On this page First: a visa-free window with an end date · The arrival card everyone forgets · Which visa, if you need one · The documents, and an unusually exact photo · What it costs · Applying
Step 1 of 6
First: a visa-free window with an end date
🔴 Indian passport holders do not currently need a visa for Malaysia — but read how the Immigration Department words it, because the wording is the point. India appears ON its list of countries that are required to apply for a visa, with a footnote against it: Indian citizens are exempt until 31 December 2026. This is an exception to a requirement, not a permanent status, and it carries a date you can put in a calendar. Any page that simply tells you Malaysia is “visa-free for Indians” stops being true on 1 January 2027.
If you are travelling after 31 December 2026, plan on applying. Nothing has been published about an extension — the exemption has been extended before, so one is plausible, but plausible is not the same as announced. The route if you do need one is the eVISA, applied for online yourself through the Immigration Department’s MyVISA portal. Check the position again close to your travel date; this is the single fact on this page most likely to have changed since you last looked.
Source: the Immigration Department of Malaysia
Step 2 of 6
The arrival card everyone forgets
🔴 Whether or not you need a visa, you must register the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card. It applies to all foreign nationals, and it is the step visa-free travellers miss precisely because they have nothing else to file. Register it within the three days before you arrive — not weeks ahead, and not at the airport — and make sure your passport is valid for at least six months from the date you enter.
If you are travelling from a country where yellow fever is a risk, you must show a yellow fever vaccination certificate on arrival. The list of countries is maintained by Malaysia's Ministry of Health rather than by Immigration, so check it there if your trip routes through Africa or South America.
Source: the Immigration Department of Malaysia
Step 3 of 6
Which visa, if you need one
Malaysia splits its visas by whether someone in Malaysia has to vouch for you first. A Visa Without Reference, or VTR, is the ordinary social visit — tourism, family, friends — and you apply for it directly. A Visa With Reference, or VDR, covers study, employment, dependents and professionals on a visit pass, and you cannot start it cold: a Visa Approval Letter has to be obtained first, and only then do you apply for the eVISA itself.
One recent change worth knowing if you were counting on a multiple-entry visa. From 1 September 2026 the Multiple Entry Visa is no longer available to all nationalities. It is now limited to 31 eligible nationalities, and only for Fly & Cruise, business, medical treatment and wedding tourism. The Immigration Department has not published which 31 countries those are, so whether India is among them cannot be established from any published source.
Source: the Immigration Department of Malaysia
Step 4 of 6
The documents, and an unusually exact photo
Everyone brings these
- A passport-sized studio photograph meeting the 35 × 50 mm specification above
- The biodata page of your passport, valid for more than six months from your travel date
- The passport page showing your previous passport number
- A round-trip flight ticket, or other proof of your journey
- Proof of paid accommodation — a hotel booking that has actually been paid for, not merely held
- Proof of financial support. No minimum amount is published anywhere official
- A birth certificate, where the applicant is a minor
Malaysia specifies its photograph more exactly than any other country on this site, and an automated check now enforces part of it. The photo is 35 mm wide by 50 mm tall. Your head must measure 30 to 35 mm from chin to crown, with roughly 5 mm of margin above the head and 5 to 10 mm below the chin. Full face, front view, eyes open, neutral expression, and no head covering except for religious reasons — and then the face must still be fully visible. For a social visit the background is plain white; for a reference visa it may be plain white or plain blue. No border or frame around the photo, and the image must be sharp rather than blurred, tilted or shot from too far away.
Since 1 July 2026 photographs uploaded for reference visas are checked automatically against that specification before a human sees them, and the background rules are enforced strictly: plain and uniform, no gradients, patterns, textures or objects, and no shadows or reflections falling on it. A photo that fails has to be referred to the issuing office, which costs you time you did not plan for.
Build these files with the checklist above
Source: the Immigration Department of Malaysia
Step 5 of 6
What it costs
The visa fee is INR 1,250, revised with effect from July 2026 by the High Commission in New Delhi. One caveat that comes from the notice itself: the rupee figure is set against the exchange rate for that month, so it is a converted amount rather than a fixed one and it will be revised again. Treat it as the right order of magnitude and confirm the current figure when you apply.
Source: the Immigration Department of Malaysia
Step 6 of 6
Applying
Three steps, and the last one surprises people. You apply online, you pay through the portal's payment gateway, and once approved you receive an email with a link to download your visa — there is no collection and no sticker to wait for. The portal runs a live chat 24 hours a day if something goes wrong mid-application.
Source: the Immigration Department of Malaysia
Each section names its source underneath it. Where a line came from the agent channel rather than the authority, or from a single filing, it says so on that line — those are not the same kind of fact and this page does not blur them.
Frequently asked questions
Malaysia visa from India — what documents are needed?
For a holiday before 31 December 2026, none — Indian passport holders are exempt from a Malaysian visa until that date, and the only thing you must file is the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card. If you are travelling after that, or applying for any other reason, a social visit eVISA needs a studio photograph to the 35 × 50 mm specification, your passport biodata page valid more than six months beyond travel, the page showing your previous passport number, a round-trip ticket, proof of paid accommodation, proof of financial support, and a birth certificate for a minor. No minimum bank balance is published.
Malaysia visa — where do I apply?
Online, yourself, through the Immigration Department's MyVISA portal — there is no interview and nothing to collect. You apply, pay through the portal, and receive a link by email to download the approved visa. Study, work and dependent applications are different: they need a Visa Approval Letter obtained first, before the eVISA application can be made at all. And remember the arrival card applies even when the visa does not.
Can I print my visa documents from here?
Yes — print any document individually, print the whole set as one PDF, or print a blank checklist to tick off. Worth knowing for Malaysia specifically: uploaded photographs for reference visas are now checked automatically against the published specification, so getting the photo right before you upload saves a referral to the issuing office.
Are my documents uploaded anywhere?
No. The checks, the merged PDF, the ZIP and printing all happen in your browser. Your passport and bank statements are never sent to any server.
A PDF was skipped when building.
Password-protected PDFs (like some bank statements) are no longer skipped — the pack asks for the password while it builds. A file is only skipped if the password was not given.