THE Immigration Department today unveiled two visa facilities – eVISA and the eVISA Communications Centre (eVCOMM) – to facilitate tourist and visitor arrivals.

The prime minister said at the launch Immigration carried out important responsibilities to ensure that the security and sovereignty of the nation was well-guarded and preserved at all times from possible external threats in today’s borderless world.

The immigration services also played a very critical role in welcoming and facilitating the entry of genuine foreign visitors and travellers to Malaysia – from holiday-goers to investors as well as students, Najib Razak said.

Commenting on the eVISA programme, Najib said it was an online facility which was user-friendly that would enable international tourists and students to get a Malaysian visa in 48 hours without having to go to the embassies or consulates.

“The eVisa programme is not only capable of taking the country to a higher level of security but will also help promote Malaysia as a country which is safer for the people, tourists and business community.”

He said the government implemented the eVISA for nationals from China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Serbia and Montenegro in March last year under which they could apply for an online visa from any part of the world.

Commending the Immigration Department’s strategy to set up the eVISA regional hub, Najib said through the eight hubs in the programme, it could play an important role in facilitating applications for and approvals of the eVISA.

“This initiative will indirectly open up new opportunities with an estimated more than 100 million diaspora from 10 countries throughout the world who will be enjoy the eVISA facility,” he said.

At the event, Najib announced the opening of two more eVISA regional hubs in Brasilia, Brazil and Moscow, Russia by year-end.

He said the two hubs would facilitate the application for and approval of eVISA applications for people from 10 countries in South America, Eastern Europe and Middle East.

Najib said during his visits to China and India, he received proposals to facilitate the process for the entry of tourists from both these countries into Malaysia.

He added that this led to the visa-less programme, which is more commonly known as eNTRI (electronic travel registration and information) and eVISA (multiple entry).

Based on statistics from Tourism Malaysia, he said between March last year and April this year, there was an increase of 284,606 and 323,173 tourists from China who applied for the eVISA and eNTRI.

“This year, we are targeting three million tourists from the country of the Great Wall who will visit Malaysia.

“At the same time, applications for visas from Indian nationals also increased by 91.1%, from 36,442 which were approved in March last year to 69,635 visas approved in April this year,” he said. – Bernama, August 15, 2017.