KUCHING: Sarawak will be introducing the extension of work permit for professionals to five years instead of renewing it annually.
According to Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, the state needs more expertise such as the upper echelon, scientists, and many more to move forward in terms of developing technologies.
“We are short of people with expertise here. That is why we want to give those who are working for companies under the strategic sector a five-year straight work permit.
“However, this will be effective within the next two to three months after we go through the necessary process. One of them is that we would have to revisit our immigration process first.”
He said this during the closing ceremony of the International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (IDECS) at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching yesterday.
Adding on, he stated that with the effectiveness of the extended work permit, these professionals would be called ‘nomad professionals’. “This will be a new terminology for them.”
For the record, for non-Sarawakians to work in Sarawak (professionally or non-professionally), they would need to have work permit passes.
The duration of the said permit is generally two years, subject to the validity of the worker’s passport, the security bond and the worker’s employment period, whichever is shorter.
On top of that, the workers are only allowed to work for the employer (who hired them) and in the specified occupation.
