Federal Act · Situational

§ File · Legislation Pillar 03 · Education

Immigration Act 1959/63

IMMIGRATION ACT 1959/63

AKTA IMIGRESEN 1959/63 - (TIADA TEKS BAHASA KEBANGSAAN)

Act 155 · consolidated to 1 Jan 2006 · 69 pp

Socio-economic rights

This copy of the Act is 20 years old. Any amendment made since 1 January 2006 is not in this text. Check the AGC record for later amendments.

Why it matters

What this does to artists

Foreign artists performing in Malaysia and Malaysian artists hosting them. A performance is work, so a social visit pass is the wrong pass, and the correct route is a Professional Visit Pass with PUSPAL clearance for foreign performers.

Watch this

PUSPAL approval is a separate administrative gate under the Ministry of Communications and is usually the binding constraint on timelines, not the pass itself.

Start here

What to read first

Section numbers read out of the AGC text itself

s.5Entry into or departure from Malaysia

s.9Director General’s power to prohibit entry, or cancel any Pass or Permit

s.8Prohibited immigrants

s.56Offences

s.55BEmploying a person who is not in possession of a valid Pass

In practice

Where this one bites

Scenario

DJ a club night

You are playing other people's recordings to a paying room. Three separate licences, one venue licence, a stat…

Scenario

Shoot and screen a film or documentary

Approval is the gate, a FINAS licence is the price of admission, and possession alone is an offence.…

Scenario

Bring a foreign artist into Malaysia

Two gates, one tax, and the administrative one is the constraint on your timeline.…

Full arrangement of sections 89 sections · show / hide

Extracted from the AGC PDF on this page.

s.1Short title and application

s.3Appointment and powers of Director General and others

s.4Power of Minister to issue directions

s.5Entry into or departure from Malaysia

s.6Control of entry into Malaysia

s.7Right of entry

s.8Prohibited immigrants

s.9Director General’s power to prohibit entry, or cancel any Pass or Permit

s.9ADirector General’s power to limit entry into Malaysia

s.10Entry Permits

s.12Endorsement of name of wife and children on Permits, Passes and Certificates

s.13Power to make inquiries

s.14Cancellation of, and declarations regarding Permits and Certificates

s.15Unlawful entry or presence in Malaysia

s.16Immigration signal

s.17Vessel to proceed to Immigration Anchorage or other place ordered by immigration officer

s.18Aircraft arriving in Malaysia

s.19Persons not to board or leave vessel until examination completed

s.20Prohibition on disembarking from or boarding ships without permission of immigration officer

s.21Prohibition of removal of articles before examination

s.22Production of certain lists and persons by masters of vessels and captains of aircraft

s.23(Omitted)

s.23A(Omitted)

s.24Examination of persons arriving by sea or at authorized airport

s.25(Omitted)

s.26Examination of persons entering Malaysia by land or at a place other than an authorized airport

s.27Power to send person to depot for further examination

s.28Interrogation of travellers

s.30Immigration officer may give instructions to prevent evasion of examination

s.31Removal of prohibited immigrants from Malaysia

s.32Removal of illegal immigrants

s.33Removal of persons unlawfully remaining in Malaysia

s.34Detention of persons ordered to be removed

s.35Power to arrest person liable to removal

s.36Unlawful return after removal

s.38Performance of duties of immigration officers

s.39Authority of immigration officer to arrest and prosecute

s.39AImmigration officer’s powers to make inquiries, etc

s.40Power to summon witnesses, etc

s.40AAdmissibility of deposition of person who cannot be found

s.41Duty of police officers to execute orders

s.42Restriction of discharge of member of crew

s.43Signing on or bringing as one of the crew any person with intent to land contrary to this Act

s.44Security to prevent unlawful landing

s.45Reports as to persons failing to continue their journey

s.46Repatriation

s.47Masters, captains, owners, etc., liable for expenses

s.48Obligation to afford free passage

s.48ALiability for removal

s.49Power to detain vessel

s.49APower to seize, detain and forfeit vessels, vehicles or aircraft

s.50Powers of interrogation

s.51Powers of search and arrest

s.51AImmigration depot

s.51BCustody deemed lawful

s.52Registration of particulars for purposes of identification

s.53Counterfoils, etc., to be prima facie evidence

s.54Regulations

s.55Power to exempt

s.55AConveying a person to Malaysia contrary to this Act

s.55BEmploying a person who is not in possession of a valid Pass

s.55CDefence

s.55DForgery or alteration of endorsement or document

s.55EOccupier not to permit illegal immigrant to enter or remain at premises

s.56Offences

s.57General penalty

s.58Trial of offences

s.58APower to compound

s.59Exclusion of right to be heard

s.59AExclusion of judicial review

s.59BDefinitions of “Director General” and “order” in sections 59 and 59A

s.59CReward

s.60Repeal and saving

s.63Delegation of powers

s.64Application of immigration law to each East Malaysian State as separate unit

s.65General powers of State authority

s.66Restriction on citizen’s right of entry into an East Malaysian State

s.67Right to enter East Malaysian State for exercise of political rights

s.68Right to enter East Malaysian State for purposes of Federal Government

s.69Entry from outside East Malaysia for State purposes

s.70Temporary protection for potential citizens in an East Malaysian State

s.71Persons to be treated as belonging to East Malaysian State

s.72Travel documents required

s.73Provision for internal travel documents

s.74Continuation of State subsidiary legislation

s.11(Deleted by Act A985). Endorsement of name of wife and children on Permits, Passes and Certificates

s.29(Deleted by Act A719). Immigration officer may give instructions to prevent evasion of examination

s.37(Deleted by Act 27 of 1963)

s.61(Deleted by Act 27 of 1963)

Made under it

Subsidiary legislation

PUSPALPUSPAL

Full text

Read the law

PDF · 0.1 MB · hosted by ALIM

English text

Open the full text →

Source of record · lom.agc.gov.my/act-detail.php?act=155&lang=BI

Who this reaches

Visual artsMusicFilm & TVPerforming artsLiterature, writing & publishingFashion & craftDigital & mediaMuseum & archivingContent creationEverything else

Important notice

This page is published by ALIM (Art × Law Initiative Malaysia) as general legal information for Malaysia’s creative communities. It is not legal advice. It does not take your circumstances into account, and reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship with ALIM or with anyone associated with it.

The law changes. Each Act reproduced here is the Attorney General’s Chambers’ consolidated reprint and carries the date it was consolidated to; amendments made after that date do not appear in the text, and the authoritative version of any Malaysian law is the one published in the Federal Gazette. Subsidiary legislation, state enactments and local authority by-laws may also apply to your situation and are largely outside this library.

Please do not act, or decide not to act, on the strength of this page alone. Take advice from an advocate and solicitor on your own facts. To the extent permitted by law, ALIM and its contributors accept no liability for any loss arising from reliance on this page.

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