PUTRAJAYA, Aug 12 — Difficulties experienced by holders of Malaysian International Passports (PMA) with validity periods exceeding 10 years while travelling abroad were caused by systems used by certain airlines, rather than the immigration control systems of foreign countries, according to the Immigration Department.

Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said that, in terms of border controls and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, passports with validity periods exceeding 10 years did not pose a problem.

“It is not the country, it is the airlines. The immigration systems of any country do not have an issue with the validity period because they will simply enter the passport’s validity period.

“From the ICAO perspective and aviation standards, there is no issue... but the airlines have a problem,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Zakaria said the issue involved, among other things, systems used by airlines that set the maximum passport validity period at 10 years.

In this regard, Zakaria said Malaysia would bring the matter to ICAO for coordination with airlines, but no timeframe could be given for resolving the issue as it falls outside the department’s jurisdiction.

He explained that the department was still issuing PMAs with a 10-year validity and had only stopped granting additional validity carried forward from the previous passport that resulted in the overall validity of the new passport exceeding 10 years.

According to him, previously, applicants who renewed their passports early could receive an extension of up to six months based on the remaining validity of their old passports, resulting in the new passport having a validity period of up to 10 years and six months.

“After this, if they renew early, they will no longer get the extra period. They will get 10 years only. It will stop at 10 years,” he said.

Zakaria said existing passport holders whose passports have validity periods exceeding 10 years could obtain replacement passports free of charge.

He said the department would also issue a notice to all airlines to facilitate matters for Malaysians currently travelling abroad.

Regarding the number of 10-year PMAs issued since they were introduced on July 1, Zakaria said about 38,000 passports had been issued so far, of which 26,000 had validity periods exceeding 10 years. — Bernama