I'd just like to rant a little here about how I've been facing visa frustrations for being Malaysian, which I believe applies to many Malaysian professionals intending to work overseas too. I intend to work in the US when I graduate, but I recently discovered the "joys" of the US's H1B visa system, where we have to compete with droves of people from hundreds of countries for the 59,000 allocations simply for being Malaysian. My Singaporean and Aussie friends have a significant number pre-allocated (reserved) for them, so they technically only have to compete among themselves. Above that, we're not eligible for any visa waivers and are subjected to home country restrictions for J1 visas again because Malaysians are seen to be one of the most likely people to abuse their visas. No thanks to the thousands of Malaysians living and working illegally in the US, Australia and Britain.

In addition, I discovered that Malaysia is now being reviewed by Britain for this exact problem. I can only expect Australia to begin placing restrictions on us anytime soon due to the stupidity of my own countrymen. Trying to obtain permanent residency in order to freely work in Australia isn't as straightforward either as they subject Malaysians to the IELTS test for English proficiency. Having spoken and used English all my life, I find this insulting having to be tested as it's not considered my main language simply because of my citizenship. What happened to our government's efforts to improve English language education to first world standards?

The main issue here is of course I'd like to be proud to be Malaysian when I meet these immigration officials when applying for visas and not having to prove to them that I do not intend to be an illegal migrant, hence avoiding being stereotyped (typical FOB nonsense yada yada). I also find it unfair when the actions of irresponsible Malaysians working illegally overseas have hurt those trying to gain legitimate entry for education, business, skilled jobs or training. Malaysia is a well-respected nation, but this positive view wouldn't last long if people start to associate us with illegal migration. There is no reason for Malaysians to be so desperate that they have to illegally migrate. I don't feel proud when I hear accounts of Malaysians working illegally washing plates at dodgy restaurants, washing clothes, picking fruits, etc overseas (these are the jobs that we're hiring migrant workers to do in our own country). They simply feed the stereotype machine. Of course, this whole issue wouldn't be of much concern if Malaysia has adequate support and opportunities for my field that are as good as those offered overseas, but unfortunately it does not, but that's opening another can of worms.

This post has been edited by chris_c28: Nov 9 2008, 01:03 AM