4 and the half years ago, I was surprised at the efficiency of our passport unit when I went to renew my passport. It took me a total of 2 hours from submitting application to the time the passport was given to me. I have blogged about this at that time.
Recently I noticed that my passport has only 6 months’ validity which essentially means that I cannot use it anymore to travel overseas.
I have heard about online application for passport and so i tried to apply for a new passport online on Thursday ( 2 days ago).
It took me less than 10 minutes to do so , including uploading a passport size photo, payment via credit card and printing out the receipt. The website is quite user-friendly, and once I keyed in my old passport number, all my info were uploaded automatically to the application form, and all i was required to do was to upload my photo and agree to the terms and conditions and fill in my handphone number.
There was a column in the form for me to choose where to collect my passport, and I opted to collect from kelanaJaya immigration Office. When I printed out the receipt, it indicated that I should collect it from the said office at 4pm yesterday ( 24 hours from the time I submitted my application online).
I went around 3.50pm and got a queue number and within 20 minutes, I got my new passport.
It was really hassle free, and the whole process was so fast that I have nothing but praises for the department. The staff there, despite being very busy, was very pleasant, and I even got a smile from the officer who handled my case.
I was surprised to learn that not many people use this online service.
For those who like to do so, upload a photocopy of your passport photo ( must be most recent ), and go to this link:
Click on the column ‘Online services” and choose MyOnline passport. The rest will be a step by step guide as to fill in your old passport number and how to upload your photo and payment. The last step will be to print out the receipt .
Do not forget to bring along your old passport and ic( for verification) when going to collect your new passport.
This is one instance that I think Malaysia can beat and at least equal other countries. And being a Malaysian, I am proud of this!
Dr. Hsu's forum 
Apr 07, 2012 @ 13:59:52
Give Credit when Credit is Due, thats the spirit.
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Apr 08, 2012 @ 06:50:35
1. Correct, “complete_nutrition”
2. Nevertheless, passport fees are still too high.
They should be reduced to lower the burden on Malaysian citizens.
I remember that the fees were raised during the economic crisis of the late 1990s so as
to discourage unnecessary overseas travel (to save foreign exchange). If I remember correctly, the authorities indicated the higher fees were temporary and would be reduced after the crisis was over.
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Apr 08, 2012 @ 13:47:45
The fee hike is due to cronyism. I understand that the supply of passport printers contract were given to crony. They just outsource and bought it from Japan and charge exorbitant price including maintenance cost which were paid upfront. They make it so complicated just to justify the pricing. Eventually we bear the burden, Check it out, who sits in BOD of those awarded the contract.
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Apr 08, 2012 @ 13:56:41
Can’t agree more!
Congrats to Immigration Dept for their ever improving splendid and efficient service rendered to Malaysian citizens in issuance of new passports.
In their other sector they are so super efficient that even the ‘entry-exit’ records of French-translator Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu who was brutally murdered then C4’d, could go missing and disappeared into thin air without anyone knowing. Yeah someone at the top must be good at taking orders, no?
Cannot be said about SPR/Election Commission which needs only to work once in 4-5 years yet we have a full force of laid-back incompetent and downright irresponsible bunch, unable to clean up the Electoral Roll that’s full of inconsistencies till today! Heads must roll at EC/SPR, long overdue.
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Apr 08, 2012 @ 23:29:16
Can i scan the photo i took from studio and upload it or do they require the original photo image which was burn to the cd given by the studio ?
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Apr 09, 2012 @ 08:48:43
This is a far cry from those days when applicants had to wait for hours (sometimes days) to get their passport matters sorted out.
The situation was that serious when even the former PM, A. Badawi had to spring a surprise visit to their passport office. Numerous complaints and suggestions from the public were forthcoming.
Things are different now and credit must be given to where it is due.
However, they must not rest on their laurals and continue to serve the people progressively and to their best of ability.
Could this ‘new’ passport phenomenon be a good example for other government departments to follow?
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Apr 09, 2012 @ 09:13:38
Lim seh teen
I took a photo from a studio, and I scanned it into my omputer. Yes, scanned photo in Jpeg form is acceptable.
I guess you can even take photo on your own provided the phot meets certain requirements like blue background, shows your whole face and so on.
