PETALING JAYA: Foreign spouses of citizens will now only have to wait three years before being eligible to apply for permanent residency (PR), down from the earlier five-year requirement.
The points-based assessment system for PR applications, which many applicants had found to be confusing and difficult, has also been scrapped.
In a statement, the home ministry said it would take six months to process new PR applications.
It added that foreign spouses married to locals for at least three years must also have held a long-term social visit pass (LTSVP) for at least one year before being eligible to apply for PR.
“These initiatives will begin no later than Sept 31,” said the ministry.
The government had previously said reforms were under way to make the application for PR status for foreign spouses better and more streamlined by the third quarter of this year.
The Foreign Spouses Support Group recently reported a surge in complaints over the points-based PR application system.
It expressed concern over the lack of information on the points-based system, saying no official information was available on the immigration department’s portal.
Applicants had to score around 40 points to apply, but approval remained at the ministry’s discretion.
The ministry said the approval would now be based on factors such as the length of marriage and the number of children the couple have together.
It added that the new measures reflected its commitment in supporting the family institution and ensuring that policies were fair and efficient for all parties.
