Malaysian state offers visa extension for stranded Chinese tourists

Deputy Chief Minister of Malaysia's Sabah state Christina Liew (Source: www.thestar.com.my)

The Star newspaper quoted the Malaysian official as saying that visa extension could only be provided by the state immigration head office and was applicable only to Chinese tourists who arrived in Sabah before January 31, with a fee of 100 ringgit (about 25 USD).

Meanwhile, airlines have agreed to waive cancellation fees, she added.

The decision was made at emergency meetings on February 3 between the State’s competent authorities including the Sabah Immigration Department and Malaysian and Chinese airlines. The discussion focused on the extension of visas and travel arrangements to bring Chinese tourists back to cities in China other than Wuhan.

Liew, who is also Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister of Sabah, said that AirAsia was still operating flights from Sabah’s capital Kota Kinabalu to Shenzhen (14 times weekly), Guangzhou (seven times weekly), Hangzhou (five times weekly) and Kunming (twice weekly).

Malaysia Airlines flies to Shanghai twice a week while China Southern Airlines’ flights to Guangzhou end on February 6.

Meanwhile, two of the 107 Malaysians flown home on February 4 failed a health screening and were taken to Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

The remaining 105 people were ferried by buses to a monitoring centre in Negeri Sembilan, where they will be held for a 14-day quarantine period./.

VNA