Passport delays expected until mid-June
Overburdened operating system in use at Immigration Department blamed for delay in issuing passports.
PETALING JAYA: Gone are the days when you can obtain an international passport within hours.
Problems with the computer system at Immigration Department counters in the country are delaying the issuance of these passports.
Now, it may take a week to get a passport, Malay Mail Online has reported.
The situation is expected to get worse with the advent of the school holidays, with more going on holidays.
The news portal quoted a source as saying that there were “teething problems” with the passports encrypted with the polycarbonate chip and these were only expected to be resolved in mid-June.
“Routine maintenance” and an “overburdened operating system” were attributed as causes of the problem.
The Immigration Department and its officers have also been under the spotlight and under pressure lately after sabotage was suspected in the Malaysian Immigration System (myIMMs), which led to frequent breakdowns at entry and exit points in the country.
Police are now investigating some immigration officials involved.
The news portal’s sources blamed outdated computers, installed in 1997, for much of the problems and breakdowns.
In addition, it said the computers were now being burdened with handling biometric data at entry points, affecting the whole operating system.
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These breakdowns have also affected the immigration counter services at the one-stop government service centres known as Urban Transformation Centres.