The Malaysia visa from Pakistan
Malaysia
The short answer. A Pakistani passport needs a visa for Malaysia. Malaysia also requires every arriving traveller to complete a digital arrival card shortly before landing, which is a separate thing from the visa and is the step families most often miss because nobody told them it existed.
Malaysia is the easy first trip to the Far East, and for a lot of Pakistani families it is exactly that: Kuala Lumpur, Genting, perhaps Langkawi, halal food everywhere without having to ask, and English widely spoken.
The visa, and the thing that is not the visa
Two separate steps, and they are confused constantly.
The visa is the permission to travel, applied for before you leave, decided by Malaysia.
The arrival card is a short online declaration every traveller fills in within a few days of arriving, giving the flight, the dates and where you are staying. It is free, it takes minutes, and it is not optional. Having a valid visa and no arrival card is a problem at the counter in Kuala Lumpur, and it is a problem that happens to people who thought the agent had done everything.
We do it for you with the rest of the booking. If you are travelling with somebody else's arrangement, ask them specifically whether the arrival card is included, by name.
What the file wants
The ordinary shape of a visitor file, in Malaysia's terms:
- Passport with the validity and blank pages required on the day.
- Photographs to specification.
- Confirmed return flights and hotel bookings for the whole stay.
- Bank statements, usually recent months, showing you can support the trip.
- Employment or business papers.
- For a family, the children's documents and the relationship evidence.
Malaysia is one of the more straightforward applications on this page, which is precisely why people get casual about it and then arrive without the arrival card.
Malaysia and Singapore on one trip
The classic itinerary pairs them, and it is a good trip: Kuala Lumpur, Genting, then across to Singapore for a few nights.
They are two countries and two separate permissions. Singapore's requirements for a Pakistani passport are their own and are not satisfied by anything Malaysia issues. If Singapore is in your plan, say so at the start, because the Singapore side is the one that needs the longer runway.
Both are on the tours page, separately and together.
Is Malaysia visa free for Pakistanis?
No. There is a great deal written online suggesting it is, usually written about a different nationality or out of date. A Pakistani passport needs permission to enter Malaysia, and you should not board a flight on the basis of a blog post.
What is the digital arrival card, exactly?
An online form every arriving traveller completes shortly before arrival, giving flight details, dates and the address you are staying at. It is free and separate from the visa. Missing it is the most common avoidable problem on a Malaysian trip.
Is halal food an issue?
No, and it is the main reason families choose Malaysia for a first Far East trip. Halal is the default in most of the country rather than something to hunt for, and prayer facilities are ordinary rather than exceptional.
When is the best time to go?
Malaysia is hot and humid year round with a monsoon that moves around the coasts, so there is no bad time so much as a wrong coast at the wrong time. Langkawi and the west coast differ from the east. Tell us the month and we will tell you which side of the peninsula it suits.
Can children travel on a parent's passport?
No. Every traveller needs their own passport and their own permission, including an infant. The paperwork for a child is smaller, not absent.
Before you pay anything
Malaysian entry requirements, the arrival card arrangements and the documents asked of Pakistani applicants change. We confirm the current position before every submission rather than trusting any list, including this one.
Send us the passports and the dates and say whether Singapore is in the plan. We will tell you what each part needs and in what order to do them.