Please take note that the approval for changing of program is upon discretion from the Malaysian Immigration Department. Normally the Malaysian Immigration Department will request additional documents such as current examination result, record of attendance and other required documents. The Malaysian Immigration Department have a right to not approve the new Visa and Pass (for change of program) if they found that the current result is not satisfactory or any other reason that does not comply with the Immigration’s regulation.

Current practice at UTHM is that the student will wait and apply to change the program of study from the University and then submit a new student pass application (change of program) when the current Student Pass is going to expire. This practice has been observed by the Malaysian Immigration Department as an offence whereby :

1. The student has abused the use of his student pass (e. Approval for program A but is studying for program B although at the same level of study/ at the same faculty).
2. Change the program first, then apply for changing of a program with the Malaysian Immigration Department (the reason given by the student is that the previous student pass is still valid).

The students will then face a great problem when their new pass and visa is rejected by the Immigration with the reason above.

To avoid any difficulty to the students, UTHM International Office is recommend that the application for a change of program (variation or progression) for international students must get a new approval VAL from the Education Malaysia Global Services/Malaysian Immigration Department before permission for variation or progression is allowed by UTHM. Students must cancel their current pass to apply for a variation or progression for apply a new program. There is a possibility that the Immigration Department will request the student to exit Malaysia while waiting for the new VAL to be approved.