At least 2 lakh Bangladeshis have the opportunity to be legal in Malaysia

The main objective of this plan is to legally employ illegal workers in various sectors in the country so that their employers can employ them legally. The Malaysian Immigration Department, however, specifies which sectors and which countries workers can avail of this benefit.

Bangladesh always tops the list of labor recalibration programs. According to the Malaysian government, more than 400,000 workers have registered in the last phase of this recalibration program on December 31.

Ahmadul Kabir, a Bangladeshi journalist living in Kuala Lumpur, told the BBC that Bangladeshi and Indonesian workers are at the top of the list.

Besides, the Immigration Department's calculations say that till January 22 of this year, a total of 14 lakh 84 thousand 677 foreign workers have been given temporary work visit passes, among which the number of Bangladeshis is the highest - 4 lakh 46 thousand 229 people.

"Whenever the Malaysian government announces various processes to register undocumented foreign workers, the most interested are Indonesian and Bangladeshi workers, who are more interested in staying legally," Ahsanul Kabir told the BBC.

In fact, there is no accurate count of how many illegal Bangladeshi workers are currently in Malaysia. However, it is believed that more than two to two and a half lakh workers have not yet registered themselves. It is believed that there are undocumented Bangladeshis.

In what process will it be done?

Anyone except blacklisted workers with immigration charges and immigrants with criminal records can apply for this labor recalibration program. 

The eight sectors in which foreign workers are allowed are manufacturing, construction, mining and quarrying, security guards, services, agriculture, horticulture and domestic workers.

And for all these jobs, Malaysia has mentioned 15 'source countries', one of which is Bangladesh.

The age of the worker should be between 18 to 49 years for eligibility.

Malaysia's English-language daily New Straits Times quoted the country's home minister as saying in a report, 'This program is for foreign workers who are already working here, but do not have the correct documents. They can now pay this benefit and work legally or return home.'

Basically, employers have started applying for recruitment of foreign workers through the 'Labor Recalibration Program (RTK) 2.0'. You can apply online before getting appointment date from immigration department.

It will take only one day to complete the approval process. Then there will be health check of foreign workers; Which will be managed by the Foreign Workers Medical Examination Monitoring Agency.

The next process will be – payment of recalibration fee, visa, temporary work visit pass (PLC), processing fee and customs duty. When all the documents are complete, employers issue the PLCase or work permit.

How much will it cost?

The minimum fee in this program is 1500 ringgit, that is about 38 thousand taka in Bangladeshi currency. Including medical and other fees, the total cost is about three thousand ringgit.

The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has appealed to the government to reduce recalibration costs. However, the government rejected the request.

According to Business Today, the country's trade media, the government earned 700 million ringgit from the program last year.

This program is very effective in meeting the needs of foreign workers in the country. It's also cheaper for employers because they now don't have to pay extra to an agency to recruit workers,' Saif Uddin, the country's home minister, told the BBC.

The immigration department says that like last year, they have not appointed any person or organization as an agent or middleman.