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Thursday, June 6, 2013

Renewing Cambodian Maid Passport and Work Permit (DIY)

*long-post ahead*

Few weeks ago, I found myself in this predicament:
1. My Cambodian maid's permit going to expire in 17 days
2. Her passport had less than 1 year validity
3. My agent wanted to charge me approx RM2,800 for renewal of work permit and passport.

I felt the amount quoted was wayyy to high! Felt like daylight robbery. But I wasn't sure how to do it myself and googling on the internet didn't give me much information. I posted some questions on Facebook (what would I do without FB? ha ha) , got some useful leads and then decided to walk the path slightly less travelled.  ;-)

In the end, I managed to get everything done on time without any penalty.
   Number of annual leave taken : 1 day
   Amount saved :  approx RM 1,500
   Satisfaction of not paying agent :  PRICELESS !!!   :)



Here are the steps, for the benefit of those who do not want to pay exorbitant agent fees.
There's 2 parts :  A - For Passport Renewal  and B - For Work Permit Renewal.

A : For Passport Renewal

Step 1. Contact PIKAP - Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Agensi Pekerjaan Malaysia.
  Link : http://www.pikap.org.my/cms/
 (i)  Not much information on their website, so I called one of the numbers listed : 012-2032007 for Haji. (a bit skeptical when I saw it was a h/p number at first). Haji turned out to be really helpful and re-assuring. He asked me to sms him my email address so that he could send me all the required forms.
(ii) The next morning, he sent me an email with multiple attachments - extension employment contract, salary confirmation, salary letter, insurance cover letter,checklist of documents required etc

Step 2. Fill up all the forms and collect necessary items as per email from PIKAP.
Items required - passport photo of employer, spouse and maid, electricity bill, *bank book/draft, **insurance, stamping of contract etc.

* Bank Book has to be in the name of maid only.  No joint account allowed.
  -While waiting for PIKAP's email, hubby brought our maid to the bank to open her bank account. We panicked BIG time when the bank officer said he cannot open bank account cos maid's work permit had  <  6 months validity.  I called up Haji again and he said not to worry - just buy a bank draft in maid's name. Phew!

** Insurance & stamping of contract - can do this outside or directly via PIKAP for a small fee. I chose the latter since I didn't have much time.

Step 3.  Go to PIKAP kiosk with completed forms and all required items (and maid)
It's actually a very small kiosk practically next to a busy road. Haji advised me to be there early.
With the aid of my GPS, I was there before 9am and got the 1st number  :)  Haji was there but I was attended to by his rather grumpy lady colleague.
She checked the documents, asked why I didn't fill up certain parts correctly (I felt like a school kid with a fierce teacher. ke ke)  and asked my maid some basic questions.
After about 45 minutes or so, she stamped my documents.  Yay!

My payment to PIKAP : RM 303.
Extension handling process : RM 150, Pikap endorsement : RM 50, Maid pass : RM 3, Document stamping and 1 year insurance : RM 100. (if not mistaken, one year insurance is RM 70)

Step 4. Go to Cambodian Embassy in Jalan U-Thant with maid
The embassy is about 10 minutes away from PIKAP kiosk. I was surprised it was an old bungalow with a small signboard and locked gates! I thought it was closed! Anyway, when I was parking my car, I saw a guy walking towards the embassy. Not sure whether he rang the door bell or hollered, but someone from inside came to open the gate. I told him I wanted to renew my maid's passport. His only question was "got PIKAP chop?" When I nodded, he asked me to go in.

In the embassy, I waited about 10 minutes to see the officer. He had a quick look at my documents and then interviewed my maid in Cambodian.(she later told me he asked her whether she was treated well, had enough food, had enough sleep, how long she wanted to stay and why, how much was her salary etc). He was rather pleasant and my maid was smiling a lot throughout the interview.

After the short interview, he collected my payment of RM200, got her passport stamped and DONE!

Time check?  10.45am. 

I couldn't help grinning at that point. I was prepared for a whole day affair!


B : For Work Permit Renewal
Since it was still early, I proceeded with the work permit renewal process.

