Need to look into high visa service charges
Published on: Friday, September 04, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: The Finance Ministry needs to look into the issue of high service charges being imposed by the one-stop centre for Malaysian visas in China, said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz."How can a private company doing outsourced work get more money than the Government?" said Nazri on Thursday.Tourism Malaysia Chairman Wee Choo Keong, in a blog post Thursday, said Chinese tourists had to pay a RMB80 (RM53) visa application fee to the Malaysian Government, and another RMB120 (RM79) in service fees to SPPV One Stop Centre.
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However, Nazri said outsourcing was necessary due to China's size."If we (only) have our consulates giving consular services in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, it is going to be a little difficult," said Nazri.He added that with the implementation of temporary social visit passes or a visa-free period for 15 days beginning October, Chinese tourists would not need to pay any visa fees."These one-stop centres cannot charge them," said Nazri, but added that other categories of travellers such as students still required visas.
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"Those coming in for other reasons need visas and can use the one-stop centres," said Nazri.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
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Currently, visa-free travel will only be granted to groups of 20 tourists or more.
