Work Permit Agent in Sarawak
The word “agent” does a lot of unlicensed work in this state. Anyone can print it on a name card. In Sarawak it means something narrower and checkable: a company holding a licence issued by Jabatan Tenaga Kerja Sarawak (JTKSWK), with a number you can ask for and verify.
A licence issued in Kuala Lumpur is not that licence. Sarawak runs its own immigration and its own labour licensing, and a peninsular agency cannot lodge a Sarawak filing on your behalf — a fact that reliably surprises companies expanding east.
Licensing authority
JTKSWK
Our licence
JTKSWK0006-C/25
Operating since
2019
What a Licensed Agent Legally Is
Private employment agencies in Malaysia operate under the Private Employment Agencies Act 1981 (amended 2017). The licence is issued to a company, not a person; it carries a number; and it is checkable. Operating without one is an offence, and it is the operator the Act reserves its heaviest penalties for.
In Sarawak the licence comes from JTKSWK rather than the federal labour department, which follows from the state's immigration autonomy under the Malaysia Agreement 1963. The practical consequence is blunt: a work permit valid in Peninsular Malaysia is not valid here, and an agency licensed there cannot file here. Both facts catch out otherwise careful employers.
Ours is JTKSWK0006-C/25, and it is on the licences page with the SSM registration and the KJRI Kuching certificate. If any agency cannot produce its number when asked, that is the end of the conversation — not a detail to sort out later. Our guide on why the licence matters goes through what actually goes wrong when it is missing.
What an Agent Files, and What Only You Can Do
This is the line most people are unclear about, and it matters, because the half you cannot delegate is the half that carries the liability.
The Agent's Side
What we do on your behalf
- Lodgement:
- AP quota, Labour Licence, PLKS, Employment Pass, PVP and PLIK — prepared, submitted, and tracked through to issuance
- Visas:
- The eVDR — the visa with reference the worker travels on
- Bookings:
- Medical screening and biodata appointments, inside the windows that expire
- Counters:
- Attendance at Immigration and the Immigration & Labour Integrated Centre so your staff do not queue
- Renewals:
- The calendar — the part employers forget until it is 30 days too late
Your Side
What cannot be delegated to anyone
- Employer of record:
- You employ the worker. An agent never becomes the employer, whatever the arrangement is called
- The account:
- The ALIANCE and GENESIS account is yours, and the declarations made in it are made in your name
- The contract:
- Wages, hours, and the employment contract itself
- Conditions:
- Accommodation, social security registration, and the statutory obligations that follow the worker
- The liability:
- A false declaration is on the company it was made for, no matter whose hands typed it
Quick rule: an agent moves your application through the system. An agent cannot become the employer, and no agent can make a non-compliant hire compliant. Anyone promising otherwise is selling you a problem with a delay on it.
Which System Each Pass Goes Through
Sarawak's applications do not all live in one queue. GENESIS is the umbrella portal, ALIANCE is the login that gets you into it, and underneath sit separate modules by worker category. An agent files across all of them.
- •SANSOLS — general and skilled workers, and the AP quota that has to exist before any of them. See general worker recruitment
- •EXPRT — expatriates and professionals on an Employment Pass
- •HAVEN — foreign domestic helpers, the only route since the counters closed to manual maid submissions
- •eVDR — the Electronic Visa Dengan Rujukan, the visa with reference a worker actually enters on
- •Short-term professionals — PVP and PLIK, for project work and one-off specialist visits
Biodata is captured at the Immigration & Labour Integrated Centre. Passes are issued by Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia Sarawak. The agency itself is licensed by JTKSWK. Three different bodies, and getting them in the wrong order is the most common reason a file goes quiet.
How to Verify Any Agent in Sarawak
Ask for the number
The JTKSWK licence number, in writing. Evasion is the answer
Check the category
A licence covers specific categories. Confirm yours is one of them
Verify the company
SSM registration, and that it matches the name on the licence
Follow the money
Payment goes to a company account, never to an individual
More warning signs in our compliance red-flag checklist.
What Getting This Wrong Costs
The penalties are not theoretical, and they are not aimed only at the operator.
- •Operating an unlicensed agency — a fine of up to RM200,000 and imprisonment of up to 3 years, under the Private Employment Agencies Act 1981. This one falls on the operator
- •Employing an undocumented worker — under Section 55B of the Immigration Act 1959/63, a fine of RM10,000 to RM50,000 per worker and imprisonment of up to 12 months. This one falls on you
- •Invalid permits — workers placed through an unlicensed channel may hold paperwork that does not survive an inspection, which is how an employer discovers the problem
- •No recourse — when an unlicensed operator disappears, there is no regulator to complain to, because there was never a licence to revoke
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an agent to apply for a Sarawak work permit?
Not for every step. An employer with a Sarawak entity can hold the ALIANCE account and sponsor directly. In practice most employers use a licensed agent for at least the first cycle, and some steps — the eVDR in particular — run through a licensed agency regardless.
Is a West Malaysian agency licence valid in Sarawak?
No. Sarawak licenses its own employment agencies through JTKSWK, and issues its own work permits under its immigration autonomy. A peninsular licence does not authorise anyone to lodge a Sarawak application. Read the guide for Peninsular employers.
What is JTKSWK?
Jabatan Tenaga Kerja Sarawak — the Sarawak Labour Department. It issues the licences that allow a company to operate as an employment agency in the state, and administers the labour-side approvals for hiring foreign workers.
Can an agent submit inside my own ALIANCE account?
The account and the declarations made in it belong to the employer. An agent prepares, lodges and tracks the application, but you remain the employer of record and you carry the liability for what is declared. Any arrangement that blurs this should worry you.
How do I check that an agency licence is real?
Ask for the JTKSWK licence number in writing, confirm it covers the worker category you are hiring for, verify the SSM registration matches the licensed company name, and make sure payment goes to a company account rather than an individual. Ours are published on our licences page.
Does an agent handle renewals as well as new applications?
Yes, and it is where an agent earns most of its keep. Permits run on annual cycles with windows that open and close — a renewal that is left until the pass has already expired is a much larger problem than one filed early.
Need a Licensed Agent in Sarawak?
Speak to the person who will actually be running your file.
Julius Ting
Managing Director
Talk to Julius about Sarawak work permits and immigration applications.
Prefer email or a form? Contact us here.