29 foreign students deported last year

CYBERJAYA: Twenty- nine foreign students were deported last year for abusing their visas, including for being involved in immoral activities.

Deputy director- general ( Control) of Immigration Department, Datuk Ibrahim Abdullah said 91,686 foreign students arrived last year and of the total, 674 were arrested for overstaying.

The students arrested were from Bangladesh (413) followed by China ( 51), Nigeria ( 51), Egypt ( 29), Pakistan (13), Philippines (11) and others (106).

“We will continue to monitor the activities of foreign students in this country,” he said after a visit by Deputy Minister of Higher Education Datuk Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching to Education Malaysia Global Services ( EMGS), here yesterday.

Established in 2012, EMGS is a non- profit company limited by guarantee under the Higher Education Ministry to carry out marketing, promotion and recruitment of international students to Malaysia, including processing student visa. EMGS chief executive officer Mohd Yazid Abdul Hamid said currently, EMGS received between 6,000 and 7,000 student visa applications monthly and processed between 300 and 400 visas daily.

“Currently, the visa processing period for foreign students will take about seven days, way ahead of the 14- day deadline given by the government,” he said.

According to Mohd Yazid, visa applications of foreign students have to go through two screenings - academic and security - before being approved.

Yap in the meantime, lauded the cooperation between EMGS and the Immigration Department for processing student visa in a shorter period compared to the 14- day deadline.

“The Higher Education Ministry will continue to work with the Immigration Department to eradicate cases of foreign students involved in immoral activities,” she said. — Bernama