SHAH ALAM: Employers have been given three months to complete the legalisation process for foreign workers under the Workforce Recalibration Programme (WRP) 2.0.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the legalisation process of foreign workers will enable the Immigration Department to examine the legality of employers and foreign workers.
He said action would be taken against employers who fail to comply within the period under Section 55B, Section 55E and Section 56(1)(d) of the Immigration Act 1959 and 1963.
"The process will allow us to see whether or not the employers are registered under the Companies Commission of Malaysia and whether these foreign workers have overstayed.
"Following this, the employers must also complete the process and bring their workers as they need to use certain systems such as the biometric system.
"This will also allow us to automatically assess whether this is their (foreign worker), whether it's his or her first time in the country and others," he said during a press conference on WRP 2.0 at the Selangor Immigration Department, today.
In attendance were Home Ministry secretary-general Ruji Ubi and Immigration Department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin said a total of 1.1 million foreign workers have been registered under the programme, which ended on Dec 31, last year.
WRP 2.0 started last year, with some 518,000 undocumented migrants issued new work permits and channelled into the manufacturing, construction, farming, agriculture and services sectors.
WRP 1.0 which ran from Nov 2020 to Dec 2022, meanwhile, saw 418,649 undocumented migrants registered, involving 30,137 employers.
At the same time, Saifuddin added that his ministry will also discuss with the Human Resource Ministry on fulfilling the remaining 400,000 quotas of foreign workers in the country.
This, he said, was because Malaysia currently has two million legal foreign workers with a cap ceiling of 2.4 million by 2025.
"We have a deficit of 400,000 and that is a huge number. Hence, this is why we are waiting for the legalisation process to be fulfilled.
"Once filled, we will enter the next process and will discuss with the Human Resources Ministry on Jan 16.
"We are also prepared to face the possibilities if the quota for foreign workers is not met," he said, adding that the ministry will focus on sectors experiencing insufficient manpower such as the plantation, economy, construction as well as services.