As the COVID-19 pandemic transitions locally into the endemic phase, Malaysia’s international borders will be reopening come 1 April. As the country opens itself to visitors from abroad, locals will also presumably be taking the opportunity to travel. In light of this, the Immigration Department has prepared 970000 passport books for renewals.
Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said that this number of passports should be enough for Malaysians who want to renew their passports until July. The number of books prepared was chosen based on the number of passport renewals in the country before the pandemic hit. Specifically, Malaysia sees 2.3 million to 2.5 million passport renewals a year.
For those already making plans for overseas trips, the good news is that immigration autogates will be operating normally. This means, at least in this aspect, things are returning to normalcy and there’s no need to spend more time than necessary in that part of your travels.
On the flip side, on your way back, you’ll have to fork out money to get tested on your own. The silver lining is you have the choice to take professional tests either at the airport or with other private medical facilities outside within 24 hours.
(Source: Bernama)
