Foreign Performers in Sarawak: How Singers, Musicians, DJs and Stage Acts Get Approved to Perform

A foreign singer, musician, DJ, band, or dance act cannot simply fly into Sarawak and step on stage. They need the right immigration pass — and because Sarawak controls its own immigration, that pass is issued in Sarawak, through a Sarawak process, regardless of anything arranged in Kuala Lumpur.

This guide walks through how foreign performers get approved to perform in Sarawak: which pass applies, who has to sponsor it, the order the approvals happen in, the venue licence that must already be in place, and the tax point sponsors are responsible for. It is written for the people who actually carry the risk — promoters, venues, and corporate or festival organisers booking an international act.

Sarawak Runs Its Own Immigration

Under the Malaysia Agreement 1963, Sarawak retains autonomy over its own immigration. For a foreign performance, two consequences matter:

• A pass issued in Peninsular Malaysia does not authorise a performance in Sarawak. An act touring Kuala Lumpur and then Kuching needs separate Sarawak approval for the Kuching leg.
• The federal PUSPAL / ePUSPAL registration that West Malaysian promoters use for foreign artists does not apply in Sarawak at all. The Sarawak process is its own thing — do not start on the federal portal expecting it to carry over.

If the stage is in Sarawak, the application is made through Sarawak’s own channels, under a Sarawak-issued pass. We cover the broader principle in our explainer on Sarawak’s immigration autonomy.

Which Pass a Performer Needs

The pass for a foreign performer is the Professional Visit Pass, Performer category (PVP Performer), issued by the Visa, Pas & Permit division of Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia Sarawak (JIMS). The PVP can be valid for up to 12 months, tied to the engagement.

It is not PLIK. PLIK (Pas Lawatan Ikhtisas) is a different Sarawak pass — the specialist-visit pass used for oil and gas seafarers, equipment engineers, and similar technical visits. The two are easy to confuse because both translate loosely to “professional visit,” but they are separate passes with separate frameworks. If you want the full comparison, see our PLIK vs PVP vs Employment Pass guide. Performers go on the PVP track.

Performer eligibility starts at 18 years of age.

Who Applies: The Sponsor

The performer cannot apply on their own behalf. A Sarawak-registered sponsor submits the application for them. Depending on the booking, the sponsor is usually one of:

• The licensed venue — hotel, club, lounge, or bar hosting the act
• The promoter — the concert or festival organiser
• The corporate client — for an in-house dinner, product launch, or conference
• The festival organising entity — for example, the Sarawak Tourism Board on its own festivals
• The Sarawak-based production company, where one is involved

If the promoter or production company is based outside Sarawak, the practical route is to sponsor through a Sarawak-based party — commonly the host venue or a local co-sponsor. This is one of the first things we sort out at intake, so the application goes in under the right name from the start.

The Sarawak Approval Chain

A foreign performance application is endorsed by the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) first, then passes to ILMU at the Sarawak State Secretary Office before the pass is issued. The sequence:

The Venue Must Be Licensed First

The performer’s pass authorises the person to be in Sarawak doing this work. It does not authorise the venue to host the performance. Those are two separate things, and the venue side often gets overlooked.

The inviting venue must hold a valid entertainment licence (or bar licence) from its local council before it can invite and host a foreign performer. Without it, the venue cannot legally extend the invitation — so this is a precondition, not an afterthought. The relevant council depends on where the venue sits:

• Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara (DBKU) — north Kuching
• Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan (MBKS) — south Kuching
• Majlis Bandaraya Miri — Miri
• Majlis Perbandaran Sibu — Sibu
• Majlis Bandaraya Padawan, Majlis Daerah Bintulu, and other councils for their areas

Each council runs its own entertainment-licence regime. Confirm the venue’s licence is in place and covers the type of performance and the date before the immigration application starts — otherwise the show can be shut down on the night even with a valid PVP in hand.

The Performer’s Tax Obligation

A non-resident public entertainer — a foreign musician, singer, DJ, dancer, or similar performing in Malaysia — is subject to withholding tax on their Malaysian-source performance income. Being non-resident is the trigger for this tax, not an exemption from it. The sponsor withholds the tax and remits it to the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN); it is settled before the engagement income is paid out.

When to Start

Start well ahead — think in weeks, not days. The application moves through STB endorsement (including the interview) and ILMU approval before Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia Sarawak (JIMS) issues the pass. The larger the event and the bigger the touring party, the earlier you should begin. We give every sponsor a realistic timeline for their specific booking at intake, working backwards from the performance date.

What This Means by Performer Type

The pass and the chain above are the same across performance types. What changes is who the sponsor is and how much lead time the booking realistically needs.

• Festival acts (Rainforest World Music Festival, Borneo Jazz, and similar) — usually sponsored by the festival organiser. Large line-ups mean many applications at once, so these start earliest.
• Bar and lounge residencies — a singer, acoustic duo, or jazz trio booked for a stretch of weeks. The host venue is typically the sponsor, and its entertainment licence is the first thing to confirm.
• Club DJs — a DJ flown in for a weekend or a short residency. A short booking still needs the full pass and approval chain; there is no “just one night” shortcut.
• Concert and arena tours — international acts at larger venues. The promoter sponsors, and the touring crew may need their own arrangements alongside the performers.
• Corporate entertainment — a band, MC, dancer, or compere for a company dinner, product launch, or conference. The corporate client is usually the sponsor.
• Wedding entertainment — a foreign band or solo act for a destination wedding. A Sarawak-based sponsor (often the venue) still applies on the performer’s behalf.
• Cultural and religious performances — visiting troupes, gospel ensembles, and traditional acts. The inviting organisation sponsors.

One adjacent case to flag: foreign film and content production crews follow a related but separate Sarawak track, also routed through the Office of the Premier. If your project is filming rather than a live performance, tell us at intake — the documents and approvals differ.

How Citra Excel Helps

We are a JTKSWK-licensed Sarawak employment agency, and Professional Visit Pass work is part of what we do day to day. We do not promote concerts or book artists — promoters, venues, and corporate sponsors come to us for the immigration paperwork, because the Sarawak approval chain is the part most outsiders get wrong. We handle:

• Scoping — confirming the PVP (Performer) is the right pass and that the sponsor and venue are set up correctly
• Document preparation — compiling the sponsor and performer documents the way the authorities expect them
• STB endorsement — preparing for and supporting the interview, then the endorsement onward to ILMU
• ILMU and Immigration — following the application through approval, the bond, and PVP issuance
• Timeline planning — working backwards from your performance date so the pass is in hand in time

The venue licence and the performer’s tax are the two pieces sponsors most often miss until late. We flag both at the start, so there are no surprises on the night.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

1. Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia Sarawak (JIMS) — Professional Visit Pass (Visa, Pas & Permit division)
2. Office of the Premier of Sarawak / Sarawak State Secretary Office — Immigration, Labour and Management Unit (ILMU)
3. Sarawak Tourism Board — foreign performance endorsement
4. Section 109A, Income Tax Act 1967, read with LHDN Public Ruling No. 6/2017 — Withholding Tax on Income of a Non-Resident Public Entertainer
5. Local council entertainment-licence regimes — DBKU, MBKS, Majlis Bandaraya Miri, Majlis Perbandaran Sibu, and others