The Immigration Department of Malaysia has moved up with its proposal to introduce RFID-enabled visas for the foreigner as a step towards identifying fake visa holders and the time period of the visa in passports.

The RFID-enabled visas would contain the personal details and thumbprints of the foreign nationals, which would be read by using RFID readers and short messaging system, explains Datuk Wahid Md Don, the Immigration Director General of Malaysia.

With increasing number of foreigners entering Malaysia in each passing years, the government has decided to keep track on them by introducing RFID enabled visas by the end of this year.

As per the available data, Malaysia has more than two million foreign workers, nearly 66,000 students. The tourism sector has also recorded an inflow of 17 million tourists last year.

Recently, Malaysia has introduced the RFID-enabled visas for the foreign workers coming from Bangladesh. The Immigration Department keeps their scanned thumbprints and other personal details in a computer database in Dhaka. The database is transferred to Malaysia for verification before allowing the foreigners to the country.