia. The departure was poorly handled by Dell

Due to their payroll oversight, they deducted double the amount of taxes that they should be paying to Hasil. We are asking them to return that money to us before we submit our passport. However, in a large organization such as Dell Tech, nobody wants to own any responsibility for their error. So the issue is still ongoing. In the meantime, their HR immigration is harassing us with threats to go to the police claiming that we're “uncooperative” because we are not willing to hand over our passports for EP cancellation. We worry that once we hand over the passports that, we have to leave Malaysia right away and would not be able to collect the remaining pay and or any tax refund from Hasil.

What would you do in this situation?


Thanks so much.

@Gravitas

hi


  1. I have worked in Malaysia for two and half months but somehow my company  in Malaysia deducted all taxable amounts about 30% of of my salary. I left the country without notice and I do join in another company in another country. But the company HR threatening me that going to be police case and consequently going to blocklist my passport. Please explain me how to get rid of it.

@Gravitas

I have worked in Malaysia for two and half months but somehow my company in Malaysia deducted all taxable amounts about 30% of of my salary. I left the country without notice and I do join in another company in another country. But the company HR threatening me that going to be police case and consequently going to blocklist my passport. Please explain me how to get rid of it.

Hello,

I have worked in Malaysia and left 2021 March.

I left company during MCO and  there was no physical cancellation initiated to my EP upon leaving due to government restrictions.


I am currently proceeding visa with my new employer and worried if my new visa will be rejected.

I request my previous company to cancel in online last few month ago after my valid visa expiry date.


Is there any solutions or documents that I would need to prepare?

I did received proper tax clearance letter from Hasil.


Thank you for your advice in advance.

Hello everyone,


I am in a situation where my ex-employer promised me by email that they will cancel my visa/ep once I leave Malaysia and they only require my exit stamp. I exit Malaysia on 20th of November and provided them with my exit stamp.


They only did soft cancellation I mean uploaded my exit stamp to MDEC portal and confirmed me that my visa has been cancelled.

But when my new employer applied for my new EP, MDEC made comments that my physical visa is still valid until 15th of March and I must cancel my physical pass before proceed further.

When I contacted back my old-employer they rejected to cancel my EP and threatening me that they will make sure that I lose the new job.


I did everything according to the agreement and as per their instructions. But now they are not helping me at all. What can I do to cancel my physical visa ???


BTW I have already received my TAX Clearance Letter but my old employer holding my Salary too.