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Apr 12, 2012 @ 00:51:18
Dr. Hsu, Thanks for highlighting this article. I hv also shared your article with my friends for their convenience. This is progress and citizens look forward to minimising their inconveniences. About a decade ago, I remembered having to queue up at 430am in the morning. If this still happens, then we should forget about vision 2020. Syabas to the Immigration department for making this great quantum leap.
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Apr 12, 2012 @ 11:37:21
Pengsanlo
Please let more people know about this online application.
Apparently , despite the relatively ease of using this, they do not receive much online application. I suspect that many people really do not know about this. Another thing is this online application applies to renewal, meaning that those who already have applied for a passport before.
For people applying for passport the first time , they still need to apply in person.
It really helps to cut down waiting down which can be better used for other things.
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Apr 13, 2012 @ 00:22:05
Dr. Hsu,
Dont know whether I had inadvertently missed this topic in our mainstream news. Anyway, I am very thankful to you for highlighting this in your blog which I have shared with my friends on fb too. In modern times, nothing beats online at the comfort of one’s home/office.
Thanks for the great info. Always like your independent thoughts on how our beloved Malaysia is heading. Hope great leaders take up up many more notches towards progress.Sick of the politics some politicians are playing. Best Regards.
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Jun 18, 2012 @ 22:42:51
Credit should be given to you for leting the public be aware of the availablity of the online passport renewal service. Your clarification on the following points will be appreciated :
1. My passport expired more than a year ago. Can I still renew through this online service ?
2. What will happen, if after uploading the photo, it turns out that the photo is not acceptable to the Immigration Dept ? Will I get a refund for the money paid ?
Thanks.
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Jun 20, 2012 @ 09:08:59
siang Peng Chuan
I will attempt to answer your questions, but as I am not with th immigration department, I may not be correct.
1. From what was described in their website, as long as you have a passport before, you can apply for renewal.
2. From what i gathered from others’ experience in applying for passport, if your photo is not acceptable, an officer of the department will call you to get a acceptable photo ( following their guidelines on passport photo), and on that appointed date, you must bring in your photo(hard copy)to the counter where they will insert into your passport on the spot.. It may take longer than what I took, since it may take sometime for them to insert the photo unto your passport.
what I did was to have my photo taken at a studio ( tell them it was for passport purposes), and then upload the photo in .jpeg form.
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Jun 20, 2012 @ 22:42:56
Dr Hsu, thanks for your answers. However, concerning passports that have expired more than a year, I get the following reply from the Immigration Department :-
My query to the Immigration Dept : “My passport expired on 17 Feb 2009. Can I renew it online ?”
Their reply (through email) : “You need to renew it at the immigration office because it was expired more than a year. Thank you.”
Maybe this will help to clear the doubts of those concerned.
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Jun 22, 2012 @ 10:36:31
Thank you Dr. Hsu for sharing this great info. I came to know this last year and almost wanted to apply online but was worried by the TERMS & CONDITIONS :
“1. If the information provided by applicants when filling the application form MyONLINE*PASPORT is not true or inaccurate and not in accordance
to the TERMS & CONDITIONS stated will caused the ‘ APPLICATION REJECTED’ and ‘FEES WILL NOT BE RETURNED’.”
I guess many out there felt the same, because if anything happened no one can help to refund the RM300, and we have no way to make complains, just my opinion.
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Aug 24, 2012 @ 16:48:46
Can I collect the passport 2 days later after the mentioned collected date? I’ve tried to call them but no one is picking up the call. I’ve just performed the online renewal at 11.41am and the collection can be done on the same day at 1.41pm onwards. What a surprised.. However, I am not able to go and collect it because I need to work.. So, I wonder can I collect it on Monday morning instead? Anyonw knows?
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Aug 25, 2012 @ 14:16:34
MS ong
I won’t be able to answer your question since I do not work there. But i think you should be able to collect it anytime after the appointed time.. It may give them more work, I don’t know, but it should be able to trace it easily.. YOu should have choosen a day when you have a free next day to do the online application since it is ready in 24 hours..:)
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Sep 08, 2012 @ 21:14:52
I still think that should payment be done online, debit card and internet banking MUST be put as an option (besides the use of cc).
