PUTRAJAYA, Feb 19 — The Immigration Department is looking into extending the validity of the Malaysian passport from the current five years to 10 years.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said today the department is conducting a survey to see the viability of Malaysia following the 10-year period adopted by some of its South-east Asian neighbours.
“This passport extension has been done among the Asean countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore.
“I believe that we could obtain the information from the survey and come to a policy decision on the necessity of five years to 10 years,” he told reporters after opening the new passport office at Skyfunnel Zone Shaftsbury Tower here this morning.
Saifuddin Nasution also said a passport office will be set up at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Sabah that is expected to start operating by June.
“This shows our determination to facilitate the communities in dealing with the Immigration Department by adding passport offices without additional staff,” he said.
He added that instead of hiring additional personnel, the new passport office in Kota Kinabalu will be manned by transfers from the Immigration headquarters.
