MELAKA: The Immigration Department receives an average of 2.5 million passport renewal applications annually and the number is expected to increase, says director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali.

He said more than 542,000 passports were issued by the department from January to March this year, with 2,487 of the documents obtained through online applications via the MyOnline Passport system.

He also encouraged Malaysians to renew their passports using the system which was introduced since Sept 1, 2016.

“The renewal via MyOnline Passport is one of the efforts by the department to address overcrowding at immigration offices nationwide, as well as to improve the public delivery system and service to customers.

“People can renew their passports at any time and choose the nearest immigration office to collect their passports in less than 10 minutes,” Mustafar told reporters after visiting the Urban Transformation Centre here today.

Also present were the department’s security and passport division deputy director, Naeem Azmi Niaz Ahmad and state immigration department director Mohd Fauzi Abdullah.

Meanwhile, Mustafar said the suggestion to issue a special pass to a Syrian man who had been stranded for over a month at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 in Sepang should be reviewed thoroughly, in accordance with the department’s standard operating procedures.

He said this was because the issue involved the security and sovereignty of the country, as well as to avoid negative implications including the heavy presence of homeless people.

Yesterday, Home Deputy Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the ministry was considering issuing a temporary pass to Hassan al-Kontar, 36, of Syria who had been stranded at the airport since March 7. – BERNAMA