Malaysia will let spouses of foreign professionals work from 2027

Key points

• The measure was announced in the budget speech on 9 October 2026 and takes effect on 1 January 2027.
• The right to work goes to spouses of Category I Employment Pass holders who themselves live in Malaysia on a Dependant Pass.
• Work will be allowed "subject to the prescribed conditions". The government has not yet announced what they are.
• Category I is the highest tier: under the requirements of the Expatriate Services Division (ESD) it means a salary of MYR 20,000 a month or more.
• In the same speech the Prime Minister promised DE Rantau holders the right to stay for another two years beyond the current limit.

What the government announced

On 9 October 2026, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who also heads the Ministry of Finance, presented the 2027 budget to parliament. In the section on attracting foreign talent he named three measures. One of them: from 1 January 2027, spouses of expatriates holding a Category I Employment Pass who themselves hold a Dependant Pass will be allowed to work in Malaysia, subject to the prescribed conditions.

The Prime Minister explained the measure plainly: it will help Malaysia remain a destination of choice for top talent without their spouses having to give up their careers. For a country competing for professionals with Singapore, Thailand and the Gulf states, it answers one of the main reasons people turn down relocation.

A Dependant Pass is a dependent status for family members of a work pass holder. It allows them to live in the country, send children to school, use healthcare and open bank accounts, but it does not give the right to work. To take a job, a spouse currently needs a separate permission or their own work pass, which is the same procedure as for any foreign worker, including finding an employer and filing an application.

What this means for you. If you are a professional or executive with a high salary considering an employment-based move to Malaysia, from 2027 things will be easier for your family: your spouse will be able to work without going through a separate work pass procedure. If you are moving to Malaysia under MM2H or the DE Rantau pass, this measure does not affect you.

Who counts as Category I

The Employment Pass in Malaysia is divided into three categories by salary. The category determines the pass duration and whether family can come. The budget links the spouse's right to work only to the top category:

Category I is usually granted to executives, senior managers and leading specialists at international companies, banks and technology firms. A pass in this category is issued for up to five years and allows the holder to bring a spouse and children, as well as parents and domestic staff. Category II holders can also bring family, but the budget speech says nothing about the right to work for their spouses.

How it compares with other statuses

The table shows the key point: the measure only concerns people who come to Malaysia for employment. The MM2H programme is designed for people who live in the country on their own income, and it does not allow either the main participant or family members to work in Malaysia. The DE Rantau pass allows remote work for foreign clients but not for Malaysian employers, and the family lives on dependant passes without the right to work.

Who is affected in practice

The measure matters for families where both spouses have careers. A typical case: an international company offers an executive a move to Kuala Lumpur with a good salary, but the spouse, a lawyer or engineer, is left without work for years. Many in this situation turn down the move or choose a country where the spouse can work. From 2027 this argument against Malaysia will no longer apply to Category I.

For entrepreneurs who set up a company in Malaysia and obtain an Employment Pass as its director, the measure may also be useful if their salary meets the Category I requirements. The spouse will then be able to work in the same or another company without a separate procedure.

For those choosing Malaysia as a place to live without working locally, nothing changes. Long-term residence conditions are in our MM2H guide, and for remote workers in our DE Rantau guide. The state of Sarawak also runs its own programme; we covered its 2026 results in our Sarawak MM2H news.

Three examples

• A CFO moves to an international company's regional office in Kuala Lumpur on MYR 35,000 a month. He receives a Category I Employment Pass and his wife a Dependant Pass. From 2027 she will be able to work in Malaysia without obtaining her own work pass, provided she meets the conditions the government sets.
• An engineer earning MYR 14,000 receives a Category II pass and brings his family. The budget says nothing about his wife's right to work: she will still need her own permission.
• A remote-working couple lives in Penang: the husband works for a European company on a DE Rantau pass and the wife is on a dependant pass. The measure does not affect them: the right to work is tied only to the Category I Employment Pass.

How a Category I Employment Pass is obtained

The Employment Pass is applied for not by the professional but by the employer, a company registered in Malaysia. First the company registers with the ESD system, then it files an application for a specific employee with an employment contract, salary details, a degree and work experience. The salary in the contract determines the pass category, so the contract terms should be worked out before filing.

Dependant Pass applications for the spouse and children are filed together with the main employee's application or after it is approved. They require a marriage certificate and the children's birth certificates, translated and certified. It is this dependant pass that from 2027 will be the basis for the spouse's right to work, so the family's documents need to be done correctly from the start.

A business owner can obtain an Employment Pass through their own Malaysian company, but the company must meet paid-up capital and genuine activity requirements. If the goal is only to live in the country rather than work there, the MM2H programme is usually the better choice.

How the neighbours compare

Against its neighbours, Malaysia's decision stands out. In Singapore, since 2021 a work pass holder's spouse on a Dependant Pass can no longer work on a simple letter of consent: they need their own work pass, applied for by an employer. Malaysia is moving in the opposite direction and easing access to work for spouses, even if only in the top category for now.

For families this changes the comparison. Singapore remains the region's financial centre, but life there is more expensive and work for a spouse requires a separate procedure. From 2027 Kuala Lumpur will offer lower costs and the right to work for the spouse of a Category I professional. For heads of regional offices this may become the deciding argument.

What is not yet known

The budget speech announces the decision, not the details. The government has not yet published which conditions will apply: whether the spouse will need to register separately, whether there will be restrictions on fields of work, or whether the main pass holder's employer will need to consent. Such rules usually come out as guidance from the Immigration Department and ESD closer to the start date.

Until the rules are published, it is unwise to build a plan on this measure alone. If the spouse's work is critical for the family in the first months after the move, it is safer to consider a separate work pass for them in parallel. We are following the guidance and will update this news once the conditions are known.

Part of a wider course

Malaysia keeps changing the rules for foreigners: MM2H was revamped in 2024, the DE Rantau procedure was tightened in 2026, and now the labour market is opening to spouses of highly paid professionals. The logic is the same: the country needs high-income, qualified people and is ready to give their families more rights. We covered other budget changes for remote workers in our DE Rantau news.

For families comparing Southeast Asian countries, this is an important argument in Malaysia's favour: English in business, international schools, developed healthcare and now work for the spouse. General information about the country is on our Malaysia page, and on travel to neighbouring countries in our Thailand visa-free news.

What to do now

We help families choose a status in Malaysia and prepare documents. We covered how a family relocation works in our family residency guide, bank accounts in Malaysia in a client story, and passport strength on the Malaysian passport page. Other countries for remote workers are in the digital nomad residency section, all programmes in the residency section. You can discuss your situation at an online consultation.