Malaysia's Immigration Department on Monday urged the government to review the issue of visa-on-arrival in order to prevent tourists from overstaying in this country.

The policy should be reviewed once the 2007 Visit Malaysia Yearprogram ends, its enforcement director Ishak Mohamed said.

Since last September until April 30 this year, more than half of the 36,701 holders of this type of visa were found to have overstayed, Ishak told local reporters in the administrative center of Putrajaya.

A total of 20,481 tourists, mostly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, misused the visa during the period, Ishak noted.

Malaysia introduced the policy of visa-on-arrival last year to woo tourists from some 20 countries and regions. Foreign tourists had to pay 100 ringgit (28.57 U.S. dollars) before obtaining the visa for a one-month stay.