Malaysia’s Visa Policy for International Students; Fetching or Repelling

The emergence of globalization and internationalization dimensions in the educational industry boosts the students’ mobility trends. A speedy and cost effective visa process is imperative to attract and retain international students. The current study aims to evaluate the Malaysian visa policies and implications on international students and investigate their experiences. A total of 20 respondents were interviewed in the present study. Cost and visa processing time, visa renewal process, and health insurance were found key concerned challenges for international students. The findings revealed that the international students are anxious with the new visa system implemented by the government of Malaysia and viewed it as costly and time-taken process. In contrast, international students enrolled through old visa process disclosed the better experiences regarding visa implications. Health insurance has reported as a burden and considered ineffective by majority of the respondents. The study laid emphasis on simplifying immigration policies and time and cost effective visa services for international students to upsurge the inbound mobility

Keywords:

International students , visa policies , immigration , cost effective