00:01Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng has criticized the Immigration Department over a blunder involving the extended validity of Malaysian passports,
00:09which caused some travelers to face problems with certain airlines overseas.
00:13In a statement, Lim said he welcomed the 10-year passport when it was introduced on July 1,
00:19but described the issue as a serious failure of planning and testing.
00:23The Immigration Department yesterday temporarily stopped issuing passports with more than 10 years validity
00:29after several passengers reported problems during check-in.
00:32Immigration Director General Zakaria Shaaban attributed the issues largely to confusion among some airlines
00:39over the requirement for passports to have at least six months validity remaining.
00:44Checks with the International Civil Aviation Organization confirmed there was no restriction on passports with more than 10 years validity.
00:52However, as a temporary measure, the department decided to issue passports with a maximum validity of 10 years
00:59while it sorts out the matter with ICAO and airlines.
01:03Existing passport holders with more than 10 years validity will receive free replacements with a maximum validity of 10 years.
01:11Lim said the Immigration Department had issued 26,000 new passports valid for more than 10 years
01:17because unused validity from previous passports was carried over.
01:21He urged the Home Ministry to order an independent audit to determine who proposed, tested, and approved the policy
01:28and the full cost of replacing the affected passports.
01:32His comments came after a social media user claimed some Malaysians faced difficulties returning from Zimbabwe
01:39with passports valid for 10 years and 6 months after renewing them 6 months before their previous passports expired.
01:46Radinora Kamar, FMT
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