Klang Valley residents who are planning to renew their passports should take note, as three specific immigration offices in the area will no longer accept walk-in applications starting next month. As announced by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, the branches in question include Kajang, Kelana Jaya and Wangsa Maju.
All three offices will fully shift all of their passport services, such as renewals and applications, to go online-only for individuals aged 13 to 59 years old. That being said, those who are aged 12 below, 60 and above, as well as pilgrims and students under the age of 21 who have offers to study abroad are still able to conduct walk-in applications at these locations.
Speaking at a press conference after the immigration department’s Outstanding Service Award 2023 event on Tuesday, Saifuddin explained that the Kajang, Kelana Jaya and Wangsa Maju offices were selected as they are the most popular and have issued the highest number of passports in the Klang Valley. “The branches were also selected due to their good Internet connectivity which enables online passport services,” he added.
As you may recall, the Home Minister previously announced plans of piloting online-only immigration offices in the region last month. These select locations will only act as collection centres for those who applied for their passport through the immigration department’s online portal, with the primary purpose of helping the branches cope with the massive number of daily visitors.
Meanwhile, Selangor Immigration director Dr Muhammad Syahmi Jaafar told reporters today that this upcoming online-only implementation is expected to further improve and optimise the department’s ability to issue passports. In addition, he also revealed that technical preparations and manpower resources have been mobilised for this new initiative.
It is also worth mentioning that Selangor Immigration Department initially announced the initiative last year, which it dubbed as the MyOnline Passport Kiosk. Even prior to that, the Immigration Department of Malaysia resorted to forming a special team to specifically handle the heavy stream of online passport applications and renewals in the Klang Valley after the reopening of Malaysia’s borders in April 2022.
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