SINGAPORE, June 9 — For Malaysians residing overseas with their passports expiring in 2021, the Immigration Department of Malaysia has decided to extend for two years the validity period for Malaysian International Passports (MIP).

In a Facebook posting, the Immigration Section at High Commission of Malaysia in Singapore said the move is aimed to facilitate the surge in MIPs renewal overseas.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many countries to impose various travel conditions and restrictions which led to many Malaysians postponing their travel plans.

"This prolonged postponing has caused many to stay longer overseas and some Malaysians finding it necessary to renew their passport overseas because of the impending expiration date.

"This has resulted in the sudden increase of MIP renewal at overseas offices,” it said.

The Section said those affected may choose to have the extension stamped at the Observation Page or at page 48 at the nearest High Commission or Embassy.

"There is no fee for the extension,” it said, adding that this extension service is available immediately.

The Section said interested applicants can submit their application for this extension by filling the form available at the High Commission and submitting the form at the drop box at the High Commission.

"An email will be sent to the application for the date of appointment,” it said.

At the same time, the Section said those who wished to renew their MIPs as per current procedure may continue to do so.

However, the Section said the current waiting time to get a MIP renewal including online renewals will take eight to 12 weeks.

"This is due to high volume of MIP applications in the system,” said the Section.

The Immigration Section at the High Commission here said it can only cater to a finite number of manual applications due to its limitation in machine and man power as well as adhering to social distancing regulations.

The Section said it has been operating to from 8am 7pm daily since July 2020. — Bernama