> This guide is built from the Immigration Department of Malaysia's own service pages (imi.gov.my) for internal travel documents, restricted travel documents, domestic travel and the section 66 exemption, the malaysia.gov.my mirror of the Restricted Travel Document page (last updated 23 September 2026), the Sabah and Sarawak labour departments' pages on non-resident employees, and Part VII of the Immigration Act 1959/63. All were read on 26 September 2026. Where a figure is not published officially, we say so.

Every year, someone flies from KLIA to Kota Kinabalu or Kuching and is surprised to find an immigration counter at the end of a domestic flight. It is not a mistake. When Sabah and Sarawak joined Malaysia in 1963, both kept control over who may enter and stay, and that autonomy is written into Part VII of the Immigration Act, "Special Provisions for East Malaysia". Section 64 treats each state as a separate immigration unit, and section 66 says a citizen who does not belong to the state needs a pass or permit to enter, unless exempt.

In practice, for most visitors, this costs nothing and takes a minute. It becomes real paperwork only if you stay long or take a job.

A holiday or business visit: MyKad and a free slip

For a short trip, you do not need a passport. The Immigration Department issues West Malaysians a Document in Lieu of Internal Travel Document at the immigration counters in the arrival halls of Sabah and Sarawak airports. It is free, valid for one journey, and comes with a Social Visit Pass or Business Visit Pass of up to three months. In Sabah, the pass slip is the familiar IMM.114.

What to show:

  • Age 12 and above: your MyKad, or a police or armed forces identity card.
  • Under 12: a birth certificate or adoption certificate. A MyKid works too.
  • Lost your MyKad? Immigration's domestic-travel page accepts a valid temporary identity card from JPN, and a passport is always accepted.

At KKIA, flights from the Peninsula, Sarawak and Labuan are routed to a separate arrival hall signposted "Ketibaan Semenanjung/Sarawak/Labuan", with its own "All Passport" counters. The MyNIISe e-gates that the Home Ministry began installing at KKIA and Kuching from March 2026 were announced for international arrivals; nothing official says they serve domestic flights, so plan on the manual counter. The COVID-era enterSarawak form was scrapped on 1 April 2022 and is not needed.

Staying longer than three months

If you are moving to Sabah or Sarawak, studying there, or staying beyond three months for any reason, the document is the Restricted Travel Document (Dokumen Perjalanan Terhad, DPT). It costs RM5, lasts five years, and can be extended for another five years for RM5. You need your MyKad (or a military, police or temporary identity card), a birth certificate if under 12, parental consent if under 18, and two 3.5cm by 5cm photos on a white background. Immigration offices in every state issue it, including Labuan and eight offices in Sarawak.

For students, UNIMAS's student centre helps undergraduates from the Peninsula and Sabah apply for and renew their DPT, which is the clearest sign that a semester-long stay needs one.

Working there is a different matter

This is where people get caught. A Social or Business Visit Pass covers meetings, site visits and conferences. It does not let you take up employment, and Sarawak's minister in charge said in November 2024 that West Malaysians, "whether they are engineers or vocational", need work permits, and that a social pass cannot be used even for two or three days of work.

  • Sabah: anyone who does not belong to Sabah is a "non-resident employee". The employer must hold a Licence to Employ Non-Resident Workers under section 118 of the Sabah Labour Ordinance, applied for through the eNORES system, and report within 14 days of the job starting. The pass for Malaysians from the Peninsula or Sarawak is called the Malaysia Work Pass.
  • Sarawak: the employer needs a licence under section 119 of the Sarawak Labour Ordinance, the job must first be advertised on job.sarawak.gov.my, and applications go through the state's GENESIS system. Employing without a licence carries a fine of up to RM50,000, a year's jail, or both. Sarawak's Employment Pass for non-Sarawakians requires a salary of at least RM3,000 a month and runs for one to five years.

New licensing rules for both states came into force on 15 February 2026, as the law firm Skrine noted in March. Neither labour department publishes the pass fee for Malaysians on its official page, so ask your employer's HR, and be wary of agents quoting figures.

Who is exempt: section 66 exempts federal, state and joint public servants (including teachers and doctors posted there), federal and state ministers and assemblymen, and judges, together with their wives and children under 18. In Sabah, civil servants get a free section 66 endorsement stamp, which takes about ten minutes.

Moving between Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan

Each state checks separately. The Sindumin (Sabah) and Merapok (Sarawak) immigration posts sit side by side on the border and open 6am to midnight. The coastal road from Miri to Lawas runs through Brunei, which needs an international passport or the Restricted Passport to Brunei (RM50, five years), available only to citizens living in Sabah, Sarawak or Labuan.

Labuan is a Federal Territory, but that does not make it a back door: full immigration checks have applied at Labuan Airport since 2 May 2017, and the Home Minister ordered stricter checks at Labuan's ferry terminals in September 2022.

On the way out

Keep your pass slip or document with your MyKad. Immigration's domestic-travel page lists what it accepts when you leave, and requires a valid pass and your boarding pass. In Sabah, if your IMM.114 has expired you cannot leave until you obtain an Exit Check Memo from the Visa, Pass and Permit Division, so if your plans run long, go to the state immigration office before the three months are up.

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*Cover image: Immigration counters in the Peninsula/Sarawak/Labuan arrival hall at Kota Kinabalu International Airport, by Taufik, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.*