NEW YORK: A change of leadership in the United States will not affect Malaysia’s efforts to be part of the country’s visa-waiver programme, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said the visa-waiver programme was set by the State Department, and the results of the US presidential election in November would unlikely influence the policy.
“I don’t think there should be a problem because the policy will remain even if there is a change of leadership in this country, as the (visa-waiver programme) policy was set by the State Department.
“And, the rules are not just for Malaysia, but for all countries,” Zahid said after a bilateral meeting with Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic here on Wednesday.
He said though he did not plan to pursue discussions on the matter during this working visit, Malaysia needed to bring its US visa application rejection rate to below three per cent, the only one of the seven requirements yet to be met by the country.
“We have a rejection rate of 3.34 per cent, and we are making efforts to bring this figure down.”
It was reported that one of the leading causes of Malaysian being denied a US visa was incorrectly filling in the forms, and Zahid said that travel agents had been enlisted to help with applications while awareness campaigns had been launched.