Ten questions to ask before you pay anyone.
Kuala Lumpur under construction
Ten checks, no firm named
The Agent Test.
Ten things you can check about any firm offering to help with foreign workers. All you need is public information and a few questions in writing. We name no firm anywhere on this page. A list of accusations would only tell you who we dislike. This tells you how to decide for yourself.
Run it on us too. Our answers are below, including the ones that make us look bad.
- 01
Ask for the licence number, then look it up yourself
Any firm bringing foreign workers into Malaysia needs a JTKSM licence. Ask for the number in writing. Then look it up on the official register yourself. Do not accept a screenshot.
A good answer
A number, in writing, that you find on the register under the same company name.
A bad answer
A licence shown only as a picture. A number that brings up a different company. Or a reason why you do not need to check.
Our answer
We hold no JTKSM licence, because we do not recruit anyone. Our partner agency does. Their number goes on this site once we sign. If it is not in our footer yet, we have not signed. We would rather tell you that than show you a number you cannot check.
- 02
Ask who pays the recruitment cost
The answer should be: the employer. Ask what the worker is charged in total, including anything collected back home.
A good answer
A clear statement that the employer bears recruitment costs and the worker pays nothing for the job.
A bad answer
A vague answer. Or a setup where a wage deduction, a 'processing fee' or a payment back home lands on the worker.
Our answer
The employer pays. We will not take on a job set up to charge the worker, and we will tell you if a quote you were shown does that.
- 03
Ask who the government money is paid to
Levy, bond and permit fees are paid by your company to official portals. Ask if the firm collects any of it for you.
A good answer
You pay the government directly, in your company's name, and they show you where.
A bad answer
Any offer to collect, hold or settle government payments for you.
Our answer
We never take a single ringgit of government money. If we ever offer to, walk away.
- 04
Ask for the quote broken into government charges and margin
Ask for two columns: what goes to the government, and what the firm keeps. Any decent firm can do this in an afternoon.
A good answer
A line-by-line breakdown you can check against published rates.
A bad answer
One big number, or a refusal because it is 'package pricing'.
Our answer
We publish our fees, and we will go through any other firm's quote with you line by line, free.
- 05
Ask what happens if the application is rejected
Ask before you pay anything: what is refunded, what is not, and who decides.
A good answer
A written answer, in the agreement, naming amounts.
A bad answer
Reassurance that it will not happen.
Our answer
The Open File is free, so there is nothing to refund. What matters is whether the answer exists in writing anywhere before you commit.
- 06
Ask them to guarantee the outcome, and watch what happens
This is a trap and you should set it on purpose. Four agencies decide, against published rules.
A good answer
A firm that tells you plainly that nobody can guarantee an approval.
A bad answer
A guarantee of any kind. Also any hint of speed, special access, or knowing someone who can move it along.
Our answer
We cannot promise you will be approved, and neither can anyone quoting you. Anyone who hints otherwise is describing something you do not want to be part of.
- 07
Check whether the same claim holds across their whole site
Read two or three of their pages. Do the client numbers match? Does the same customer have the same job title everywhere? Do the figures agree?
A good answer
Numbers and names that agree wherever they appear.
A bad answer
A client count that changes between pages, or a customer whose job title changes.
Our answer
We have no customer quotes and no client count, because we have no clients. That is the worst answer on this page and it is the true one.
- 08
Ask how long the firm has existed, then check the domain
A free whois lookup shows when their website address was registered. Compare that to the years of experience they claim.
A good answer
A history that matches, or a straight explanation of a new brand on an older company.
A bad answer
Decades of claimed experience on a website registered months ago, with no explanation.
Our answer
We are new. Registered in 2026, no track record, no finished files yet. The counter on our homepage starts at zero and we did not start it higher.
- 09
Ask for a figure's source
Pick any number on their site: a levy, a timeline, a fee. Ask where it came from and when they last checked it.
A good answer
A source, a link, and a date.
A bad answer
That is the standard rate. Or a number that turns out to be last year's.
Our answer
Every figure we publish has a source and a date we checked it. They are all in one place.
- 10
Ask what they have got wrong
Everyone in this business has been wrong about something. The question is whether they wrote it down.
A good answer
A specific answer, ideally written down somewhere you can read.
A bad answer
Nothing comes to mind.
Our answer
Two entries, numbered and dated, both from before this site went live. They are published in full and they stay there.
Use it
Take it to your next meeting.
Print this page, or send the link to whoever is handling your application. We ask nothing for it and there is nothing to fill in. If a firm answers all ten well, that is a good firm. Tell them, not us.
ClearHire is an advisory firm, is not a licensed employment agency, and does not recruit, place or transport workers. Nothing here is a promise of approval and nothing here is legal advice. This page only describes public checks you can run. It says nothing about any particular firm.