Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC): filling it in correctly

The Malaysia Digital Arrival Card, universally shortened to MDAC, has been compulsory for most foreign nationals arriving in Malaysia since 1 January 2024. It applies whether you arrive by air, by land or by sea, and one card covers one entry. You complete it online before travelling, and airlines may ask to see it at check-in.

Where to file it

The form lives on the Malaysian Immigration Department’s own site, at imigresen-online.imi.gov.my. The department’s MyNIISe app now accepts it too, but it asks foreign visitors for an NFC passport scan and a selfie, and the website remains the simpler route. Search results for "MDAC" are thick with lookalike sites that will fill the same free form on your behalf for a fee, and some of them rank above the real one. Type the official address rather than following a link, and if a page asks for a card number, close it.

The three-day window

Submission opens three days before arrival, counting the day you land: arriving on the 7th, you can file from the 5th. This is the most common mistake — people organised enough to do their admin early try to file it a fortnight out and are turned away by the form itself. Put a reminder in your calendar for three days before the flight.

Who does not need one

Exemptions are narrower than most people hope, but they exist:

• Malaysian citizens and permanent residents
• Singapore citizens
• Diplomatic and official passport holders
• Brunei nationals holding a General Certificate of Identity, and users of the Brunei–Malaysia Frequent Traveller Facility
• Thai border-pass holders and holders of Indonesian cross-border travel documents
• Holders of a valid Malaysian long-term pass — employment, student, MM2H and similar

For a European traveller arriving on a tourist stay, none of these apply. Assume you need to file it.

Do you need a visa?

Not for a holiday on a British or EU passport. UK citizens are normally given 90 days visa-free on arrival, and EU citizens on an ordinary passport — Polish, German and the rest — also get 90 days. The MDAC is not a visa and does not replace one; it is the arrival record that sits alongside a visa-free entry.

• Your passport must be valid for at least six months after the date you arrive, and be undamaged with no missing pages
• Immigration may ask for an onward or return ticket and proof of where you are staying — have both on your phone
• Nationals of other countries should check the Immigration Department’s list; the 90-day rule is not universal

What you need in front of you

1. 1Your passport, for the number, the expiry date and the exact spelling of your name
2. 2Your flight number and arrival date
3. 3The address of your first night’s accommodation in Malaysia
4. 4An email address you can open while travelling

Enter your name exactly as the passport prints it, including any middle names. A mismatch between the card and the passport is the thing most likely to send you to a secondary desk.

Autogates: the reason to file it properly

Since June 2024, passport holders from 63 countries — including the UK, Germany, Poland and most of the EU — have been able to use the automated gates at major entry points instead of queuing for an officer. Eligibility depends on a completed MDAC. At KLIA on a busy evening, that is the difference between minutes and an hour.

When the confirmation never arrives

Confirmation emails go missing often enough that you should not depend on one. Screenshot the confirmation page when it appears rather than closing it and waiting for the email. If nothing arrives and you have no screenshot, submit the form again — duplicate submissions are not a problem, an absent one is.

Two charges you will meet later

• Tourism tax: RM 10 per room per night for foreign guests, collected by registered hotels at check-out rather than included in most quoted rates
• Departure levy: charged on flights out of Malaysia, but built into the ticket price — nothing to pay at the airport