Earlier in the year, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that there will be a new MyKad as well as a new passport, featuring improved security. More recently, the Immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban has announced that for the latter, the rollout begins on 1 June. It will be issued at four offices first, before being made more widely available before July ends.
The Star cites Zakaria as saying that the first four offices in question are the Immigration headquarters in Putrajaya, the Kuala Lumpur office, and the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) offices in Wangsa Maju and Shah Alam. Other offices will gradually be able to issue the new passports in stages, until it is available at all offices before the end of July.
Also mentioned in the report is that the new passport features 94 security elements, compared to the 49 in the current one. It’s not an exhaustive list, but Zakaria mentions a few of them, including holograms, ultraviolet printing and special security threads used in its stitching, among others. All of them make the new passport more difficult to forge.
Despite the new one rolling out, he also asks the public to not rush to replace their current passports. These will still be valid until their expiry date. “This needs to be communicated so that the public will not crowd immigration offices to renew their passports for the new version. I hope this message reaches all Malaysians”, he was quoted as saying.
Amusingly, he also reminds the public to not use AI-generated photos when applying for their passport online. “Our officers who process the applications have the expertise and are able to tell the difference”, he said. Astro Awani cites Zakaria as saying that there have been at least three cases involving applicants sending in AI photos.
(Source: The Star, Astro Awani)
