With Covid basically on the back of everyone’s mind, people have started travelling overseas again. Many are eager to explore new destinations, reconnect with loved ones, and make up for lost time. So everyone ended up renewing their passports, but this gave the immigration offices a lot of headaches. Which why is the government is turning some off the busiest offices to online-only.
Free Malaysia Today reports that a pilot project will soon be implemented to convert immigration offices in the Klang Valley, which experience long queues on a daily basis, into fully online facilities. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that the initiative aims to reduce congestion and waiting times.
The pilot project is still being fine-tuned and will begin with the most crowded offices in the Klang Valley. Under the project, these offices will only process online applications and serve as collection centers for passports.
Saifuddin said the immigration department has had to extend working hours and open on weekends to alleviate the severe congestion faced by 21 of the 77 passport-issuing offices nationwide.
