Kota Kinabalu: The Myonline Passport e-Service programme will be extended to UTC Immigration offices throughout Sabah, said State Immigration Department (JIM) Director Datuk SH Sitti Saleha Habib Yusoff.
She said the initiative aimed to increase the public’s understanding, especially applicants for Malaysian international passport (PMA) renewals, about the procedures on the use of the Myonline Passport e-Service, as well as to reduce congestion at the counter.
“This service in JIM’s official portal was implemented on July 1, 2020. However, it is still not well received by the community.
“It causes UTC Immigration offices across the country to often become overcrowded, especially on weekends and public holidays, because customers prefer to choose such time to physically attend.
“Therefore, in this initiative, we have set up a special counter with some facilitation officers to help 20 randomly selected customers on how to use the Myonline Passport e-Service, and we received positive feedback,” she explained.
Sitti Saleha said the statistics recorded the number of visitors physically present throughout 2020 was 8,229 before dropping to 3,889 the following year and jumping to 24,614 people as of October this year.
“Compared to the passport issuance statistics using the Myonline Passport e-Service for the period from January to September this year, there were only 5,460 applications.
“This shows the number of customers who come physically to the UTC Immigration office is more than online users,” she said at the launching of the MyOnline Passport Application Kiosk and Customer Meet Day at UTC Sabah.
She added that applicants aged 13 and above are highly encouraged to apply for PMA renewal. Those aged 13 and above are encouraged to use the Myonline Passport e-Service.
Applicants in the category of Persons with Disabilities (OKU), children aged 13 and under, students continuing their studies and pilgrims are not allowed to apply online.
Through the service, customers could choose to pick up their passport at the passport issuing office listed in the system.
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