KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — Passport applications in the Klang Valley is going fully online, starting with three Immigration Department offices at Kelana Jaya, Wangsa Maju, and Kajang.
The announcement was made by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail today, New Straits Times reported this afternoon.
“The branches were also selected due to their good Internet connectivity which enables online passport services,” he was quoted telling a news conference at the Immigration Department in Putrajaya.
He reportedly said that the accessibility of 5G internet connection in the Klang Valley also means faster connection speeds.
He said the three Immigration offices will handle the online passport renewal applications for those the following age groups: 13–18, 18–59 and those 60 and above.
He said counter staff at these branches will no longer accept walk-in applications for those aged 13 to 59.
But he added walk-ins will still be accepted at other Immigration offices.
In August last year, the Selangor Immigration Department (JIM) reportedly introduced the MyOnline Passport Kiosk at the Selangor Urban Transformation Centre (UTC), said a report from national news agency Bernama.
The service was aimed at facilitating the process of obtaining a passport for applicants easily and quickly, the department reportedly said in a post on its Facebook account.
“Selangor is estimated to have 2,900 PMA applications per day and almost 60,000 applications per month. High production makes Selangor JIM one of the highest PMA-producing offices in Malaysia.
“On this basis, Selangor JIM is taking a proactive approach to help walk-in applicants to its office at the UTC, especially during peak hours,” the post reportedly said.
Prior to that, the Malaysian Immigration Department formed a special team to handle only online applications for passport renewals in June of that year.
Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the project was being tested and will soon be implemented in the Klang Valley.
“We started in Johor by placing eight immigration officers from other states there and their task is to only give approvals and nothing else.
“We could start this as soon as next week as we are still in the midst of finding the officers we can place in Klang Valley,” Dzaimee said during a press conference in Putrajaya.