Malaysia limits multiple-entry visa to 31 nationalities and four travel purposes

Malaysia has changed the eligibility requirements for its Multiple Entry Visa (MEV), which allows travelers to enter the country multiple times during the visa’s validity period. Since September 1, 2026, access to the visa has become significantly more restricted.

In an official announcement, the Malaysian Immigration Department states that the MEV “will no longer be available for all nationalities” and is now limited to 31 eligible nationalities.

The changes also affect the purpose of travel: a multiple-entry visa may now only be requested for four specific categories.

Multiple-entry visas now limited to four travel purposes

According to Malaysian Immigration, the MEV is now available for travel falling under the following categories:

• Business;
• Fly & Cruise, for travelers combining air travel with a cruise;
• Medical Treatment;
• Wedding Tourism.

Regular tourism, vacations, and ordinary family or social visits are therefore no longer among the purposes for which applicants can select a multiple-entry visa.

This change is already visible on Malaysia’s official MyVISA e-Visa portal.

When an eligible nationality is selected and the applicant chooses “Multiple Entry Visa,” the application form now offers only these four categories.

For regular tourist travel, visa-required travelers will therefore generally need to apply for a Single Entry Visa (SEV), depending on the rules that apply to their nationality.

MEV access is now restricted to 31 nationalities

The other major change concerns nationality-based eligibility.

Until now, the MyVISA system presented the multiple-entry visa as being available much more broadly. Malaysian Immigration now explicitly states that the MEV is “limited to 31 eligible nationalities.”

However, the authorities have not yet published a named list specifically identifying the 31 nationalities covered by the new policy.

A comparison with the information currently available on the MyVISA portal nevertheless provides a strong indication of which nationalities are likely involved.

Malaysia’s official system lists exactly 31 nationalities under its e-Visa framework:

This list has not, at this stage, been formally identified by Malaysian Immigration as the list of nationalities eligible for the new MEV rules. However, several checks carried out directly through the application form strongly support that conclusion.

Tests confirm how the new system works

On September 4, 2026, travel-document experts from VisasNews and Action-Visas carried out a series of test applications on the official MyVISA portal using the 31 nationalities eligible for Malaysia’s e-Visa system.

In each case, the application form allowed Multiple Entry Visa to be selected. The system then displayed only the following options: Business | Fly & Cruise | Medical Treatment | Wedding Tourism

These tests are therefore fully consistent with the Immigration Department’s latest announcement: the nationalities concerned remain eligible for the MEV, but only for the four travel purposes now authorized.

The exact match between the number of nationalities announced by the authorities, the 31 nationalities listed on MyVISA, and the way the online application form currently operates strongly suggests that these are the nationalities for which the MEV remains available.

A formal country-by-country confirmation from the Malaysian Immigration Department would nevertheless remove any remaining uncertainty.

What does this mean for travelers?

For travelers from the nationalities concerned, the new rule does not necessarily mean the end of the multiple-entry visa. Instead, it introduces a two-part restriction.

Applicants must now:

1. hold one of the 31 eligible nationalities;
2. be traveling for one of the four approved purposes.

A traveler from one of the 31 eligible nationalities can therefore still select an MEV, as confirmed by the checks conducted on MyVISA, for a business trip, Fly & Cruise itinerary, medical treatment, or wedding tourism.

For a regular vacation or social visit, however, the multiple-entry option is no longer offered in the application form.

Travelers who separately qualify for visa-free entry for certain purposes or lengths of stay remain subject to the specific rules applying to their nationality.

MEV validity rules have not been announced as changing

The Immigration Department’s announcement does not mention any changes to the visa’s validity period or the maximum length of stay allowed on each visit.

Information currently available through MyVISA continues to describe the electronic MEV as allowing multiple trips to Malaysia for a period of up to six months from the date of issuance, with a maximum stay of 30 days per entry.

The September 1 changes therefore primarily affect who can obtain the visa and for what purpose, rather than the visa’s validity conditions.