All international students in Malaysia will be required to carry an I-Kad, which will contain key information including full name, passport number and institution. The I-Kad will act as a valid travel document for the Malaysian peninsular. It will cut out the need – and risk – for foreign students to carry around their passport at all times as a means of identification. Details can be checked and verified online.

The first students in Malaysia have already been issued with the i-Kad with the card expecting to be rolled out to the Sabah and Sarawak regions soon.

The government hope to better manage incoming international students via the identification cards and prevent students staying in the country longer than they are allowed to. It is also hoped to send out a message to potential international students that if they come to Malaysia to study, they would be safe at all times, strengthening Malaysia’s position in the international education community.

‘The i-Kad, with its emphasis on security as a strategic effort to improve the management of foreign students in Malaysia, portrays the government’s responsiveness to the needs and welfare of the students,’ said Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at the launch of the i-Kad.

The cards will be issued by the Immigration Department through its Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) One-Stop Centre from July 1. In the future, the card may be used by students to receive retail discounts in a manner similar to the UK student card.

Currently there are a little less than 100,000 international students studying in Malaysia.

Feel more comfortable about studying in Malaysia now that the i-Kad has been introduced? Find a course abroad on Malaysia now!