FOMEMA Malaysia Medical Exam: Coverage, Results, and Appeals

The FOMEMA medical examination is the health screening every foreign worker in Malaysia must pass before the Immigration Department will issue or renew a Temporary Employment Visit Pass (PLKS). FOMEMA, the Foreign Workers Medical Examination Monitoring Agency, was appointed by the Ministry of Health in 1997 as the sole operator of the screening system.¹ The exam covers blood tests, urine analysis, and a chest X-ray, and results move electronically from FOMEMA to Immigration. Since 16 December 2023, the screening is required every year for all foreign workers, not only at initial hiring or permit renewal.²

When the Exam Has to Happen

Employers must register a new foreign worker for the medical examination within seven working days of the worker’s arrival in Malaysia. Miss that window and permit renewals get complicated, and the employer can face enforcement action under the Immigration Act 1959/63.

For workers already in the country, the exam repeats every year. A permit that runs for multiple years does not exempt the worker from the annual screening.²

Registering the Worker

Registration happens on the FOMEMA online portal. Individual employers (typical for those hiring domestic helpers) need a copy of a Malaysian NRIC, or a passport for non-citizens. Company employers need the SSM registration documents (Form 9 or equivalent), the contact person’s NRIC or passport, and a letter authorizing that person to handle worker registrations.³

Once the employer account is active, each worker is registered individually. You’ll need the worker’s original passport and a copy of their current work permit, calling visa, Maid Online slip, or Recalibration approval slip from the Immigration Department.³ The name, nationality, and gender must match the passport exactly. A mismatch causes delays that can push you past the seven-day registration window.

During registration, you select a panel clinic and a separate X-ray facility from FOMEMA’s approved provider list. The clinic locator on the FOMEMA site lets you search by location. Facilities close to the worker’s accommodation save time, because the worker attends both in person.

Fees and Forms

The examination fee is RM207 for male workers and RM217 for female workers, with the extra covering a pregnancy screening test. Payment goes through the portal by debit or credit card, online banking, QR code, or e-wallet.⁴ After payment, the system generates a Medical Examination Form together with lab and X-ray request slips. Print all of them before the appointment; the clinic needs them to proceed.

What the Examination Covers

At the panel clinic, a licensed doctor runs a general physical assessment: blood pressure, basic vision, skin check for signs of infectious conditions, and a look for physical abnormalities. Blood and urine samples are then collected on site. The blood work screens for Hepatitis B, syphilis, HIV, and malaria parasites. Urine testing covers cannabis and opiates, and pregnancy for female workers.

A separate visit to the designated X-ray facility is required for a chest radiograph. This is the most consequential part of the exam. Tuberculosis is the leading reason workers are certified unsuitable, and FOMEMA’s stance is strict: even signs of old, inactive TB that could reactivate will fail the screening. Any X-ray flagged for TB is reviewed by a FOMEMA panel consultant radiologist before the final determination.⁵

Conditions That Fail a Worker

The Ministry of Health sorts disqualifying conditions into two categories. Category 1 covers automatic disqualifiers with no discretion:

Communicable diseases: tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, HIV, malaria, leprosy, and sexually transmitted diseases
Non-communicable conditions: psychiatric illness, cannabis or opiate use, pregnancy, epilepsy, and cancer

Category 2 covers chronic diseases that may result in an unsuitable determination when the condition is uncontrolled or requires prolonged treatment: kidney disease, peptic ulcer, heart disease, asthma, hypertension, and diabetes.⁶ Well-managed diabetes may pass; uncontrolled blood sugar will not. Category 1 leaves no such room.

Getting the Result

FOMEMA transmits the worker’s medical status to Immigration within 10 working days from the date the doctor conducted the exam. The clock runs from the exam date, not the portal registration date.⁵ Employers check progress by logging in at portal.fomema.my and entering the worker’s passport number. The status updates as lab results, X-ray reading, and final certification come in.

The final reading is either “Suitable” or “Unsuitable.” Suitable means Immigration can proceed with issuing or renewing the PLKS. The result is sent digitally, so there is no paper certificate to carry to the Immigration office.²

An Unsuitable result blocks the permit automatically. The employer is expected to arrange the worker’s repatriation, and the timeframe should be confirmed with the Immigration Department.² Continuing to employ the worker after an Unsuitable result risks prosecution under the Immigration Act 1959/63, with fines from RM10,000 to RM50,000 per worker, imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both.

Appealing an Unsuitable Result

Employers and agencies have two weeks from the certification date to register an appeal through the employer portal at portal.fomema.my.⁷ FOMEMA sends an email to eligible employers advising them to submit. Appeal payment is processed through the portal as well.

Several of the most common failure reasons cannot be appealed at all: tuberculosis confirmed on radiologist audit, malaria confirmed on blood film, pregnancy confirmed on serum test, syphilis confirmed on TPHA, reactive HIV antibody, and reactive Hepatitis B surface antigen. Appeals are in practice limited to Category 2 chronic conditions and cases where initial screening may have been borderline or erroneous.

When an appeal requires additional tests, the appeal panel clinic must submit results to FOMEMA within four weeks of the appeal registration date. If documentation is not submitted in that window, the case closes automatically. For a panel hospital visit, bring the worker’s original passport, the invoice or proof of payment from the portal, and a referral letter from the panel clinic if a specialist review is needed.⁷

One point catches employers out. A second opinion from a private specialist outside the FOMEMA panel does not override the result. The Ministry of Health criteria applied by FOMEMA take precedence over any non-panel doctor’s assessment, and the only recognized path to reversing an Unsuitable certification is the FOMEMA appeal itself.²

1
FOMEMA. About FOMEMA
2
FOMEMA. Foreign Worker’s Medical Examination
3
FOMEMA. FOMEMA Employer Registration Malaysia – Step-by-Step Guide
4
FOMEMA. Payments and Refunds
5
FOMEMA. FAQ
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FOMEMA. FOMEMA Unsuitable Criteria
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FOMEMA. Appeal Procedure