Working in Malaysia
For Bangladesh passport holders · Checked 2026-08-15
Malaysia has been closed to new Bangladeshi workers since June 2024, and as of 2026 no official reopening date, quota or intake has been announced — treat any Malaysia offer as unsafe until the government says otherwise.
What the employer must have
- Any Malaysian employer would still need approval to employ foreign workers AND an attested demand letter approved on the Bangladesh side — but while the corridor is closed, no lawful new recruitment is happening.
What you must do before you leave
- You cannot board a flight for work without BMET emigration clearance — the QR-coded BMET smart card. Immigration will stop you at the airport even with a valid visa, and the card itself has been free since December 2024.
- Register in the BMET database and complete the 3-day Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO) at a Technical Training Centre in your district.
- Use a recruiting agency licensed by BMET, and insist on seeing the demand letter: it must be attested by the Bangladesh mission in the destination country, and the job order approved by BMET (up to 100 workers) or by the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare (more than 100).
- Do not pay anyone for a Malaysia job right now. Recruitment stopped in June 2024 over a syndicate that overcharged workers, and reopening has been announced as imminent more than once without happening.
Things to watch
- The government sets a maximum migration cost for each destination, and the gap between that ceiling and what workers actually pay is the central problem of this corridor: for Malaysia the official ceiling was Tk 78,990 while the average worker paid about Tk 544,000. Ask for the official rate in writing and get a receipt for every taka.
- Licences do get revoked — 49 recruiting agencies lost theirs over the Malaysia syndicate. Check that your agency is currently licensed before you pay, not after.
- This is the corridor where the gap between the official ceiling (Tk 78,990) and what workers actually paid (about Tk 544,000 on average) was documented, and where 49 agency licences were revoked. An agent promising you Malaysia today is promising something the two governments have not yet restarted.
What you may lawfully be charged
PAY NOTHING FOR MALAYSIA RIGHT NOW. The ministry has told Malaysia-bound workers and agents to sign nothing, hand over no passport, take no medical and make no payment until it publishes an official notification.
Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare notice, 8 July 2026.
⚠️ Never pay anyone for a job offer or a visa on this route. Legitimate employers and licensed agents do not charge workers for jobs.
Official sources
This describes the immigration system, not your personal case, and not this specific vacancy.