As an employer of a foreign domestic helper or maid, you are required to renew your helper’s work permit every year. Whether you are an expatriate or a local Malaysian employer, this is something you can easily do by following the set of instructions below.

Update: From January 2024 onwards, FOMEMA requires that foreign workers undergo yearly FOMEMA medical checks in order to renew their annual work permits (Source). The cost of work permit renewal may vary (averaging between RM610-811 for Filipino and Indonesian domestic helpers) depending on the government levy charged by Immigration based on the number of workers you hire and the worker’s nationality.

You can proceed to book your helper a medical examination on the FOMEMA portal and make payment for the RM217 FOMEMA medical fee online. If you’re already registered to a FOMEMA online account, you may log in or create an account online. FOMEMA will take 3-7 working days to update your worker’s medical result after she has completed the medical examination.

Refer to the table below to check if FOMEMA is required for your worker based on which renewal year she is entering:

Once your helper is deemed fit to work by FOMEMA, the next steps towards permit renewal with Malaysian Immigration will differ, based on whether you’re a Malaysian or Expatriate employer.

We recommend for Malaysian employers to renew their worker’s permit on the Immigration’s e-PLKS system for a direct process.

1. Visit ePLKS@JIM.
2. If you do not already have an ePLKS User ID and Password, click “Pendaftaran” on the top header to begin your registration process.
3. Be sure to click ‘Permohonon Baru (Pembantu Rumah)’ instead of ‘Permohonan Baru (Pelbagai Sektor)’ to begin your registration.
4. You will be prompted to key in your IC number*. Please do so without including any dashes. You should receive a confirmation email from “lanjutan_plks@imi.gov.my” with your login password.
5. Once you have successfully logged in to your e-PLKS account, click on the tab ‘Permohonan Lanjutan PRA’ and fill in the information as required. Your worker’s information will appear and you may click on it for the system to prompt you into uploading the relevant documents (e.g. your worker’s passport, your worker’s work permit and the legal employer’s IC). Upon uploading the documents, you may click on ‘Hantar’ for your application to be submitted.
6. You should receive an approval email from e-PLKS within the next 3-5 working days.
7. You may then log in to your e-PLKS account again and click on the tab ‘Status Permohonan PRA’. Your worker’s details should show up with the status – ‘Permohonan telah diluluskan’. You may click on the box next to your worker’s details and click ‘Bayar’ to proceed with the payment.
8. After making payment, the system would take around 5 working days for the processing of the permit. This process might take longer depending on the Immigration office that handles your worker’s work permit application. We recommend you check on your worker’s permit status daily by clicking on the tab ‘Status Permohonan PRA’.
9. Once the Immigration has completed your worker’s permit processing, a ‘Cetak e-Pass’ button will appear under the ‘Tindakan’ section. You may click on it to proceed to print your worker’s latest work permit/e-pass. Since the Immigration no longer issues physical work permits, we would recommend for you to clip the e-Pass onto your worker’s passport.

Alternatively, you can apply to renew your helper's work permit on MyEG. If you don’t have an existing account, you may register online to utilize their e-services and have your worker’s permit renewed.

MyEG will either deliver the work permit to your residence or you may opt to pick it up at a MyEG service center. You may check the delivery status online by clicking on ‘Immigration (Maid)’ and fill in the legal employer’s IC and helper’s passport details.

You will need to present a local Malaysian’s NRIC as part of the verification process by the MyEG delivery officer to receive the work permit upon delivery. For this, any Malaysian in your household/ delivery address can receive your worker’s permit as long as they can present their NRIC; MyEG does not require the recipient to be the legal employer listed in your worker’s permit.

You can proceed to apply for your helper’s new permit over-the-counter at the Expatriate Services Division or the relevant Immigration unit processing your expatriate visa. The legal employer must attend at the Expatriate Services Division him/herself if they are renewing their worker’s permit directly; below are the document checklist for employers who are renewing their worker’s work permit themselves:

The employer and worker’s original passport is required upon submission. The new permit will usually be released within 7 working days and you may make payment and have the new work permit issued over-the-counter once it is ready.

Your helper’s permit validity period every year will always follow the validity period of your helper’s first work permit with you, which is dependent on when she first entered Malaysia.

Therefore, permit renewal submission or issuance dates do not affect your helper’s next permit validity period. Therefore, Immigration advises all employers to start the permit renewal process for their helpers three (3) months before her current work permit expires.