Immigration Department Extends Operating Hours For Passport Renewal

The Immigration Department (JIM) will be extending the operating hours of several offices and counters for passport renewal. Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said that apart from increasing the number of staff, the longer hours are to address the problems with the application and renewal of the International Malaysian Passport (PMA).

Starting from 11 May, the Immigration Department offices in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka will be extending their hours to 10 PM while the ones in Penang, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis will operate until 6 PM. In comparison to the upcoming change, the offices currently only open until 5.30 PM on weekdays.

All passport issuance offices in Peninsular Malaysia will also operate on Saturdays from 8 AM to 12.30 PM from May 14, whereas before this, only certain offices were open on weekends. Meanwhile, all Immigration Department counters at Urban Transformation Centres (UTC) in the Peninsula would operate until 10 PM.

Khairul said there was a 40% increase in the issuance of passports from 1 April to 6 May when compared to the same period last year, from 111931 to 165449. However, the department already anticipated the surge of passport applications and renewals with JIM preparing 970000 passports last March ahead of the border reopening, which should last until July. On a side note, the Online Appointment System (STO) will be abolished from immigration offices nationwide after 11 May.

(Source: Bernama, Immigration Department)

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