GEORGE TOWN – The Immigration Department will soon undertake a pilot project at urban localities where offices there would only process online applications for passports with the option for walk-in applications no longer available for adults.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the pilot will likely be carried out in the Klang Valley.
He said the pilot initiative is necessary, as applications for passports have spiked to four times more than the normal level following the end of the Movement Control Order.
Owing to this, many Immigration offices continue to struggle to meet the demand, he noted.
In view that some offices have been converted into fully online processing centres, Saifuddin said exceptions would be given to senior citizens, the disabled, children, and cases based on appeals from applicants.
He said the areas for the pilot project are those with 100% internet penetration rate such as the Klang Valley.
Saifuddin added that from the recent 2.8 million applicants, 45% applied for their passports online, and it takes only three minutes to fill up the particulars on the department’s website.
The applicants can then be given their passports within three to five working days, he said.
Saifuddin said another strategy to cope with the pressing demand for passports is the upgrading of printers at the immigration offices.
Their daily printing run is up to 500 copies, and the ministry has purchased new high-capacity printers which can go up to 1,000 copies daily, he said.
There are now 77 immigration centres tasked to process passport applications.
As for the upcoming state elections in Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Selangor, and Negri Sembilan, Saifuddin – who is PKR secretary-general – said that the first round of negotiations has been finalised between Pakatan Harapan and unity government allies such as Umno. – The Vibes, April 8, 2023