-------------------------------------------
Step 1. Fomema Registration
 Link : http://www.fomema.com.my/
This part is similar to Indonesian maids. Plenty of write-ups on the net for this, so I shall be brief -

Step1(a). Buy Bank draft / postal order / money order for RM190. Payee name : "Fomema Sdn Bhd".
Step 1(b). Go to Fomema office with copy of passport. (maid not required to be there.) They will provide a free Registration Form to fill up. One of the items to fill up is choice of clinic. Choose from their list of clinics (hard copies posted on notice boards at the Fomema office. also available online) and a useful tip is to choose a clinic which has x-ray facilities so that only 1 trip to the clinic is needed.
Once done, the officers will provide a printed form with several carbon copies.

Step 2 : Bring Maid for Medical Checkup
Maid not required to fast beforehand.  Excluding waiting time, the whole procedure at the clinic only takes about 30 minutes.  It's basically a urine test, x-ray, blood test and a quick physical examination.
---------------------------------------------

Time check for completion of Step 1 and 2 ?  3.30pm.
And that included waiting time at Maybank for my bank draft, getting lost, taking ages to find a parking lot at Solaris Dutamas, leisurely lunch at KFC with Elyssa (who tagged along the whole process) and maid etc etc. 
Next step was to wait for Fomema results so that was all I could do for that day. Managed to squeeze in time for a latte at my favourite coffee place and then went to the cinema to watch Star Trek.  Excellent show  :-)


Step 3 : Check Fomema Results Online
This can take up to 10 days.  My clinic did it for me in 4 days. Yay!

Step 4 : Go to Immigration Office (no need to bring maid)
I went during my lunch break to the Immigration Department in Jalan Duta. Was a little concerned whether I would have enough time as coincidentally, my colleague renewed her own passport there that morning and she told me it was pretty crowded.

Upon reaching, I asked at the info counter and was directed to take the escalator to Level 2 and then the first room on the right.  Luckily, there were not that many people. I took a number (had to give the officer my IC and maid's passport to get the number), waited a bit and then was asked to make payment of RM 500 (either bank draft or cash) for the work permit levy.
Waited a bit more then the officer gave me back my maid's passport with the new work permit.  Yay!!!!  All DONE!!  I kept thinking : That's it???

Time Taken in the Immigration Office : approx 25 minutes only.


So, so glad I didn't go through my maid agency who kept telling me the process is soooooooooooooo  difficult and that her permit may get rejected.    ;-)

  Summary of costs:
PIKAP : RM303.  Cambodian Embassy : RM200, Fomema : RM190,  Immigration Dept : RM 500.   Total : RM 1,193

34 comments:

LittleLamb said...

WELL DONE!!!

Stacy said...

Very big savings!

KIV for when Cambodian maids are allowed into Msia again. :)

Small Kucing said...

Thanks for sharing.... :) at least you saved some

Mommy to Chumsy said...

wow, you are good! a big pat on the back :D

Health Freak Mommy said...

Good job smart mummy!! I suppose your Cambo maid is good? I heard so many stories of vomit-blood Cambo maid, including my own last time. You're lucky! I never seem to hv luck with maids :(

Mummy Gwen said...

Wow..you saved a lot! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you shopping said...

Thanks for sharing, may I know how to buy maid insurance?

Ching said...

Hi, in the Employment Contract last page, there is a column 'Witnessed by Malaysia Handling Agency'. Since we are handling this without going through the agent, can we leave it blank?

Thanks.

Adrine said...

Ching - I can't remember that portion actually. (don't have the contract with me right now). I didn't have any issue with the employement contract.

I suggest to just leave it blank. PIKAP will check and ask you to make any amendments if required.

Adrine said...

Regarding insurance : Can just buy at post office or any insurance company. Just tell them it's for maid and they should know. I didn't have time so I just bought through PIKAP. (I think there's a slight mark-up)

Antoneta76 said...

I wonder if you can assist in an urgent matter. There is an elderly lady who is handicapped who belongs to our Church. She has not renewed her Cambodian maid's work permit which has already expired. The pass port will be exxpring soon. The employer does not know what to do and is very worried she will get into trouble. Do you know how our Pastor can help both of them? The maid wants to continue working for the old lady for another year at least.
Thank you
Sylvia

Adrine said...