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Sep 28, 2012 @ 01:16:18
You need to make a copy of your IC, back and front, on one side of a single sheet of paper. I was also informed that the size of the photo is limited to 25kb, so it needs to be cropped – the interesting part is when it is cropped it looks kind of distorted but when uploaded it is accepted by the system. Any comments?
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Sep 28, 2012 @ 12:07:18
No worries. You just need bring your passport size (hard copy) with you during your collection date. If the uploaded picture was unclear, they will request a hardcopy passport size picture from you. This happened to me.
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Sep 28, 2012 @ 15:42:49
Thanks p1097h. I had cropped the pic myself and it looked distorted but was accepted by the system anyway since the cropped pic met all the basic requirements. My gf is renewing her passport and is now facing the same problemShe managed to upload her pic and made payment. However, she will bring her hardcopy pic with her just in case. Thanks again.
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Oct 06, 2012 @ 10:34:51
Thx dr hsu & all ; this is good info and good service for us. I wanna try it next. I volunteer to do for my mum but my bro just don’t agree and insisted on going to the office. I can’t understand that
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Oct 06, 2012 @ 23:29:27
Do I have to pick up the passport myself? Can I send someone to help me to pick it up? Thanks.
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Oct 08, 2012 @ 16:09:58
MS Tee,
You have to pick up yourslef since they need to make certain you are the person you say your are.
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Nov 17, 2012 @ 08:26:28
Does anybody know if I can do this while I am overseas. I cannot get to the part which will let me specify the office I wish to pick up from. Not unless I fill out a lot of detail and I don’t know what will happen if I abort at that stage.
Many Thanks
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Nov 19, 2012 @ 16:35:18
nate
I dont think you can collect the passport anywhere overseas by applying online.. The places of collections specified are those in Malaysia only. But you can always renew yours in any embassy, high commission or even some Malaysian Consulates overseas.
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Dec 11, 2012 @ 03:40:25
Dr.Hsu,
May I be able to renew my passport ahead of
6months’ validity? My passport still has 8months to the expired date.
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Dec 14, 2012 @ 09:25:22
you can. Beause i renewed my when it still has about 7 months’s validity.
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Dec 19, 2012 @ 00:43:51
Dr Hsu,
Compliment and praise for your updates and info regard the immigration renewable passport online…it is a pleasure reading it and save us a lot of headache and time going through ourselves in the immigration department..so this is a great relief that we can used online service without going through driving,parking and queing which is time consuming.
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Feb 16, 2013 @ 12:51:51
But the new passport only can collect from Monday to Friday only. So. I still need to on leave lor… 😦
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Feb 18, 2013 @ 15:36:29
means we can’t collect the passport on saturday and sunday? even in putrajaya?
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Mar 10, 2013 @ 14:23:00
Thank you for your post. I was surprised to know that we can renew our passport online too. It really saves our time indeed. Upon reading all the helpful comments, I came to realize that collection is only applicable from Monday to Friday. As I am staying overseas, this means that I have to either take a day off to travel to Malaysia for collection or fly over during the weekend for renewal as the immigration is conveniently opened over weekends too!
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May 20, 2013 @ 11:40:14
Hi.. Just wanted to share my experience on using this online renewal.. For my collection branch.. the only listed places are non Klang Valley areas.. and I live in Kepong, KL.. So thats weird.. For example:
BUKIT KAYU HITAM
PEJ. IMIGRESEN
KULIM
RAUB
LUMUT
TELUK INTAN
KUALA TERENGGANU
KOTA KINABALU
TAWAU
LAHAD DATU
SANDAKAN
KENINGAU
KUCHING
BINTULU
SIBU
LIMBANG
LAWAS
LABUAN
Well.. I can’t be collecting from these places right? SInce I am staying in Kepong, KL.. I guess it has something to do with my previous address and there were some bugs I guess 😦
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Jun 06, 2013 @ 15:24:44
Hi, do you think the soft copy from photo shop which saved in pendrive , can be used for submission directly without editing? Do they need to upload IC to online application?
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Oct 28, 2013 @ 16:08:45
The Immigration online application service is temporarily disrupted. Applicants are advice to go to the nearest Immigration office to make their applications or enquiries. http://www.imi.gov.my/index.php/en/
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