Saifuddin: Malaysia will study proposal for passport with 10-year validity

The Star

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says the government will study the recent proposal to issue Malaysian passports with a 10-year validity based on the merits of such practice in other countries, but for now Malaysia will continue to maintain the five-year validity for its passports.  He was speaking to reporters during the Ministry's monthly gathering which coincided with the Madani government's first year of leading the ministry.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 The proposal by the Immigration Union to renew passport for 10 years, is there any consideration?

00:09 For now, the status quo, we will evaluate the proposal based on merit and good practices of other countries.

00:19 I know that half of the countries have a passport issuance policy valid for 10 years, while our country still has 5 years.

00:28 Since we are moving towards that, for now, the status quo, whether we will continue to close the proposal or not, the answer is no.

00:38 So we will continue to investigate, see the adequacy and need for the status quo.

00:45 When I entered the office, we faced a complaint from the people who almost every day,

00:52 they were mocking us, what was it? The issue of passport issuance and the issue of corruption at the entrance gate,

01:00 especially KLIA and also the Johor area, was so much felt.

01:05 Therefore, for the past year, we have been looking for ways to see what steps can help to solve it.

01:15 Now, relatively, based on public opinion, the situation has been greatly reduced.

01:29 Both in terms of passport issuance and corruption.

01:33 We implemented several initiatives, for example, asking for a passport does not necessarily physically come to the immigration office.

01:43 Passport issuance can also be done via the Thailand government, and ready in 2-3 days.

01:49 We made that decision based on, first, out of 100 new passport applications,

01:58 actually, almost 45% are applications via the Thailand government.

02:04 55% of them come to the immigration office themselves.

02:09 So we encouraged the people to use the application channels as much as possible on Thailand.

02:16 We established several passport issuance offices around Lembah Kelang,

02:20 which offer the service of application only on Thailand.

02:24 That helps to reduce it.

02:27 Second, we also found that for every 100 passport applications,

02:32 when they get a passport, only 60% of them are valid. The other 40% are kept.

02:39 They are just a part of the process.

02:41 So the part of the process is sometimes even more angry.

02:45 When they get it, they don't even go.

02:48 We saw that character, we studied it,

02:51 when we want to make a policy, we usually analyze the data first.

02:57 So when we do that, we help to reduce it as much as possible.

03:01 The door to entry is also one of the things that I often go down to see for myself.

03:08 So one of the initiatives we made is an auto gate, not only for Malaysians,

03:13 we also open it for travellers from foreign countries,

03:17 especially countries with low risk.

03:20 It turns out that it helps a lot to relieve the uncertainty.

03:25 We have a contraband route, especially in Tambak Johor.

03:29 If it's at the peak, the route should be open,

03:34 but we allow it to be an entry route.

03:37 So this contraband route also helps to relieve.

03:41 We added a counter and we make sure that at the peak, there can't be an empty counter.

03:46 There must be an officer at the counter.

03:49 If the officers are not enough,

03:51 at the immigration training centre, when the training is over,

03:55 we put the officers in Tambak Johor and KLIA.

04:00 So we do this all year round.

04:03 Our immigration training centre ends every two months.

04:07 70 days.

04:10 70 days after the training.

04:13 After the training, the main thing is the two main entrances.

04:17 So when there is no shortage in terms of personnel,

04:20 all counters have people, especially at the peak,

04:24 plus the counter route, plus the auto gate,

04:28 it's no longer a small initiative.

04:31 We found that it helps to reduce the pressure.

04:37 And this is also highlighted in the annual Leaders' Retreat,

04:42 Malaysia-Singapore, which I also attended.

04:46 This is one of the things.

04:50 [Silence]

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended