Early dismissal leaves fourteen days to leave the country, however much time the permit still had to run.
Malaysia readily hires foreigners, but only through an employer and only as temporary residents. Applications are online and the family can come along: since June 2026 the Dependant Pass is open to all three categories, and a spouse can work through an immigration endorsement without switching passes. There is no address registration and no integration course; pass holders open bank accounts routinely, but in person, with an employer letter and a minimum deposit of RM 250-2,000.
Status is fragile. The pass is tied to the company named on it: changing jobs means the full process again, including a newly approved post. If employment ends early you get 14 days to leave, however long the pass had left; a special pass of up to 30 days for RM 100 is discretionary and allows neither work nor a change of status. Decisions cannot be challenged on the merits in court, and overstaying risks a detention depot and an entry ban.
Rules change for people already living there: the June 2026 reform applies to renewals, so a Category III holder earning RM 4,000 will fail the new threshold at renewal. While a renewal is pending you may stay on an expired pass but may not work.
Mass raids in 2025-2026 (over 130,000 arrests, over 92,000 removals) target irregular migrants. But by 31 May 2026, 2,324 people holding valid passes, mostly visit passes, had been detained for "misuse of passes". We found no pressure on Employment Pass holders.
Settling for good is nearly impossible: permanent residence is granted at discretion and rarely, and citizenship requires 10 of 12 years, Malay and giving up your previous citizenship. Foreign children get into state schools only if there are places, with approval and for a fee, so most attend international schools.
The index score ignores nationality. This is what changes for citizens of specific countries.
No visa needed for a short visit. To work, the same route as everyone: an approved pass and a Visa With Reference (VDR).
The DE Rantau nomad pass is issued to them only against a guarantee from a Malaysian bank.
No visa needed for a short visit. To work, the same route as everyone: an approved pass and a Visa With Reference (VDR).
No visa needed for a short visit: neither country is on the Immigration Department's list of visa-required nationalities. When we checked, we found no nationality restrictions on the Employment Pass route; to work, as most foreigners, you need a Visa With Reference (VDR) based on an approved pass.
The place interval 78-91 shows where the country lands when the data is nudged and the index is recalculated. One place of difference in the table means nothing; a difference of a league means something.
The thin mark on each bar is the average across 97 countries
The strongest category here is Settling in: 80 out of 100, against a 97-state average of 69.5. The weakest is Path to citizenship: 7 against 57.1. Above the world average: 2 out of 7.
All 97 states are calculated for one applicant: 35 years old, income of $2,500 and $3,856 a month before tax, passport not counted, the most accessible route that is actually in use.
Your passport, your income and your family do not change the table. They change which of its lines apply to you. A different income makes entry read differently, a family makes the family category read differently, and your passport makes everything read differently.
The service standard is 5 working days for a complete application; in practice usually 1-3 weeks, sometimes over 6. Before that the employer spends 2-4 weeks registering and getting the post approved.
Not for local work: the Employment Pass is issued only through an employer. Remote workers can use the DE Rantau nomad pass for up to 24 months, but it does not allow work for a Malaysian company and does not lead to permanent residence.
An application charge of RM 2,160 including tax, then RM 200 a year for the pass and RM 125 processing, plus a visa fee depending on nationality. A family member: RM 540 to apply, RM 90 a year and RM 50 processing.
If employment ends early you get 14 days to leave, however long the pass had left. A special pass of up to 30 days is discretionary and allows neither work nor a change of status.
You can formally apply for permanent residence after 5 years, but the decision is entirely discretionary and approvals are rare. Citizenship after 10 of 12 years; dual citizenship is banned.
Foreign professionals are hired, but as temporary residents: status depends on the employer, dismissal means 14 days to leave, and the 2026 thresholds apply to renewals too. Raids target irregular migrants, but people holding valid passes have also been detained for breaching their conditions.
97 states, 26 indicators, seven categories, 2,522 scores. Every score has a source and a source class: primary means the texts of laws and government portals; reliable secondary means reports by international organisations, tax reviews by audit firms and specialist legal publications; weak means community posts and single secondary sources. The classes add up to a confidence level for the country, and a country with low confidence gets neither a score nor a place.
Every indicator is scored against a fixed ruler, not against its neighbours. Adding new countries therefore does not move the old ones, and a change in a score means a change in policy and nothing else.
A high place does not mean a good country. It means one thing: the state machine treats newcomers predictably and by the rules. Living there may be expensive, dull or hot; that is not our question.
Checked 01/10/2026. Facts come from the country's index card and official websites.
We make mistakes and we will go on making them: policy changes faster than any database. Our answer is not a pose of infallibility but a visible trail of corrections. Every correction is published: what it was, what it became, the source and the reason for the error. The corrections log opens with the second issue, together with the first block of changes.