MDAC for Children Under 18: Important 2026 Rules for Families

Yes, MDAC for children under 18 is mandatory, just like it is for every adult traveler. All travelers, including children under the age of 18, are required to submit a Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) before entering the country. There are no exemptions based on age. Each child, regardless of age, must have an individual MDAC submitted in their name, from a newborn infant to a teenager traveling with their family.

Why there’s no age exemption for MDAC

The MDAC exists to give Malaysian immigration a pre-arrival record tied to a specific passport, and that record has to match the person actually crossing the border, adult or child. A baby entering the country still holds their own passport, and that passport still gets checked at immigration, which is exactly why the MDAC requirement follows the passport rather than the age of the person holding it.

Unlike some countries that build in exceptions for infants or very young children, Malaysia’s system treats every traveler as an individual case, which means MDAC for children under 18 is not a simplified or optional version of the adult process. It’s the same form, with the same requirements, just filled out on the child’s behalf.

Who can submit the MDAC on behalf of a child

The parent or legal guardian is responsible for completing and submitting the MDAC on behalf of a minor. When filling out the form, the adult should ensure that all the child’s personal and travel information is accurate and up to date, passport number, date of birth, and nationality exactly as they appear on the child’s own passport, not copied or adapted from the parent’s details.

This is also where families most often run into extra work. If you’re traveling with more than one child, each one needs a fully separate submission, filled out individually rather than grouped under a single family record. For a family with two or three kids, that can mean repeating the same multi step form several times over, right in the middle of everything else that needs doing before a flight.

How we handle MDAC for children under 18 as part of a family application

If you are using the services of malaysiadigitalcard.com, you can easily include children as part of your group application. Our team will handle each individual MDAC, including those for minors, and deliver all completed cards to the email address you provide. Instead of filling out separate government forms for every child in your family, you send us the details once, and every child’s MDAC comes back ready, correctly filed under their own passport information, with nothing left for you to double check at the last minute.

This matters just as much for families as it does for individual adult travelers when it comes to the deadline. MDAC for children under 18 still has to be filed within the same 3 day window before arrival as everyone else’s, and with several children involved, that’s several separate deadlines to track rather than just one. Handing that over to a team that keeps track of it for you removes one more thing to worry about before a family trip.

Related questions for families traveling with children

A few other questions tend to come up alongside this one for parents planning a trip to Malaysia.

If you’re wondering whether the whole family can be combined under a single application at all, our page on whether one MDAC can cover a whole family or travel group explains why every traveler, adult or child, still needs their own individually filed card, and how our group form simplifies submitting for everyone at once.

If your child’s passport falls under a different visa category than yours, for example if only one parent’s nationality requires a visa, our breakdown of the difference between the MDAC and a visa for Malaysia is worth reading too, since visa rules and MDAC rules don’t always follow the same logic per traveler.

✅ Important: children must still go through immigration upon arrival, accompanied by their parent or guardian, and be prepared to present their MDAC along with a valid passport. If you’re not sure how to handle MDAC for children under 18 alongside your own application, reach out through our contact page and we’ll walk you through exactly what we need for every member of your family.