Sylvia - I have written about the process. Your pastor can perform the same steps for your churchmember. (she just needs to sign on the relevant docs. I don't think she needs to be physically present)

If you have further specific queries, do let me know.

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing.

I have an enquiry that is at the very beginning you were saying need to have a bank account opened under maid's name, at the end settled with a bank draft. I would like to know how much is the bank draft ?

Wondered your maid is with you for how many years already, that still have to go through the FOMEMA step ? My maid skipped FOMEMA since her 3rd year. I'm going to renew for her 5th year, not sure if need to go for FOMEMA

Adrine said...

Hi Janet - the amount in the bank draft depends on what she should get i.e basic salary x no. of months minus whatever has been remitted minus any expenses to be deducted eg a handphone. (if applicable).

Mine was for the 3rd year, so FOMEMA still applicable. I think it's no longer needed after the 4th year.

Unknown said...

Hi Adrine, again thanks for the info.
After obtaining the permit, what to do with the bankdraft ? Open account under maid's name and deposit it Or cash it and deposit to the origin saving account to earn bit of interest ?

Adrine said...

Hi Janet - I was told the embassy may do a spot check after 2-3 months. So better to open bank account for her and bank it in.

(tho come to think of it, I wonder how they can actually check)

Unknown said...

Hi, thanks for the prompt feed back.
Will follow the law ! :)

Unknown said...

Good day!

I find ya info extremely helpful as I'm trying to renew my maid's passport too (thumbs up)

I'm curious to know whether do you still have those forms/copies emailed to you from Encik Haji (Pikap) for your Cambodian maid's passport renewal? If yes, would it be possible for you to forward those forms/copies to me at toky74@hotmail.com ? Really appreciate it heaps!!!

I've been searching Hi & Low for these forms in the net but I just couldn't find it. Thus, I'm hoping you would still have copies of it. Thanks in advance!!

Cheers,
ONG

Adrine said...

Hi Ong, I think I still have the forms. You can use them as reference, but eventually you'll need to go via PIKAP anyway, so might as well get from them (in case there's updates). Will check my office PC tomorrow and send to u if I have them.

Unknown said...

Thanks Adrine!

Unknown said...

What a grateful sharing, thanks a lot!!

Chris C said...

Thank you so much for the post.

Unknown said...

Hi,
Thanks for the sharing.
Is this PIKAP something new? When I renew my maid's password 2 years ago, I dont recall I go through this PIKAP process.

Unknown said...

Hi Adrine, for the Letter of Indemnity (Cover letter) the "Year of Contract" and "End of Contract" is referring to the current work permit or the passport ?
I am in the midst of preparing all documentation and going to try my luck soon.

Adrine said...

Unknown - I'm not so sure if PIKAP is a new thing since all this is a new thing to me :-)

Janet - should be work permit. Gd luck!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I deleted a comment which I asked where you did the stamping for Employment Contract, PIKAP or IRB. And I found the answer on your sharing. But this time PIKAP told to go IRB :(, so having more places to run about.

Adrine said...

Janet - oh dear, having an additional place to go is definitely no fun!
But u got the permit all settled now?

Unknown said...

Thank you so much. Has been so helpful. Not for you info, definitely been given the ho around.

Adrine said...

drsunder71 - you're most welcome :-) Gd luck with your renewal!

Unknown said...

Thanks to Adrine for sharing her experience. I got my maid's pp and work permit renewed in end Oct 2013. But don't know why the embassy/PIKAP didn't send to me the original set of employment agreement.
How about you Adrine, did you have it ?

Unknown said...

thanks for your sharing....
I wonder if the process for the renewal is still the same.... my maid decided to continue and her permit going to expire in a week's time. The pikap website no longer exist... not sure how to go about it....

Adrine said...

Ing Ing - I googled and found this : http://pikapmalaysia.org/default.aspx?MI=HM

Website looks different already, but perhaps you can try contacting a representative from the "contact us" page. Good luck!

­¯HiBiKi¬ said...

thanks for sharing ...