KUALA LUMPUR – Getting your passport renewed, especially now that national borders have reopened, can be a daunting task for the unprepared.
While the Immigration Department has extended the operating hours of all its service counters to 10pm in several states to cope with the influx of passport applications, certain caveats still apply depending on the location you are in.
For example, checks done by The Vibes at UTC Selangor in Shah Alam showed that immigration counters close at 4.30pm.
A UTC Selangor employee who wishes to remain anonymous said the immigration service counters will operate until 10pm only June 1 onwards.
On May 23, Immigration Department Director-General Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said immigration offices at the urban transformation centres (UTCs) in Peninsular Malaysia will operate until 10pm beginning May 25.
He added that immigration offices at the UTCs in Perlis, Terengganu, and Pahang, however, would only operate until 6pm.
On May 9, he said immigration offices in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor, Negri Sembilan, and Melaka will extend operating hours until 10pm, and similarly, all passport-issuing offices in these states will also operate every Saturday from 8am to 1pm beginning May 14.
A similar check at the Home Ministry complex in Jalan Duta here showed that the immigration passport counters are open until 10pm.
However, these counters only process online applications and are not open on Saturdays, while walk-in services are only extended to the disabled, children, first-time applications, and the elderly.
It is also important to note that counters open until 10pm will also go on dinner break from 7pm to 8pm, apart from a lunch break earlier in the day. – The Vibes, May 30, 2022
