SHAH ALAM: Employers of illegal foreign workers in Malaysia will now be allowed to apply for a temporary Enforcement Card (E-Card) to address labour shortages in the country, the Immigration Department announced today.

“The government made this decision to register all employers who hire foreign workers to address labour shortages in several key economic sectors,” said Immigration Malaysia director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali.

The card will give these workers a one-year extension in the country and will act as a temporary validation for workers before they get their appropriate legal documents from their respective countries or embassies.

“The registration will begin on Feb 15 at all of our offices in the peninsula and state Immigration departments,” he told a press conference after visiting its Shah Alam headquarters at Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam today.

“The registration is free and we will only give them a one-year extension, that’s all, after that we will have to take action if they do not secure a legal status here,” he said.

He said employers must be present with their employees when applying for the E-card and warned employers against applying through middlemen or agents.

“The employers have to register their foreign workers with the necessary documentation and it will take two days to process,” he said.

He estimated that 400,000 to 600,000 foreign workers will turn up to register under the programme.