Most of the early admin in Kuching happens in a fairly predictable order: sort the visa, find somewhere to live, get the electricity and internet connected, open a bank account, then work out how you’ll get around. This page lists the guides I’ve written for each step, in roughly that order, so you can open the one you need today and leave the rest for later.
I moved here in 2016 to be closer to my wife’s family, and plenty of what’s on this site I learned by getting it wrong first. Take the order below as a sensible default, not a rule.
TL;DR
- Start with your visa, because it decides how long you can stay and what you’re allowed to do.
- Pick an area before you pick a flat. Where you live shapes your commute, your school run and your rent.
- Utilities, internet and a bank account come next, and each one is easier once the others are done.
- You’ll want a plan for getting around early, as the city is hard to cover on foot beyond the centre.
Step 1: Your Visa and Your Right to Stay
Everything else hangs off this. Visas and immigration for living in Kuching explains the main pathways and how Sarawak’s own immigration rules fit in.
- Coming with a partner or children? Which dependent or spouse pass your family needs.
- Thinking about retiring here? MM2H and residency in Sarawak, the basics.
- Already here and your pass is running out? How to renew or extend your visa in Kuching.
Step 2: Where to Live
The areas families actually settle in is the place to start, before you look at a single listing. Once you have an area in mind, renting against buying covers whether it ever makes sense to buy as a foreigner.
Step 3: Utilities and Internet
Setting up utilities in your first week walks through the accounts in the order you’ll open them. Two of them are worth reading on their own:
- SESCO and your electricity bill, because air conditioning is what drives it.
- Internet in Kuching, especially if you work remotely.
Step 4: Money and Banking
- Opening a bank account as a foreigner.
- Changing money and paying for things for your first days, before the account is open.
- Moving money to and from Malaysia once you’re settled.
Step 5: Getting Around
Getting around Kuching compares the options. If you’re not buying a car straight away, how Grab and taxis work here and renting a car cover the gap.
Step 6: Day-to-Day Life
- Supermarkets and where to buy groceries.
- Seeing a GP, and the healthcare guides for everything else.
- What the weather is like through the year, so the rain doesn’t catch you out.
Still Deciding Whether to Come?
If you haven’t committed yet, start a step earlier. What daily life is like and what a month here costs are the two pages I’d read first, and the full relocation guide covers the move itself in more detail than this page does.