Xpats Gateway system for skilled expatriates starting June 15

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said a new system to speed up the process of hiring skilled expatriate workers will take off in mid-June.

The system is called Xpats Gateway and it will go live on June 15, he announced at a press conference today.

This followed a meeting involving the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah), Mydin managing director Ameer Ali Mydin, and Malaysia Productivity Corporation director-general Abdul Latif Abu Seman.

“Starting from June 15, we will go live on a single-window approach so the private sectors do not need to go to many agencies. It will be integrated on one platform,” Rafizi (above) said.

According to Rafizi, employers had to go to many agencies before this to process the hiring of skilled expatriate workers on an employment pass.

“By using this single-window approach, this will not only make the process easier but also faster for them instead of employers needing to go to many agencies,” said Rafizi.

Phase 1 involves the approving agencies and regulatory agencies that use the Xpats Gateway system and it will be managed by TalentCorp, which is under the Human Resources Ministry.

Meanwhile, phase 2 involves other agencies such as Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation and The Iskandar Regional Development Authority which already have an existing system and requires integration through an Application Programme Interface that will be ready to use on Aug 15, 2023. 

“This phase will only take five days and it will be automatically approved by the Immigration Department for the (employment) pass,” he said. 

According to him, this integrated system will reduce bureaucracy related to the hiring of expatriate workers

On a different matter, Rafizi said Pemudah also discussed the implementation of “performance-based contract” instead of “headcount-based contract” in labour-intensive fields such as the cleaning services sector.

“If a company wants to join the cleaning services sector, they are required to have 300 workers instead of showing their performance in cleaning,” he said.

The Ministry, Rafizi said, will collaborate with other agencies to do a pilot test at certain places to see if performance-based contracts will work.

“The contractor needs to fulfil the criteria including incremental productive plan, innovation, and technology.

“They will also be assessed based on monthly scores and will be paid based on their performance,” he said.

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