KUALA LUMPUR: Employers who deal with foreign workers hailed the Immigration Department's efforts to retake control of their services, saying it will prevent the misuse of confidential information and the issuance of fraudulent work permit stickers.
National Association of Human Resources Malaysia president Zarina Ismail said the move would improve data protection.
"Hopefully, there won't be anymore fake stickers since we won't be sharing confidential information with external vendors. We can also prevent data leaks."
She said fake work permit stickers added to the government's loss of revenue as employers do not need to purchase them through legal means and pay levies.
She said data integration between agencies was timely as the Immigration Department had a big responsibility to manage foreign workers and tourist arrivals.
She said the current manual system hampered the process.
Currently, employers might take months to obtain approvals to bring in foreign workers.
Moving forward, Zarina suggested a cashless system to reduce bureaucracy and stop additional expenses caused by "under the table" payments.
"We welcome the government's move. We hope the issue of delays and congestion will not happen again when the system is operating fully.
"I hope that when we change for the better, the system will be more efficient and user-friendly."
Malaysian Federation of Employers president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said there was concern about the use of external vendors to manage foreign worker-related services.
"All this involves a lot of confidential data about employees and employers."
He said having private companies handle foreign worker-related services, such as work permits, had created a lot of concern.
"It is also more expensive. We hope the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) will be on the right track to make it easier for the public to deal with Immigration matters."
On Monday, the New Straits Times reported that all immigration affairs, including those being managed by external parties such as MyEG, will be reverted to the Immigration Department by 2025.
The return of the management of the services to the department will take place with the rollout of the NIISe, which will bring together all immigration services.
Association of Employment Agencies Malaysia vice-president Suresh Tan called for the rollout of the NIIse to be expedited.
He said digitalisation that is directly handled by the authorities is better for stakeholders as they would not need to go through third parties.
"(NIISe) is good, we welcome it. As end users, we expect it to be expedited. The faster the better."
Immigration director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud, in a recent exclusive interview with the New Straits Times, described the NIIse as a "game-changer" that would improve the department's efficiency and customer experience.
He said the system, being developed by Iris Corporation Bhd, would put the department on track to its goal of becoming one of the best immigration authorities in the world.
It would also end long-standing issues like system glitches and extended waiting periods at international gateways.
