Unused VDR approval file
Start by confirming in writing, from whoever handled the original application, that the candidate did not in fact enter Malaysia on the approved VDR — this is the fact the whole replacement application rests on, so it’s worth having clearly on record before anything else.
- Confirm in writing that the candidate did not enter on the approved VDR.
- Keep the original payment receipt and the approval reference linked to the replacement file.
- Ask whoever is submitting the application to name the next office, the person handling it, and an expected timeline.
The one official ground that applies here
Immigration’s FDH page states there are exactly two circumstances where a replacement VDR application is permitted: the worker entered Malaysia but was found medically unfit, or the worker never entered Malaysia after the VDR approval was issued — a no-show. This page covers the second circumstance specifically; the medically-unfit route follows FOMEMA’s own process and a separate reporting sequence not covered here.
The document set
For a no-show replacement application, Immigration’s stated documents are an application letter, the original VDR approval letter, a Check Out Memo where applicable, and the original payment receipt. Whether the Check Out Memo actually applies to a candidate who never entered the country — as opposed to one who did and later left — isn’t resolved by the source itself, which lists it with a "where applicable" qualifier rather than stating unconditionally that it’s required. Confirm this specific point with Immigration when submitting.
This is a permit process, not a placement guarantee
What Immigration’s mechanism governs is whether a fresh VDR application is administratively allowed — a permit-level question. Whether an agency actually provides a substitute candidate, on what timeline, and at what cost, is a separate commercial arrangement that this government process doesn’t address or regulate; confirm any replacement terms directly and in writing with the agency involved, rather than assuming the permit mechanism guarantees an outcome on that side.