Sunday, February 19, 2012

Renewal of Maid's Passport at indonesian Embassy Kuala Lumpur

Not surprisingly, most employers of Indonesian maids in Malaysia prefer to do their passport extension on their own given the fact that it may cost to the tune of RM 600 if an agent's services are engaged.
This writeup is intended to provide guidance to prospective employers based on the blogger's personal experience. It covers the ideal steps one should take but in case you omit or overlook any of the steps, I have attempted to provide alternatives so that your visit to the Embassy is less memorable for all the right reasons.
Firstly, prior to your planned visit to the Embassy at Jalan Tun Razak, purchase your maid's insurance for accidental death, disablity, medical and repartriation from an approved agent eg. Pos Malaysia for RM 85 for 2 years. Make 2 photocopies of the cover note. Also make 2 copies each of the maid's passport (all pages) and employer's I/C.
It is advisable to arrive at the embassy early, if possible before 7am. However pls take note the car park at what was previously 'A Passage To India Restaurant' only opens around 7.10am. Fee is Rm12. If you can't wait, proceed to the next car park, Sun Car Park (believe it a service apartment/ condo) ,just before the Kuwait Embassy. Fee is RM3 per hour. After you have parked, the first thing you should do is get the insurance done in case you haven't purchased it earlier. A Great Eastern agent is located at the exit gate of the car park and the cost of insurance is RM 85. You shud also do all the photostating here in case you forgot that too. Don't be unduly worried about the long queues outside the gate.. It is a common sight every morning. Join the queue at the gate next to the car park. Once you are inside you'll notice there are separate queues for males and females. Frequently, the gate is closed once the male queue is long. You can use the gate closer to Kuwaiti Embassy, then proceed back to the other entrance where your maid can join the female queue which is normally relatively short. This queue will take your maid to a desk where the forms can be collected which are 3 copies of contract and one copy of passport application form. Fill up the contract forms to be signed by the employer and the maid. The info required is straight forward. Leave the witnesses space blank as it will be filled up by the embassy officials. Remember to insert a minimum wage of RM 600. The passport application form is also straight forward which your maid has to sign. Once you are done with the forms, hand them all to your maid and get her to join another queue on the left hand side to collect the queue number tab.
Once she had collected the queue number tab, get her to join the final queue which will take her into the processing room. So remember there are 3 queues, first to pick up forms, second to collect queue number tab and third to enter the processing room. At first sight you may not be able to differentiate the queues but trust me you'll eventually get it right. You need to bear a little with the seemingly disorganized surrounding.
It shouldn't take your maid more than an hour and 20 minutes from the time of arrival to get into the processing room. So if u arrive at 7am, she shud be inside by 8.20. Once she enters the room, her photograph is taken and she can then be seated. It is also about this time, the room side doors are opened and the employers can join their maids inside. The room is comfortable with decent seats and air-con. The processing counters only opens at 9.00 am. My maid's queue tab was 37 and she was called to the counter at about 9.45am. It took about 5 minutes for the officer to check the documents and collect a fee of RM 18. She then waited another hour or so before being called to another counter for a short interview. Here the officer confirmed her wages and info about her next of kin and address in Indonesia. She was then asked to proceed outside to wait for her passport to be issued. The waiting area is a covered space with seats but without air cond. It took an hour more for her name to be called and she finally got her passport at 12 noon.


We were pleasantly surprised that the validity of the passport has been increased from 3 years to 5 years the plus side being one need not go thru the hassle for at least 4 years.


We proceeded to Shah Alam immigration office at Kompleks PKNS (depending on where your reporting centre is) and arrived around 1.00pm. Took us about 45 minutes to get the work permit. The counter staff was helpful and they also verified the maid's info required under the 6P program. The permit now cost Rm 495 including multiple entry visa and processing fee. No need for any medical from FOMEMA if your maid has been with you for more than 3 years. (refer to the work permit affixed on the passport - the digit at the top right will indicate how many years). I was back in Klang by 2pm, reasonably satisfied that I achieved what I set out to do, albeit a little inconvenience.


By the way if your maid is planning to return to Indonesia for a short holiday, you no longer need an exit letter from the Embassy to facilitate her return. Just write out a letter in Bahasa Indonesia that your maid is returning home for a short holiday and request the authorities there to facilitate her return to Malaysia. A copy of the employer's IC should accompany the letter. Tell your maid to produce the letter in case anyone asks at the airport.


Good luck to you should you decide to embark on a mission to renew your maid's passport and hopefully, like mine, it is not a memorable experience.





5 comments:

melliebaby said...

Thank you! Very informative! Just what I was looking for.

Lam Tat said...

If maid passport expires i only in may next year and the permit anniversary is in July,, what do you suggest,,,, renew passport first or else you don get one year permit or. How

Care to advise. Anyone. Please

Sharina said...

Thank you!!! This is very helpful information!!

Phuisee said...

Can I buy the insurance from the agent outside the embassy?

maharishii said...


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