PUTRAJAYA : The Immigration Department has implemented several measures to address the shortage of passports and ensure that the service delivery system is not affected.
Immigration director-general Datuk Mustafar Ali said the measures include instructing the passport vendors to increase the passport supply and production; reintroducing the online passport system; processing passports on the same day; and setting up a special counter for senior citizens, children and pregnant women.
"We have instructed the suppliers to increase the production of passports to 320,000 pieces for August; and 400,000 passports for September, October and November.
"We will also reintroduce the online passport system next month to reduce congestion at the counters, and enablr the public to apply passports online.
"Currently, passports will be processed on the same day, or the latest by the next day if the application is made in the evening.
"We will also provide a special counter for the elderly, children, pregnant women, as well as facilities for Hajj and emergency cases," he said in a statement today.
Mustafar said the shortage of passports was due to the failure of the biodata polycarbonate data page vendors to deliver them on schedule, and that the stipulated amount of passports could not be produced.
He said the department is working hard to resolve the passport shortage issue.
"The old passports can still be used if they have yet to reach the expiry date and there is no need to change to a new passport.
"As of July 31, a total of 1,464,820 passports have been issued."
"A total of 76,253 passports have been produced in August alone." he said.
He said news reports claiming that passport renewals and new applications would take up to six months, are untrue.
Following the report, the department's offices nationwide have been flooded with people seeking to apply for or renew their passports.
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