SHAH ALAM: Selangor recorded the highest number of applications, compared to other states in the country for the Labour Recalibration Programme (RTK) 2.0, with more than RM100 million collected in levy and compound between January and May 10 this year.

Selangor Immigration director Dr Muhammad Syahmi Jaafar said the collection was made through applications and registration of a total of 182,754 illegal immigrants.

One of the factors that contributed to the high number of applications, he said, was because of many factories operating in the industrial areas in Selangor.

Of the total application received, some 20,794 of them had gone through the verification process and a total of 19,699 applications had been approved, he told a press conference after observing the implementation of RTK 2.0 for Foreign Domestic Workers (PRA) at the Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) here today.

The RTK 2.0 is to legalise foreign workers, including domestic helpers, and according to Muhammad Syahmi, there are 7,250 active PRAs in Selangor, with the highest number of them involving Indonesian nationals (4,686), followed by the Philippine nationals (2,091) and Vietnamese (201).

Among the source countries allowed as PRA are Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal and Laos, he said.

Based on the statistics of the RTK 2.0 programme for PRA in Selangor, he said, a total of 733 applications were received.

-- BERNAMA